Stories from the February 2007 Issue

Notes from 2420 Nicolet … Far from home, alumni leaders carry Green Bay with them

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Green Bay's University of Wisconsin, and welcome to what we feel is a particularly exciting edition of Inside magazine.

We proudly turn the spotlight on UW-Green Bay graduates who have traveled far and wide to assume positions of leadership with world-famous brands, Fortune 500 corporations or their own leading-edge companies.

Geographically speaking, that's a departure for these pages. As a regional institution, we typically highlight the careers and contributions of the vast majority of our alumni who live their lives and base their businesses right here in Northeastern Wisconsin.

We will resume that regional focus in an upcoming issue when we profile individuals on our "Phoenix 400." That's the sizeable and growing list of UW-Green Bay alumni who are CEOs, CFOs and COOs, presidents, owners and entrepreneurs. Most are Wisconsin-based, many with national or even global reach, some with Forbes or Fortune rankings.

Work ethic and education are common denominators. Previewing the stories here of our high-achieving Titletown transplants, I was struck by how similar are their personal stories. They may reside today in Maui, San Diego or Detroit, but they grew up in Green Bay, Brillion or Oconto. They were first-generation college students of modest means who worked their way through school. One swept floors as a part-time job and wound up running the corporation.

In short, these individuals began where many of our students and young alumni start today. Their examples are inspirational, for us all. We must all work to ensure that the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay continues to be a bridge to brighter tomorrows.

Thank you for your support in helping us "Connect learning to life." And, remember, Go Phoenix!




Bruce Shepard
Chancellor

JIM WATTS Hometown: Minot, N.D. CEO, Pacific Summit Capital Irvine, Calif.

Early 1970s grad finds capitalism pays off

Editor's Note: This is an expanded version of the story that appeared in the February 2007 print edition of Inside UW-Green Bay magazine.

Jim Watts has free-wheeling memories of his single year in the old Bay Apartments. "For the winter, we brought my 650 Triumph motorcycle inside, put a portable TV on top, and that was the TV stand," he remembers. "We had some good times." Memorable, too, was an academic adventure, a January trip to London that put him on his career path. Studying international finance and investment capital, he thought, "This looks like a cool way to make a living."

Today, Watts is CEO of Pacific Summit Capital, the West Coast investment banking "boutique" he founded in 1995. He and his colleagues are deal-makers, advisers who negotiate transactions ranging from a few million dollars up into the nine figures. They are also aided by a stellar Advisory Board consisting of two ex-Fortune 500 CEOs, a retired Air Force general and a former Drexel Burnham banker who also has CFO and CFA credentials.

Think mergers, acquisitions, IPOs, venture capital, valuations, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, but on a different level with a more regional clientele.

In 1996, for example, Watts advised an entrepreneurial California company in the sale of its data-compression technology to AOL. Their $84 million in stock quickly became worth $2 billion at the height of the dot-com boom.

His newest venture is Four-Star Acquisitions, its Board of Advisers consisting of recently retired four-star generals. His immediate partners in Four Star are Bill Patton, ex-Unisys President, and Major General Paul A. Weaver, USAF Ret., both also on the Advisory Board of Pacific Summit Capital. Four Star is backed by a private equity firm in California founded by a former client of Pacific Summit and member of the Forbes 400 wealthiest people in America.

"When that team calls to say, 'We want to talk business,' they make an impression," Watts says.

UW-Green Bay memories: "Jim Murray. He's beyond wonderful, just an excellent teacher... Green Bay was a great little school at the time (1972). I use my college experience every day." Family: Wife Michelle, children William 10 and Jeline 8 UW-Green Bay degree: 1972, Economics

It's all quite a journey from his easy-rider days, when he hopped on the Triumph after graduation. Calculating the opportunity cost — "I might as well do it now" — the economics major shoveled concrete in Colorado and camped on the beach in California.

He eventually landed in Washington, D.C., and in 1975 earned a master's in international economics from American University. He worked as a key Capitol Hill aid on oil and gas deregulation.

Law school was next, at American's Washington College of Law. He worked for a time as a lobbyist and then practiced with a major D.C.-area law firm. In 1986, he left for investment banking and California, first with established firms, then on his own.

"I had noted for years that half the country's venture capital is in California," he recalls. "That's where the job creation was, and still is.

"The companies we finance create jobs hand over fist. It's exciting to be part of that."

MARY OSTROM Hometown: Reedsville, Wis. Career path: Nationwide Financial Columbus, Ohio

Time, patients are new joys for busy executive

Editor's Note: This is a slightly expanded version — with additional quotes and reflections — of the profile that appeared in the February 2007 print edition of Inside UW-Green Bay.

Sometimes a successful corporate career can be a means to a new way of life or a fresh perspective. Such is the case for Mary (Brickner) Ostrom, '80 the former vice president and market manager for Nationwide Financial.

Until her retirement in 2005, Ostrom spent 16 years helping Nationwide develop into one of the world's largest insurance and financial services organizations. Among her highlights was spending a year and a half studying world markets, and then establishing a Latin-America presence for Nationwide in Brazil.

"It was challenging — a single woman, completely alone, going into a male-dominated culture, without the ability to speak the dominant language (Portuguese), establish a business, buy a company, make the hires," she recalls.

What was expected to take Ostrom and her team three to five years, took only a year and a half. Now, just a little more than a year after retiring from the Fortune 500 company, she invests that same passion and persistence in her new adventures — travel and volunteerism.

In 2006, she visited France, Italy, Scotland, Australia and Canada, as well as Wisconsin, Florida, Colorado and New York. She's a committed volunteer, as well, spending a good deal of time at the James Cancer Hospital in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. There she visits with patients, guides families through the huge medical complex, and supports patients in their logistical transition from surgery to future treatment. Her volunteer work is, in part, a tribute to the memory of her husband, Dr. Thomas Ostrom, a social psychologist who died of cancer in 1994.

"Having been through it, it makes it easier," she said. "I remember when Tom was dying, we didn't focus on what we were losing but what we still had. That's what I try to do when I visit with patients."

The James Medical Center will continue to receive much of her attention, although the former psychology professor (before she was lured to Nationwide) says she's also seeking other areas of responsibility.

"I had year and a half of playing and making contributions," she says. "I'm thinking of taking something else on, using what I know from the past and taking on something I can have a larger sense of responsibility for."

Retired at 50 sounds like a great gig, but semi-retired at 52 doesn't sound so bad either.

UW-Green Bay memories: Loved the tunnels, and enjoyed the social opportunity of the "people pockets." "We spent a lot of time at Zeppelin's (sub shop) on University Avenue." Favorite faculty: Eric Knowles and Charles Matter. "I can't imagine where I would be now without them at the start." Degrees: Urban and Regional Analysis at UW-Green Bay; Ph.D., Psychology, Ohio State University

Lured from academia (psychology prof at Akron) to the corporate world:

"I wasn't really looking to get out of academic world, I was looking for an internship for one of my students. Within a month my world had changed, the next thing you know I'm working for property and casualty at Nationwide."

Advice to new graduates:

"I started out in an entry-level position doing research and quickly moved up the ladder. Recent graduates in any business should always be open to new opportunities as they present themselves. It's not like I had these big dreams of being a successful corporate executive, but I was always open to new opportunities and aligned myself with good mentors."

To find a mentor:

"Look for a person you see as successful, someone you admire, with traits not different from your own. When I was at Green Bay, it was professors Eric Knowles and Chuck Matter. They were wonderful. I knew my first year in Prof. Matter's class I wanted to be in psychology. Eric's "Experimental Psychology and Statistics" class - that was the beginning of it all for me. Even when people are in their undergraduate years, they should look for mentors, and people who can help them find their direction."

The makings of success:

"You need to be smart, resourceful, be able to work with people and have confidence."

Early retirement:

"To be 50 and in good health and to be able to explore new things and give back, I feel really fortunate."

Future ambitions:

"I'm looking for something... another area of responsibility. I've had a year and a half of playing and making contributions, but I'm ready to take something else on that is larger in the sense of responsibility."

UW-Green Bay:

I loved the size of UWGB. It gave me the opportunity to work with talented people earlier on, and one-on-one, and it really shaped everything else. My career would have been totally different..."

Appreciation:

"I would just like to say thanks to the faculty. They really gave me a great experience and a good foundation for the things that came next."