Fast 15: William Pannell

As a commodity buyer for Tyson Foods Inc., it’s beneficial if William Pannell keeps track of at least one little thing — the planet. His job is to buy cooking oil for all of Tyson’s plants around the country and to provide risk management with an ever-changing array of hedges.

In Pannell’s universe, floods, civil unrest and foreign exchange rates all mean something because they can affect the price for shortening, and when you’re buying for one of the world’s largest protein producers, that price is important.

“It’s like playing chess,” Pannell said of his work. “You’re always trying to figure out what people are going to do — what are they thinking.”

Tyson gives Pannell a large field on which to apply his talents, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. As part of the team working with Tyson do Brasil, he’s developing a program of hedging strategies as they relate to price volatility in grain, oil and fuel markets in Brazil, home to Latin America’s largest economy.

For Pannell, dealing with the language, cultural and legal barriers between the United States and Brazil is an opportunity, not an obstacle.

“As a person, I can’t be stagnant,” he said. “I always want to learn and move forward.”

Pannell, a distinguished fellow in the Honors College at the University of Arkansas, went to school on a full scholarship and earned his degree in economics with a focus on international business. The Bentonville native was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity and during college held a host of leadership positions, most in philanthropy.

He said he knew he had what it took to succeed when as a freshman he assumed control of the annual Greek Sing fundraiser and, in terms of total donations, produced a banner year — 12,000 pounds of food and $10,000 for charity.

He also spent a semester in Austria, where the economic focus is on resource conservation and longevity, and spent a summer in Japan, where the focus is on quality and the common good.

“It was great to get a global perspective,” he said, referring to what he learned during his time abroad.

In the near future, Pannell plans on returning to UA for his MBA, a step he expects will prepare him for the big time.

“I’d like to be a chief executive one day,” he said.