Chris Swenson

By Ginger O’Donnell 

At WashU, Chris Swenson, AB ’93, BSBA ’93, learned to explore and embrace diversity of thought that would shape his leadership in the legal and business worlds. 

First, he grew to appreciate differing viewpoints through interdisciplinary study, pursuing dual degrees in marketing and political science. Beyond the classroom, his on-campus exposure to nationally prominent thought leaders like Jesse Jackson and Murray Weidenbaum ingrained the skill of integrating different perspectives. And he continued to cultivate a leadership mindset in the hockey rink, where, as a student-athlete, he furthered his foundational commitment to teamwork, which has paid back dividends throughout his career.

“At WashU, I learned two very different ways of thinking through studying business and the liberal arts. Business is a lot of black and white, and political science is more shades of gray. There’s a time and place for each, and both have been invaluable to me. That’s the whole point of education, in my opinion — being open-minded to different points of view and using them to build your own.”

Chris Swenson, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary at Nerdy Inc.

“Sports teach life lessons that stay with you,” he says. “As in business, building that right team and managing it correctly is incredibly important — and so is dealing with adversity.” 

Like all standout leaders, Swenson embraces lifelong learning. After graduating from WashU, he completed a juris doctor from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and built a successful legal career in private practice, specializing in employment law. But he retained his interest in the crossover spaces, this time between law and business.

As an attorney for Polsinelli, for example, he carved out a niche leading the firm’s startup ventures group. In this role, he advised many student entrepreneurs from WashU and served as a judge for the Olin Cup competition. He also has been a frequent speaker and panelist for myriad campus events through the Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, he gave back to young people — and the St. Louis region — through his service on the board of Angels’ Arms, an area nonprofit that helps cover housing costs and provides other resources to keep sibling groups together in foster care.

Over the years, Swenson also undertook his own fun business ventures, such as serving as a minority owner of Carl’s Drive-In, the timeless Brentwood diner known for its burgers, custom-brewed root beer, and old-school service. “Carl’s is a local legend,” he says. “It was a fun investment in a St. Louis institution. I learned a lot and enjoyed that partnership with Mike Franklin, a mentor and former client of mine.”

Roughly 10 years ago, Swenson made an unexpected pivot that deliberately steepened the learning curve again: accepting the offer to join the management team and start a wide-ranging legal department at Varsity Tutors, a tech-based, curated platform for live online learning and a client of Swenson’s since 2008. In this role, he not only combines his passion for law and entrepreneurship but also collaborates with other WashU alumni leaders who share his passion for entrepreneurial innovation.

“I did not have aspirations to be an in-house attorney,” Swenson says of his move to the startup world from Polsinelli. “I’d been in private practice for 19 years when Chuck presented this opportunity to me. But it was an amazing chance to work with somebody I considered visionary.”

“Chuck” is Chuck Cohn, BSBA ’08, Varsity Tutors’ founder and CEO, who hatched the idea for the rapidly growing online tutoring company while a student on WashU’s campus roughly 15 years after Swenson graduated. The two met through a mutual WashU connection, Ken Harrington, founding director of the Skandalaris Center, who worked tirelessly to make connections for the center’s students.

In 2021, Swenson helped take Varsity Tutors public through its official holding company, Nerdy Inc., where he serves as chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Swenson hired and now manages a seven-person legal department while continuing to serve with the company’s management team. More recently, he has focused on integrating AI into the learning platform and has helped advance a newer effort, Varsity Tutors for Schools, which markets the company’s resources and services to K-12 classrooms. “By going into schools and making our platform more available to a broader group of people, we’re trying to help more people succeed educationally and change the paths of their lives,” he explains.

In the end, Swenson’s own educational journey comes back to examining multiple sides of a problem and honing multidimensional skills in the evolving quest to be “future-ready.” This process started on WashU’s campus, and today, he continues to cultivate an attitude of curiosity about all there is to learn. “At WashU, I learned two very different ways of thinking through studying business and the liberal arts,” he says. “Business is a lot of black and white, and political science is more shades of gray. There’s a time and place for each, and both have been invaluable to me. That’s the whole point of education, in my opinion — being open-minded to different points of view and using them to build your own.”

With you, we can prepare students to be future-ready leaders.