“What do you do?” seems like a simple question. But if you put the query to Doug VanOort ’78, don’t expect a simple answer.

He would describe a career that started in accounting and branched out to executive roles in technology, health care, and private equity firms. His work has benefited leading Fortune 500 companies and emerging entrepreneurial ventures alike. Digging deeper, you would find that all the roles have a common denominator.

“Someone once told me that to be successful, you need a strong work ethic and a drive to exceed people’s expectations,” says VanOort. “Hard work and going far beyond basic requirements are sort of built into my DNA.”

Diligence and business acumen have given VanOort many hats to wear. He currently serves as chairman and CEO of NeoGenomics Laboratories, as an operating partner at Summer Street Capital Partners, and as a founding and general partner for Conundrum Capital. Add “business owner” to the mix. With former Bentley roommate Jim Ackroyd ’78 and his wife, Lyn Payson-Ackroyd ’79, VanOort owns several Ace hardware stores in southwest Florida; the group is among the top 10 Ace chains in the country.

Growing to Great

VanOort’s daily focus is on NeoGenomics. Based in Fort Myers, Fla., the 10-year-old company specializes in genetic diagnostic testing for the pathology and oncology markets. Since joining the firm in 2009, VanOort has expanded sales and marketing, while also tending to organizational development, process development and quality systems. Another priority is fostering innovation in the form of new genetic tests.

“Genetic diagnostic services lower health care costs and save lives,” explains VanOort, who lives in Naples, Fla., with his wife, Katherine. “I’m doing my best to build a great team of people and position the company for exciting opportunities ahead.”

The growth includes more than doubling the company’s national sales force in the past two years as well as expanding its lab facilities in California and Tennessee. In 2009, VanOor's first year with NeoGenomics, revenue increased 47 percent compared with the prior year.

Open to Opportunity

The first person in his family to attend college, VanOort credits Bentley for developing the tools he needed to be successful. 

“The professors were terrific, and I got a lot of mentoring,” says the former Accountancy major. “Bentley was also instrumental in the job interview process. I was able to hit the ground running.”

VanOort’s first post-college position was at Boston-based Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. He was four years into the job when Corning Incorporated (then Corning Glass Works) came calling with an opportunity to work in his native upstate New York. He held several finance posts there, eventually transitioning into mergers and acquisitions.

In 1989, when Corning set up a laboratory diagnostics subsidiary — which would become industry-leading Quest Diagnostics — VanOort signed on as CFO. Under his watch, the business would grow from about $500 million to $2 billion in revenue by 1994.

Past experience in the lab testing industry is a valuable asset for VanOort at NeoGenomics. So is a team whose work ethic matches his own.

“We rely on each other,” he says. “Working with great people makes a job fun, and it’s easier to balance the unseen priorities that always come up.”

There is a similar sense of the unexpected in VanOort’s career path. “I wish I could say it was well planned,” he says of his multifaceted professional life. “It wasn’t, but I’ve worked hard and been really lucky.”