Tag: Olin100

Jerry Kent is a recognized entrepreneur and trailblazer in the telecommunications and technology industries with an outstanding track record for customer service and delivering superior returns for investors. Prior to assuming the role of TierPoint’s CEO, he served as its chairman. He also serves as CEO of Cequel III, which he co-founded in January 2002.

Cequel III is a technology management company. Previously, the Cequel III team built AAT Communications into the largest privately owned cell tower company in the United States before selling that enterprise in 2006. Cequel III and Jerry also managed Suddenlink Communications, building it into the seventh largest U.S. cable company with operating results among the best in its industry before it was sold to Altice Group in 2015 for an enterprise value of $9.1 billion.

Jerry began his career as a CPA with Arthur Andersen in 1979, and in 1983 left to head up acquisitions and finance for an upstart cable company, Cencom Cable Associates, Inc. He later became CFO of Cencom, which grew by acquisition and eventually served 550,000 customers in the U.S. before it was sold in 1991.

Jerry and Judy Kent sponsor the Kent Scholarship Fund which currently provides partial-to-full tuition scholarships for 18 BSBA students.
©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

After serving a year with Cencom’s acquirer, Jerry left and co-founded Charter Communications, Inc., in January 1993. He led Charter to become one of the 10 largest cable operators in the U.S., serving 1.3 million customers. In 1998, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen acquired Charter, providing substantial rewards for Charter’s private investors. Jerry continued as President and CEO, growing Charter to serve more than 7 million customers and making it the nation’s fourth largest cable company at the time. The company went public in November 1999, in what was then the third-largest IPO in U.S. history. Charter consistently led the industry in superior operating results and from the IPO date until September 2001, the month Jerry left, Charter’s was the best performing public cable stock.

A native of the St. Louis metropolitan area, Jerry is very active in the community, serving on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for his alma mater, Washington University, and on the Olin National Council from which he earned his bachelor’s degree and MBA. He is Vice Chairman of The Magic House/St. Louis Children’s Museum Board. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the St. Louis Zoo and Chairman of the St. Louis Zoological Park Subdistrict Commission.

Source: Cequel III


Bob Virgil was drafted in 1958 after graduating from Beloit College in Wisconsin. He was stationed at Ft. Leonard Wood and discovered St. Louis on weekends when he was on leave. Virgil had majored in English, but thought it might be a good idea to pursue a higher degree in business. That decision would forever change the direction of his life and begin his dedication to an institution that became known as the John M. Olin Business School.

In this video from our Centennial series, Dean Emeritus, Bob Virgil, tell his story of coming to Washington University in 1958.

Read more on the Olin100 website.

Share your memories on social media with #Olin100




Contrary to the size of the crowd at Olin’s Centennial Gala in April, not everyone in the Olin community could be in St. Louis for the celebration. So, Professor Kurt Dirks decided to take the celebration to his Executive MBA students in Mumbai.

Dirks, the Bank of America Professor of Leadership, packed a few extra centennial t-shirts in his bag when he traveled to India last week to teach Batch (class) 2 in the joint program with IIT-Bombay. “They are extremely proud of being Olin students,” Dirks reported. “They all showed up to class the next day wearing their Olin t-shirts! Very cool to experience.”

So, of course, they had to take a photo and share it on social media. Thanks, Batch 2 EMBAs for wearing your Olin pride on your sleeves, literally!!

Where have you been wearing your Olin100 t-shirt recently? Tweet us or share on Instagram or Facebook with #Olin100

 




Katie Wools, Creative Director in Olin’s Marketing & Communications department, is a Gold Winner in the 2017 Hermes Creative Awards competition for her poster design that promoted this year’s Shakespeare at Olin event.

Katie, who is a freelance illustrator with children’s books to her credit, was quick to say that the poster was a team effort. “Paula Crews, Judy Milanovits, Cathy Myrick—all members of our MarComm team—and I, first met to discuss concepts for the poster. Dean Taylor approved, and then I got to work on a sketch—Cathy laid in the type.”

Katie says the Dean made a great suggestion when he saw the initial sketch. “It was his idea to put Juliet on top of Brookings Hall to mimic the iconic balcony scene from Romeo & Juliet. It was brilliant!”

It was also Dean Taylor’s idea to stage the first-ever Shakespeare at Olin, held April 23, in honor of the Bard’s 453rd birthday. Katie also designed banners that decorated the tent on Mudd Field where several local professional theater groups and WashU students performed scenes from Shakespeare.  Link here for complete program.

Photo by Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

Pen and ink and watercolor are Katie’s illustrating media. Once complete she scans the artwork into a digital file. For the Shakespeare poster, she added a parchment-like background and a “few other tweaks” in PhotoShop. Total time for the project? Katie estimates 20 hours, but who’s counting? “It was such a fun project I didn’t keep track. I am never happier than when I get to work on a project like this,” Katie said.

At right, Katie’s illustration of William Shakespeare was blown up to five feet tall for a fun selfie station complete with Elizabethan props and quotes from the Bard’s plays.

“Hand illustration is definitely a disappearing art,” said Katie. “Working in traditional media is scary. If a client makes a change to your digital illustration it is often an easy fix in PhotoShop. If they make a change to your painting, you sometimes have to start all over again. But I use both traditional and digital techniques in my art. When I am done with a watercolor, I often make small tweaks in photoshop to clean it up. But I am still careful to maintain the integrity of the original painting.”

 


Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media. Hermes Creative Awards recognizes outstanding work in the industry while promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals.

Hermes Creative Awards is administered by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (www.amcpros.com). The international organization consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, digital media production and free-lance professionals. AMCP oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and awards outstanding achievement and service to the profession.

 




It was a once-in-a-century celebration. From festivities feting the 2017 Distinguished Alumni and all previous honorees, to an explosion of fireworks on Mudd Field, Olin’s Centennial Celebration Gala was a night to remember. The evening began with the Distinguished Alumni Awards, where Dean Mark Taylor welcomed more than 700 guests and Olin Alumni Board President Alex Borchert served as Master of Ceremonies. Video tributes and introductions to each awardee were viewed before they accepted the Distinguished Alumni honor. Former Dean Mahendra Gupta and his wife Sunita Gharg received the Dean’s Medal. Chancellor Wrighton addressed the audience before the unveiling of a final video outlining Dean Taylor’s vision for Olin’s second century.

The celebration continued on all three levels of the Atrium, which had been transformed into an extraordinary event space by lights, candles, and a 12 foot by 40 foot digital wall displaying 100 years of history in words, video, and archival photos. Live music and food stations, serving everything from sushi to bangers and mash, were enjoyed by several generations of alumni, professors, staff, and friends of Olin.

Click image to expand. Photos by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

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