By Badger Insider Readers
I completed my BBA in the mid-1970s and was lucky to be hired into a tough job market. However, I knew in that first year of working for an automotive parts manufacturer that I wanted to be doing something else in my career. I had several conversations with Professor Neil Ford at the Wisconsin School of Business in 1976. He convinced me to return to campus and get an MBA in marketing. I completed that MBA in 1978 and was hired by a MedTech company. During my 30-year career, I worked for companies that worked with top doctors to find new ways to repair hearts and vascular disease. Professor Ford’s advice switched my career from working with the biggest auto parts retailers to figuring out how to find new therapies for improving the lives of people with cardiovascular disease. Thank you, Professor Ford. You changed the trajectory of my career, life, and the impact I had on the quality of the lives of others.
James Neupert ’75, MBA’78
Atherton, California
At the time of my registration for the MBA program in 1969, I had very high admission test scores and mediocre undergraduate grades. As Dean Blakely reviewed my record, he calmly informed me that graduate school would require more effort if I was going to make it. Thanks to Dean Blakely for putting just the right amount of fear in my heart. I made it.
David Brezinski MS’71
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Thank you, Professor Preston. When I arrived on campus in the fall of 1974, I wasn’t sure what my major course of study should be. I enrolled in a Principles of Advertising course taught by Professor Ivan Preston. His remarkable background in the advertising agency business and his low key, approachable teaching style inspired me to study marketing communications, which I fashioned into a 35-year career. Professor Preston died in 2011, but I’ll always remember him as the single most influential person in my college experience.
David Rizzo ’74
Fitchburg, Wisconsin
