Ball State Alumnus Kevin Lansberry Earns Disney Main Street Honor After Nearly 40-Year Career

Kevin Lansberry, ’86, stood on Main Street, U.S.A., and looked up.

The window sits above the Main Street Bakery, part of the carefully designed facade that frames Main Street, U.S.A.—the entryway into Magic Kingdom, the flagship park at Walt Disney World and the most-visited theme park in the world. Most guests pass beneath it without noticing—one more detail folded into the larger story Disney tells on that street.

Main Street Trust and Loan — Kevin Lansberry, Director — Care, Compassion, Commitment — Investing in Making Dreams Come True.

Inside Disney, those windows carry weight. They are reserved for a small group of leaders whose careers leave a lasting imprint on the parks, installed only upon retirement after decades of contribution.

Mr. Lansberry’s window came in April after nearly 40 years, with his parents, wife, children, and extended family standing beside him for the ceremony.

“It felt like the culmination of decades of work and decades of good fortune,” he said. “I was fortunate to work with amazing people, and it was fun to be there with my family in that moment, getting that type of an award. It is as much theirs as it is mine. We are all the product of all the people that have touched us along the way.”

Rooted in Family, Built on Responsibility

That instinct to credit others traces back to Plainfield, Ind., where Mr. Lansberry grew up in a family that valued responsibility and close family ties.

“There was no money for extra things. I grew up working hard for anything I wanted—I did not have a safety net,” he recalled. “This was either do it or do not.”

His parents, Travis and Deanna, raised him alongside his siblings, Kelly and Kyle. Kyle also attended Ball State, earning his degree in finance in 1995. Kevin still counts himself lucky to have known all four grandparents into his mid-twenties.

“I was fortunate enough to have all four grandparents until I was 25,” he said. “I hit the lottery there.”

Ball State entered the picture almost by accident, during a high school soccer tournament that brought him to campus. As a first-generation college student, he was navigating that decision largely on his own. Something about the campus stayed with him.

“There are places in life where you just get a really good feeling,” he said. “Ball State was one of those places where I immediately felt at home.”

He had already been accepted to Indiana University, but the pull toward Muncie won out.

When Mr. Lansberry arrived on campus, the reality set in quickly.

“I remember being scared to death the first week of school,” he said. “You really do not know your way around yet. Nobody is escorting you. You have got to figure it out.”

He settled in—into a clear plan to study business, and later a narrowed focus on finance within what is now the Miller College of Business.

“I went to Ball State to go to the business school,” he said. “That was sort of locked in for me from day one.”

During his junior and senior years, an internship with the Indiana Department of Revenue gave him his first real taste of office life—valuable experience for a first-generation college student building his own foundation.

“It was actually a bit overwhelming as a new freshman—so many options,” he said, recalling his early days on campus. “But I had an absolute blast. I made great friends while I was there, and they are friends I still have today.”

Starting at the Bottom, Building Reputation

Mr. Lansberry left Ball State in 1986 without a detailed plan, only a clear sense of what he wanted next: a company that could teach him how a business truly operated.

A book he had read as a senior, In Search of Excellence, profiled a handful of companies for exactly that quality—Disney among them. The brand itself was not the draw.

“I came to the company with absolutely no brand affinity to Disney,” he said.

What drew him in was how the place operated.

He moved to Florida and took the only job he could get: an accounting clerk position at Walt Disney World.

“I was kind of below entry,” he said with a laugh. “I was not making much money. I was very low on the totem pole.”

Without an accounting degree or a CPA, the early years were challenging. “It was really rough for a while,” he recalled. “Starting out as a clerk, I was not building that much of a foundation—but I was building a reputation.”

That reputation eventually carried him beyond finance and into operations, reshaping how he understood the business.

“Operations was a whole different world,” he said. “I had to learn to use skill sets I had in completely new ways—I could not mimic what other people did.”

It became, by his own account, his favorite stretch of the job.

From there, the roles widened—sales, revenue management—each demanding a different kind of leadership. In revenue management, he led a team of roughly 120 mathematicians.

“These are guys from the math labs in college—crazy smart,” he said. “So how do you lead those sorts of folks?”

He traces the answer back to Muncie.

“Where the education at Ball State really paid off was understanding how to relate to a lot of different people,” he said, “and being able to take the time to understand them as individuals—they all have their own needs and wants.”

Rising to the Highest Level

By 2017, that ability had carried Mr. Lansberry to the top of Disney’s finance operation: chief financial officer of Disney Parks and Resorts, overseeing theme parks, resorts, cruise lines, and consumer products around the world.

Six years later, the company called on him again at its highest level. When longtime Disney CFO Christine McCarthy stepped away in 2023, Mr. Lansberry filled in as interim chief financial officer of The Walt Disney Company—one of the most visible roles in the organization.

“Kevin has been with the company for more than three decades and is a trusted lieutenant to Christine,” CEO Bob Iger said at the time. “Having expertly served as CFO at our largest business segment since 2017, he has my complete confidence.”

He returned to his role atop Disney Experiences that December, once Hugh Johnston was named permanent CFO, with Mr. Iger thanking him publicly.

“Kevin has provided steady leadership and invaluable counsel to our executive management team,” he said.

The demands of that role—and others like it over the years—shaped the rhythm of Mr. Lansberry’s days.

For much of his career, his mornings started around 4 a.m.—no alarm required.

“I just woke up,” he said. “I have not set an alarm in 20, 30 years.”

The demands of the job never fully swallowed home life. He coached his children’s soccer teams, attended school events when he could, and treated dinner as time that mattered whenever he was in town.

“It was tough with kids and sports and whatever, but we always tried to figure it out—this is our time together,” he said.

He credits his wife, Lynn, with making that possible.

“I am blessed to have an amazing wife who handled pretty much everything at home,” he said. “I would not have had the success I did without her.”

Beginning a New Chapter

Mr. Lansberry retired in 2026, and the Main Street window followed.

Walt Disney World President Jeff Vahle shared the tribute publicly.

“We honored longtime Disney leader Kevin Lansberry with a window on Main Street, U.S.A., one of our highest honors,” Mr. Vahle wrote. “Care, compassion, and commitment perfectly describe the leadership legacy he leaves behind.”

Retirement has brought a different pace—more travel, more time with family, and a willingness to say yes to things work never allowed.

“I am not saying no anymore,” Mr. Lansberry said. “I am saying yes to a whole lot of things I was never able to before.”

In just a few months, that has meant several trips abroad and a month-long drive through the Midwest.

“We have all got only so many days on this planet,” he said, “and I am focused on enjoying every moment I possibly can.”

He remains committed to Ball State. He now serves on the Ball State University Foundation Board of Directors.

Dr. Cathy DuBois, Bryan Dean of the Miller College of Business, sees his career as proof of what is possible.

“We congratulate Kevin on an incredible, fulfilling career with Disney,” she said. “His path is a powerful example to our students of how that foundation can grow over time—building not just technical expertise, but the confidence and perspective to lead at the highest levels.”

It is a message Mr. Lansberry has carried with him since long before Main Street—back to a soccer tournament in Muncie that led, decades later, to a window above a bakery in Orlando.

“Ball State is going to put the tools in your toolbox,” he said. “It is up to you to figure out how many tools end up going in that toolbox—and it takes years of hard work using those tools to become a true craftsman.”