Alumni take their Wharton knowledge—which includes the knowledge they continue to gain from one another—and they put that knowledge into action every day. The impact of their work advances economies and societies worldwide. Their stories of success are many.
This issue highlights seven prominent alumni, each answering a range of questions about their careers, their Wharton experiences and their personal lives. But one takeaway from all the interviews was the importance—the centrality—of their Wharton experience in all that they have become today.
Doug Peterson, WG’85, new president of Standard & Poor’s, leads one of the top international ratings firms during perhaps its most important time. He came on board soon after S&P downgraded the United States, and was firmly in place when in January 2012 it downgraded several European nations. His company is in some ways driving the course of developments in the global financial markets, and is under heavy political and public scrutiny.
For Peterson, Wharton was a “transformational experience” that helped him during his 25 years of career advancement at Citigroup and now in his current position.
“I was looking for Wharton to be a way to give me a different view of strategy, of international business, of finance and accounting … in a sense, both broader strategic and management skills, and then also the technical and financial skills,” he tells us. “I have continued to apply all of those viewpoints.”
Thomas Gallagher, C’73, WG’75, managing director and CEO of Spectrum Capital Advisors, and a preeminent expert on the aviation and defense industries, particularly in the area of corporate finance, puts it this way: “There are very few days when I don’t get up and think about something that I learned at Wharton, either the way to frame a problem, the way to analyze a problem or the way to set up decision criteria.”
All of our one-on-one interviews with our Wharton alumni—the others being Janet Clark, WG’82; John “Jack” Smith, W’51, WG’52; Rosanna Ramos-Velita, G’92, WG’92; Marie J. Williams, G’95, WG’95; and Raj Venkataraman Iyer, WG’02—bore insight about the significance of Wharton knowledge and the amazing ways that each graduate has applied it toward real-world impact.
Throughout this issue, you will find the faces of these and many more alumni, all leaders in their own right. This issue highlights the lives of scores of your Wharton classmates and peers and represents their achievements, both professional and personal. The submitted Class Notes images show alumni at rest and at work around the world, with their friends and family members. Combined, they represent the quilt of achievement, the global and social impact, of Wharton alumni. Indeed, taken as a whole, the stories and faces in this issue reveal just how powerful and diverse the Wharton brand truly is.
