Gratitude

Improving who I am as a person is something that has been a lifelong exercise. I have significantly reduced my anger, overcome most of my fears, and developed empathy, compassion and, most importantly, gratitude.

The truest legacy is a loving family that includes children and grandchildren. I have been blessed with a wonderful family.

It’s been my passion to help people realize their own ability to excel. My success in business has been due to my ability to assemble groups of dedicated people to achieve a particular mission that satisfies employees/partners, stakeholders and clients.

My alma mater was my first real home. The University of Rochester was a well-regarded university but there was untapped potential to make it even better. I believe a university cannot be great without an engaged and generous alumni, and at the time, Rochester had not done some of the things required to engage its alumni. As the Chairman of Board of Trustees, I had a wonderful time helping build that engagement. Our efforts resulted in the raising of the largest capital campaign ($1.37 billion) in the school’s history, which produced record numbers of new professorships, programs, and scholarships, as well as building $900 million of new facilities.  Being part of this was a wonderful experience.       

Earning a scholarship to go to the University of Rochester meant that I was able to attend college and it changed my life. Today, I love being able to help people like myself who have academic capability but lack the financial resources to go to college. They really appreciate the opportunity, and it gives them the chance to achieve the American dream. There’s terrific satisfaction in helping people who you know will make the world a better place.

It was a pleasure to help create the Entrepreneur’s Toolkit at the Harvard Business School while I was president of the Alumni Association. Professor Myra Hart, and later Professor Lynda Applegate, created and then transformed this course into one of the most popular and successful courses in executive education.  Harvard Business School changed my life, and I was glad I could make a small contribution to its success. 

In 1994, I decided, with help of many others, to build a golf course on the island of Nantucket. Building a golf course is actually creating art with a bulldozer. Our golf course preserved more than 300 acres of the island’s interior. A few years after it opened, the membership created a charity that is now the island’s largest, and it funds scholarships for Nantucket students and as many as 40 other charities on the island.

Writing my memoir has taken seven years. It began as a way to preserve the stories of my life for my children and grandchildren. What I didn’t expect was all that I would learn by seeing my thoughts written down on paper. It gave me a greater understanding of my decisions and provided insights into the whys and how’s of my life. My hope is that by writing this book I might play a small role in making someone’s life’s journey a little easier.