MANHATTAN, KAN. — Hayden Wands has been chosen as one of 12 distinguished Kansas State University alumni honored as 2023 Alumni Fellows. Mr. Wands is an Alumni Fellow for the College of Agriculture and will be on campus to present guest lectures April 12-14.

Alumni fellows return to campus to discuss current trends and to meet with students and faculty. The fellows were chosen based on their high levels of professional accomplishment and distinguished service in their respective careers.

Mr. Wands is vice president of global procurement, commodities for Grupo Bimbo, the largest baking company in the world with facilities in more than 35 countries.

During his 30-plus years of experience in the industry, Mr. Wands has held various positions. He began his career as a wheat trader for Bartlett Grain. Moving to ADM Flour Milling, he ran the wheat origination and hedging desk. At Farmland, Mr. Wands held the position of director of wheat origination and sales. With Cargill Flour Milling, he held the position of director of flour sales and risk management tools. Mr. Wands then became director of procurement at Sara Lee before moving to Bimbo Bakeries USA, where he was vice president of procurement, managing over $1 billion in spending. Five years ago, Wands moved to the Grupo Bimbo Global procurement team.  

Mr. Wands serves as the chairman of the commodity and agricultural policy committee of the American Bakers Association. His past involvement has included serving as the chairman of the Wheat Foods Council, chairman of the Wheat Quality Council, as well as being a member of both the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.