Prior to joining the University of St. Thomas School of Law in 2019, Brenda Arndt served for 21 years in the legal department of Cargill, Incorporated, America's largest privately held company. As a senior international mergers & acquisitions specialist, she served as legal lead for acquisitions, joint ventures and divestures across a variety of industries, countries and deal sizes. Brenda is skilled at leading and engaging cross-border, cross-functional teams and providing pragmatic advice to all levels of an organization. Following her first acquisition in Australia, she established the in-house counsel office on-site in Melbourne and managed all legal matters of the combined businesses.

Before practicing in M&A, Brenda advised Cargill's financial investments group regarding fast-paced distressed real estate joint ventures. As the opportunities grew beyond Cargill's investment appetite, Brenda led all legal aspects of creating an international asset manager involving 27 entities, while simultaneously negotiating investment terms for a dual class, multiproduct, global value fund involving over 60 entities and $5.75 billion in commitments.

Prior to joining Cargill, Brenda was a commercial litigator with Maslon LLP, focusing on shareholder, insurance, accounting, malpractice and financial disputes.

Brenda earned her B.S. in Business Finance, summa cum laude, from Minnesota State University and a J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from The University of Minnesota Law School.

Today, Brenda enjoys sharing her knowledge by teaching International Business Transactions and Business Associations, as well as through public speaking. She finds it fulfilling to mentor and coach, and serves as a "roadmap coach" to first-year law students. Brenda also mentors and volunteers through nonprofit board service, international service trips, as well as at her church and a local food shelf. Brenda enjoys warm weather activities such as hiking, boating, waterskiing and paddle boarding.