November 2020
About
Department/School/Division: Financial Systems/Controller’s Office/Finance Division
Campus: WTC (primarily)
Years at Loyola: 6.5
What is your favorite thing about working at Loyola? Honestly, it’s probably our Catholic/Jesuit mission (more on that below). But beyond that, it’s spontaneous elevator rides with Sr. Jean. It’s taking a lunch break at the LSC campus in summer and watching the Lake Michigan waves crash onto the rocks. It’s the kindness and commitment of my colleagues in Finance and across the university. It’s the raucously joyful Christmas open house at the Damen Center. And a million other things. I’m incredibly lucky.
What is your most memorable achievement as a Loyola employee? If we’re expanding the definition a bit, probably my most memorable Loyola achievement was completing my MBA degree from Quinlan School of Business last year. With four little kids, it took me nearly 5 years to do it (special thanks to my very patient wife), but that’s probably what made it so satisfying. In terms of my work as an employee, I might have to say “January” is my most memorable achievement. What I mean by that is that January at Loyola has always meant tax season for me. From my first role in Payroll Services to my next role in Accounts Payable to my current role in Financial Systems, I’ve always been involved in getting various tax forms processed, analyzed, and shipped out to employees, students, and the IRS. It may not be glamorous, but there’s a certain adrenaline rush and feeling of fulfillment when you get thousands of W-2’s or 1098-T tax forms out the door by the deadline!
What does Loyola's mission mean to you? I’ve felt connected to Loyola’s mission from Day 1. At my new employee orientation, John Hardt from over at the Medical Center related a story about St. Ignatius, this holy guy, furiously haggling over the cost of a foot of pipe with a contractor who was helping to build one of the first Jesuit universities. The point was that God can be found in everything - even in the mundane and practical details of helping maintain or build an institution. And as someone who has spent much of his career working more or less behind the scenes in Higher Ed Finance and Accounting, this has really stayed with me over the years. What I do day in and day out may not be overtly spiritual or glamorous, but I believe it matters. It’s that old metaphor about the body and all of its members working together for the good of the whole. Without the careful, hard work that gets done behind the scenes, the larger “body” of Loyola would be weaker. So I take a ton of pride in doing my small part to keep Loyola strong.
What motivates you to succeed each and every day? Fear of not having a job?!? Seriously, though, I think working hard and taking pride in your work has been ingrained in me from a very young age. Probably a ton of credit for that goes to my parents who are some of the hardest working people I know. I want my own kids to have that kind of example as well. It also helps that I love what I’m doing. I get to be curious and creative and detail-oriented, and that makes going to the (virtual) office a ton of fun.
Tell us how you show your Rambler pride: My favorite shirt that I own is a maroon Loyola 2018 Final Four shirt. It’s soft, fits perfect, and reminds me every time I wear it of that miracle run to San Antonio. I told my eight year old son this week that I’m not sure we’ll ever be lucky enough to experience that again. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “well, maybe not in your lifetime dad, but definitely in mine.”
Tell us something most people at Loyola would be surprised to know about you: In another life I was an international radio broadcaster in Bonn, Germany. It was my first job out of college to report, produce, and host English language radio stories and shows for Deutsche Welle Radio, Germany’s international broadcast network. After a couple of years I decided it was time to come back to the states and put down some roots, but I’ll never regret my time along the banks of the Rhine. If you need proof, here’s a link to one of my old radio stories that aired way back when: True Love Has Deep Roots and Leaves and Branches
