Jim Barr, Miami ’84, is Group President with Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers in New York City. Brother Barr joined the Fraternity’s chapter presidents for the Leadership Forum at the 2015 Presidents Leadership Conference.  The Leadership Forum allows chapter presidents to learn from and ask questions to industry leaders who have seen great success during their careers.

Brother Barr is a transformational leader with demonstrated success in rapid growth of large scale e-commerce, omni-channel and digital businesses. He has been president of two of the top ten internet retailers in North America and also built and led Microsoft’s e-commerce businesses. He is especially passionate about omni-channel work that integrates web and mobile channels with stores and catalogs, creating a seamless experience for customers.

Prior to joining Ritchie Brothers in 2014, Jim was Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer at OfficeMax and Office Depot. He also served as President of Sears’ online division.

Perhaps the foundation of his work, however, began at Microsoft where for 12 years he developed and launched several marketplace businesses that featured comparison shopping, auctions, online classified listings and the Windows Marketplace. In other words, all of online shopping.

Brother Barr is a graduate of Miami University and earned an MBA from the Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago. He serves on the advisory board of the Farmer School of Business at Miami.

Jim is the proud father of three children, all in college. The Phi Delt legacy runs deep in his family as his father and brother are Phis from Iowa State and his son is a Phi at Indiana University.

As an undergraduate member, Brother Barr served as Phikeia Educator, Vice President and President of the Ohio Alpha Chapter.