Comments:
Jim did such a nice job updating his profile, so I thought I would update mine as well. He really has done super well for himself and was such a saint in watching over our mother these last 10 years. He earned a one way ticket to heaven for all he did for her during this time.
As for me, after HS I finally obtained my 4 year degree (in 6 or so years) from Buena Vista in Ft Dodge. Those years were full of highs and lows and had many challenges - mostly self inflicted. After graduating from BV I wasn't able to find much work so I went on to grad school earning my MBA from Iowa State Univ. I got married during this time and we had 2 daughters. I enjoyed grad school in Ames and got my Master's thesis related to corporate social responsibility and Boards of Directors published in an academic journal - The Journal of Business Strategies.
After graduation, we moved to St Louis where I had 3 brothers and I started my work career. My first real job was with Union Pacific Railroad in their customer service center in STL. I oversaw their $60m budget and then went to work in the mortgage industry and then at a bank where I became an Asst VP and member of the Board Audit Committee. I obtained my CPA during this time as well as my CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor designation) and next went to work for RGA Reinsurance Company - the employer I still work for. This company located in STL is a member of the Fortune 300. At RGA I worked my way up to Director of International Audit. This was a great role because I got to see the world. I've been to numerous locations including Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, South Africa, England, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Argentina, Canada and throughout the US visiting our branches and subsidiaries and client companies we do business with. Some of these locations I've been to numerous times. I earned 5 additional designations in the life insurance industry during this time including my FLMI - Fellow Life Managers Institute designation - which allows me to call myself a fellow.
A few years ago after getting married for a 2nd time I moved to the Finance area at RGA where I oversaw the Asia Pacific Segment financials ($1.2 billion in revenues) as well as prepare, present and oversee the financials for the RGA Global entity. I've attended and presented at Board meetings in the US, Bermuda, Australia and the UK - where incidentally one member is an Earl and another a Duke. They were nice but a bit difficult to understand.
I was single during most my years at RGA as I went through a divorce in 2000. On one trip where I flew literally around the world from Chicago to London to Edinburgh back to London to Hong Kong through LAX and back home, I met my to be wife - Catherine. We met in Shenzhen outside Hong Kong and have been married since 2007.
Late last year i was given the opportunity to work abroad. I moved back to the Audit Department and was given the task of setting up a Regional Internal Audit Department in Hong Kong. I again get to travel and see Asia and Australia and Hong Kong is a lot different than the big FD.
I do talk to Jim frequently as well as my daughters and friends in the STL area. I am now a big Cardinals fan as well as a Kurt Warner, IA Hawkeye and any team or person coming from IA fan. I look forward to seeing FD and our classmates and seeing what everyone is up to.
