After decades of building and revitalizing numerous multimillion-dollar restaurant chains, entrepreneur Ron Shaich is embracing one more challenge: leaving a positive impact on the world.
“I’ve had the good fortune to have some success in life,” he says. “I want to make sure I do a good job stewarding the blessings I’ve had and use them in a way that will make a real difference.”
Driven by that vision, Shaich made a three-year $3 million pledge last summer to fund Alzheimer’s disease research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Shaich’s gift will advance work led by David M. Holtzman, MD, the Barbara Burton and Reuben M. Morriss III Distinguished Professor of Neurology. The funding supports the university’s efforts to foster healthier lives through With You: The WashU Campaign, an engagement and fundraising initiative that launched May 1.
Living with intention
Credited with helping to create the fast-casual restaurant category, Miami-based Shaich is currently the managing partner and CEO of Act III Holdings, an investment vehicle focused on consumer-facing restaurant and entertainment companies. He is the lead investor and chairman of the board of Cava, Tatte, Life Alive, and Level 99. Shaich is also a lead investor and board member of Honest Greens, a healthy restaurant concept based in Europe.
But Shaich may be most notable — particularly to St. Louisans — as the founder and former CEO of Panera Bread, known locally as the St. Louis Bread Company. A two-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, he served as Panera Bread’s CEO from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2018. Shaich led the company’s sale to JAB Holdings in 2017.
“This work excites me because it’s obvious that it’s extraordinary in its implications. Dave Holtzman and his collaborators have a real shot at making major breakthroughs in developing drugs to treat or even prevent Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, and to address them earlier than we do now.”
Ron Shaich
Shaich attributes his success to the “future-back method,” a philosophy he developed that centers on living with intention and planning ahead. “I look toward tomorrow, define what I truly value, and then work backward from there to ensure that those things are happening,” he writes in his 2023 book, Know What Matters: Lessons from a Lifetime of Transformations.
The method applies broadly to both professional and personal pursuits, he says. “For my personal life, it’s about being sure I’m living a life I can look back on with respect.”
A strategic choice
Shaich pursues that peace of mind, in part, through his philanthropy. He strategically seeks to invest in areas with significant potential for near-term impact. He targeted Alzheimer’s research because he recognizes the disease as one of the biggest health challenges facing humankind.
WashU was a natural fit for his investment. After living in St. Louis for many years, Shaich knew of the university’s reputation for biomedical research excellence. He became even more familiar with WashU when his son, Michael Shaich, BSBA ’22, entered as a first-year student in fall 2018.
“I already had a relationship with WashU and a respect for the institution — both its work and its values,” Shaich says. After a visit with Holtzman at WashU Medicine, he was sold on the physician-scientist’s accomplishments and the chance to be part of research that lies captivatingly close to clinical breakthroughs.
On the brink
Holtzman is a pioneer and international leader in Alzheimer’s disease research. He and his colleagues at WashU Medicine have illustrated the importance of amyloid beta, APOE, and tau proteins to the disease’s development and progression. Their findings continue to lay the groundwork for potential immunotherapies and other therapeutic strategies.