In the last 3 weeks, my travels have taken me to Atlanta twice and both San Francisco and Dallas (once again). In each city, we had gracious alums open their homes to us.
In Atlanta, we had two events, Amy Conlee and her husband Cecil hosted an event in their wonderful home while Peter Fish and his wife Kerry Hadden hosted a second event at a private club.
Amy is a 1977 Vanderbilt MBA, a principal with CGR Advisors, and one of the first women to really hit it big on Wall Street. Cecil has served on the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, is a world traveler and a banker with Credit Suisse. A highlight of the evening at the Conlee's home was having Amy and Bill Bounds, also a ’77 grad and owner of ML Coaching, share their personal stories. I was moved by their testimony how Owen transformed their lives, changed their directions, and helped form who and what they are today. These are stories worth telling and sharing.
Peter Fish is a 1995 grad and a Managing Director at Sterling Equity Advisors. Peter and Kerry graciously welcomed over 40 alums, spouses, prospective students, and Owen staffers to the Capital Club in Atlanta, an exclusive dining and meeting facility in Center City.
In Dallas, over 20 alumni and other guests were hosted by Tom and Linda Barton. Tom, another 1977 MBA grad, is a partner with White Rock Capital. Six prospective students attended the Dallas event and learned first hand from alumni about their careers, why they attended Owen and the difference the unique Owen experience made in their lives. I’ve received notes and emails from 4 of these individuals advising me that Owen is their school of choice. Tom and Linda are special people. Their oldest daughter will soon make a choice between Vanderbilt and Stanford. She is a champion golfer and hearing Tom’s story of how he got to Owen and why he would encourage his daughter to attend Vanderbilt cannot help but make one want to come to Vanderbilt, Nashville and the O school of management.
John Underwood, a ‘94 MBA and his wife Amy were our hosts in San Francisco the evening of their wedding anniversary. Some 50 Owen alumni and guests joined us in a private dining room overlooking beautiful San Francisco, high above John’s Goldman Sachs office, where John serves as a Managing Director. John success at Goldman Sachs mirrors his success at Owen and enthusiasm for his experience. Like other events, the evening included prospective students considering Owen as their top school of choice, despite other offers including MIT and Stanford. I am proud of what John and our enthusiastic SF alum have accomplished. More importantly, I am proud of how they represented Owen to the prospective students. Our responsibility is to produce graduates of equal character, ability and enthusiasm as John.
All of these events drew both long-graduated and recent alumni, as well as prospective students. Importantly, as we see applications increasing and continue our push for greater selectivity, these events provide an opportunity to get to know our applicants better and for them to enjoy an evening sharing past experiences and future plans with members of the Owen community.
And, this is just a snapshot of the last three weeks. My goal is to spend 70% of my time on the road calling on companies, reconnecting with alumni, and meeting prospective students. In the next few months, you may see me on the highway or on planes to Birmingham (February 26), Charlotte (Feb 28), Washington DC (March 1) and New York (late March).
So, does getting together with Owen alums sound good to you? In case you don’t already have it on your calendar, plan to come and share April 21 with classmates and friends here in Nashville as we gather for “The Magic of Business”. It’s a special, formal celebration for all those who are members of the Owen Circle. I’d love to see you there. Black Tie and all.
P.S. I’ve got lots of snapshots of these events to post. Stay tuned.
