Paul Edgerley '78 & Terry Matlack '78
An Interview with the CBA Campaign Co-Chairs
Paul Edgerley has been managing director at Bain Capital, a private investment firm based in Boston, Mass. with more than $64 billion in assets under management, since 1990. He focuses on investment in the industrial and consumer product sectors. He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and has volunteered to be the fund raising co-chair for the business building campaign.
Terry Matlack is managing director at Tortoise Capital Advisors in Leawood, Kan. He is one of the five founders of the firm, which has more than $11.8 billion in assets under management through seven NYSE-listed closed-end investment companies, two open mutual funds and separately managed accounts. He is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council and with Edgerley,his college friend, he is the fund raising co-chair for the business building campaign.
Calvin Today: What is your day like?
Paul Edgerley: A little crazy. We are a global investment firm. My day often starts early with calls to Europe and often ends late with calls to Asia. It is demanding, but it is also very exciting.
Terry Matlack: My days are fairly unpredictable. Generally, I am planning and coordinating, learning, educating my team, or implementing my part of our business plans. We are an investment firm that manages publicly traded investment funds and private accounts. It is an always-changing environment requiring a wide variety of skills and talents.
CT: What impact has Kansas State and the CBA had on your life?
TM: It has impacted me in many ways. First, the people I have met and continue to meet through Kansas State have been a constant source of inspiration and support, both personally and in my business. For example, Paul and I met while undergraduates at Kansas State, and have remained lifelong friends. Second, while at the university I learned many skills that enabled me to provide “value add” in my endeavors, and to pass certain exams that were necessary to advance professionally. Third, I learned that I could compete; I left Kansas State with a feeling that this small town boy from South Central Kansas could offer something of value to the world.
PE: Kansas State had a huge impact on my life. Kansas State is where I develop an interest in business and developed the leadership and people skills that have been critical to my success. K-State was excellent preparation for my first job in public accounting in Kansas City, my advanced education at Harvard Business School and finally my ultimate career in the investment business.
CT: How will the new building affect the College of Business Administration at Kansas State?
PE: The building is the cornerstone of an overall strategy for the business college. The new building will make it both easier to attract great students, and produce and environment and technology to make it possible to get better education. The net effect is that students will be better prepared for their careers, obtain better job opportunities that will positively affect their lives.
CT: What drives you to give your time fund raising for this building?
PE: You always have a desire to give back to things that have impacted your life. I have been fortunate to have gone to a college with great professors and great students. We can put the next generations of people who grow up in Kansas in a position to learn about business and get an extraordinary education.
CT: Why is this the right time for Kansas State alumni and friends to give to this project?
TM: Our new building will be serving students, faculty and the public for many decades after we are gone. Projects like this, with this lasting impact, only come around so often and it is a great feeling to be a part of that effort!
PE: The College of Business Administration is at an inflection point. The school has made great progress over the past decade, thanks to the efforts of former Dean Yar Ebadi. The hiring of Ali Malekzadeh has accelerated the school’s improvement, Ali has brought a clear vision and new programs to drive the school in a very positive direction. Kansas State has an amazing leadership Ali, Kirk Schulz (president of the university), John Currie (director of athletics) and Fred Cholick (president and chief executive officer or the Kansas State University Foundation), they all have driven the university in a very positive direction. The new building will allow us to take the business college to the next steps and be one of the premier business colleges in the Midwest.
CT: How do you envision alumni and student interactions/networking will change in the next ten years?
TM: Networking will become an even more important part of both the university and all of its constituencies. The distinction between “on campus” and “off campus” will continue to fade, and we will all be more connected. Students will be more diverse, in every way. The personal interaction that occurs in our new building will continue to be a key component of the university experience; however the touch and reach of those interactions will be multiplied by our communication networks and capabilities.
CT: What’s your favorite of all the proposed features of the new building?
TM: The feature I like most is the atrium with coffee shop, a great place for students and visitors of any type to gather and be in a great area of the campus. It will really be a beacon calling for people to “spend time here!” I am sure students will be discussing things like whether QE3 will work or the beauty of securities market line. Also, the updated audio visual components will be very helpful throughout the building. Floors that don’t creak will be another plus!
Online Exclusive Questions
CT: You are an Executive Mentor and interact with students when you are on campus. How do you envision alumni and student interactions/networking will change in the next ten years?
PE: This was Ali’s vision. He implemented the Executive Mentor program, which is one of the most valuable parts of this college, it is applied education. The program gives students a chance to both learn and talk to people who have been there before them, and understand what the career entails. The program will continue to blossom as more alumni take on the role of mentors. In this positive direction, the program will evolve so that the student and mentor relationships will have even more impact over time.
CT: What have you learned working together and with Dean Ali through fund raising for this project?
PE: I've realized that there are a tremendous number of alumni who are very generous with their money and time, and care a lot about Kansas State University. It is incredible the amount of support that we have, and what we have been able to accomplish.
TM: There are many people that become involved in an effort like this, including most importantly, of course, the donors, but also the Foundation, the university’s administration, the faculty and many others. Dean Ali’s passion has been a spark that has helped us all get this moving. Paul and I, as co-chairs, have really enjoyed working on it and will get the best benefit of all- getting to meet a lot of K-Staters along the way that are willing to help.
CT: How will a new building affect the College of Business Administration and Kansas State?
TM: Our surroundings impact how we feel, how we move and how we interact. Anyone that has been in the new Alumni Center, for example, knows how much that new structure impacted the Alumni Association and the entire University. We need a new building for the College of Business Administration that will facilitate the collaboration of students, graduates, faculty, and businesses in learning and solving problems in a new way. It must have open meeting spaces, technology that encourages new methods of learning and teaching, and inviting gathering places for both social and business interaction in a comfortable setting. While a building alone cannot make our college great, we are raising funds to support the four factors we believe will make the Kansas State College of Business Administration even stronger: scholarships to attract great students, endowments to support the finest faculty, enhancements of program offerings, and a world class facility designed, as the saying goes, to move at the speed of business. Each of these feed upon the other, but one of the greatest needs right now is the new building.
CT: What’s your favorite of all the proposed features of the new building?
PE: The upside down classrooms, where lectures offered either remotely or online, and the classroom experience is more of a lab experience. This is my favorite part, the chance to integrate technology that will transform the education experience. Education is changing, technology is changing the way students learn.
Summer 2013
