From the Alumni Association:

Mary Small Poore, President—Alumni Association Board of Directors

My Final Reflection

With a deadline looming, I wondered how to pen my last Reflections article as President of the Siena Heights Alumni Association. Then I realized: my experiences in just the past month portrayed the story and essence of this University. As with any good story, the cast of characters is essential to the storyline. Allow me to share a few chapters of this Siena story and its people.

Chapter 1, Theatre Siena: My husband and I, plus 158 other Siena friends and alumni, shared a great evening in late March at the annual Alumni Dinner & Theater event. This affair, always a favorite of mine, exceeded all expectations. Dinner and decor in newly renovated Benincasa Hall was remarkable; and the musical that followed, “Chicago,” was one of the finest shows I’ve seen. Everything—acting, singing, choreography, music, set—was professional. Theatre Siena continues to produce exceptional talent; talent that, once it leaves our campus, goes into the community and far beyond.

Chapter 2, Academic Excellence: In April, I was honored to attend the first (and I hope annual) Scholarship Symposium. Students showcased research and academic achievements in all areas, sharing their knowledge with faculty, staff and the community. It was a privilege to meet these students, feel their passion and see their hard work. The faculty and staff who guided and mentored these students should also feel great pride and satisfaction; they have instilled in their students a lifelong quest for knowledge. I feel sure that many more opportunities will come to these students thanks to the challenge provided by their instructors.

From the Alumni Office:

Jennifer Hamlin Church, Associate VP for Advancement & Director of Alumni Relations

No Typical Alumni!

My first encounter with Siena Heights occurred 25 years ago when I answered a phone call for my husband, Tracy. The caller was a professor, my husband’s advisor, but he hadn’t seen Tracy for a while. I knew that Tracy had had other things on his mind: a wedding, a demanding job, kidney dialysis, a kidney transplant, and then a leg amputation. But this professor didn’t know any of that. He just knew Tracy was close to completing his B.A., and he didn’t want him to quit: “Tell him we hope he’ll come back,” he said. “We want him to finish that degree.”

I was dumbfounded. Who bothered to keep track of individual students and notice when they stopped out? What college took the time to call a part-time guy on the 27-year plan…and encourage him to keep going? Who did that?

Siena Heights did. Professor Bill Blackerby did.

Tracy’s graduation a few years later was another eye-opener. I had attended a traditional liberal arts college and worked at two others; there, a “typical” graduate was about 22 years old. But sitting in the Fieldhouse in 1993, I knew … knew in a new way … that no senior had worked harder to reach this day than my 45-year-old husband. And no family was any prouder of their graduate than we were. What an epiphany!

At that moment, I became a fan of non-traditional education.

Leader of Leaders

Steven West ’79 Uses His Experience to Help Others Succeed in Business

Steven West ’79 has learned by doing.

And for more than a decade, he has used his experience to help others start, manage and grow their own successful businesses.

West, co-founding partner of the San Francisco-based Emerging Company Partners LLC, has been a CEO, COO and board member at numerous high-growth, global businesses, from manufacturing to enterprise software companies. In fact, he was the CEO of Hitachi Data Systems for three years, and currently serves on the boards of billion dollar companies such as Cisco Systems and Autodesk. He has also started, built and sold companies. Now, he is guiding others on a similar path.

With more than 30 years of business experience in the technology field, he said his specialty is advising CEOs and executives of small start-up companies ($100 million or less).

“It’s a lot of mentoring,” West said of his work. “You have to have experience and be willing to work with people who don’t necessarily know what’s going on.”

Most of his days consist of travel (he operates out of what he calls a “virtual office”) and talking to people, either on the phone or in person at their business location. He said a good CEO is not born, but made.

“You really have to learn to interact with people. Listen to what they say. Pay attention,” he said of the common qualities of an effective business leader. “Those are things you get with real operating experience. It takes time and skill. It’s not something you’re born with.