Gary Beu Joins West Monroe Partners as Managing Director

Chicago, IL – September 13, 2009 – West Monroe Partners, a full-service business and technology consultancy, today announced that Gary Beu has joined the firm as managing director-People and Leadership Development. Beu, an accomplished professional services leader with more than 35 years of experience, will help West Monroe Partners—already well recognized for its unique, people-centered culture—build on its strengths and set the stage for further growth.

Beu’s career spans all of the facets of human resources and operational management vital to a profession driven by talent and intellectual capital. He has earned respect as a leader and innovator in HR strategy, employee relations, compensation and benefits, performance management, recruitment and retention, career management, leadership development, regulatory matters, infrastructure and information systems, training, and diversity and inclusion.

Beu spent the majority of his career with Arthur Andersen, where he held a number of local, national and global human resources leadership roles, including global managing partner-Employee Matters; managing partner-US Partner Matters; and director-Human Resources for the Chicago office, Heartland market circle, and US central region. He also held several key operational roles, including leading a large consulting business unit. He joins West Monroe Partners from Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s largest law firms, where he served as chief human resources officer since 2005.

 “Gary Beu adds incomparable knowledge of the consulting business and demonstrated leadership capabilities that will make an enormous contribution to our organization and the level of talent we bring to our clients,” said Dean Fischer, West Monroe Partners’ president and chief executive officer. “We are very proud of the team we have built to date and the reputation we have earned as a people-centric organization. With Gary’s leadership, we will be ready to build on this foundation as the markets begin to turn around and the competition for top consulting talent heats up.”

Founded in 2002, West Monroe Partners has grown to a $34 million consultancy with seven offices in the United States and Canada and a team of more than 200 people. In just seven years, it has received several major national and regional human resources accolades. Consulting magazine named West Monroe Partners one of its “Best Small Firms to Work For” in 2009 and 2007. Crain’s Chicago Business included the firm on its list of “20 Best Places to Work” in 2009. Seattle Business Monthly recognized it as one of the Puget Sound area’s “Best Places to Work” in 2008. And, the National Association for Business Resources named West Monroe Partners one of “Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” for the past four years.

“West Monroe Partners has done a remarkable job of building a firm and culture from the ground up—one whose success is measured not just by its growth, but by the perceptions of its people and its clients,” said Beu. “It is a privilege to be a part of an organization with a values-based mission, forthright principles, and an entrepreneurial approach that resonates so well in the marketplace. I look forward to contributing my experience and energy to equip West Monroe Partners for even greater success in future.”

Beu earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Valparaiso University, where he continues to serve on the College of Business Administration National Advisory Council. He has been active in the Chicago community throughout his career, and is presently co-chairman of the board of the Midwest chapter of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, as well as a member of the Human Resources Advisory Committee for Chicago Scholars, a college preparatory program for high potential inner city youth. He also is a member of the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Management Association of Chicago.