PROGRESS MAGAZINE - Eller College of Management - University ...

ALUMNI NOTES &PROFILESHe Shoots, He ScoresRobert G. Sarver, BSBA Accounting ‘82Chairman and CEO, Western Alliance BancorporationMajority Owner, Phoenix SunsALUMNIprofileNews FROM ALUMNIUpdate your contact information and tell us what’s new: www.EllerCommunity.comFor Robert Sarver, majority owner of thePhoenix Suns and chairman and CEO of WesternAlliance Bancorporation, success is equal partspersistence, chance-taking, and partnership withtrusted friends.“When you’re young, you look at people who aredoing well — at people who are heading up bigcompanies — and you think, I could never do that,”he says. “As you get older, you realize these peopleare just like you, and I always had confidencein myself.”At the age of 23, Sarver became the youngestperson ever to found a national bank. “During mysenior year of college, I started working on thebusiness plan with my finance professor RobertWallace,” he says. Sarver graduated a semesterearly so he could focus on studying for the CPAexam, and applied to a couple of grad schools, butwasn’t accepted. “So I just kept plugging away onthe business plan, eventually secured investors, andthen on November 26, 1984, the National Bank ofTucson [now National Bank of Arizona] opened onWilmot,” he says.In 1994, Sarver sold the company — which hadbecome the largest independent bank in Arizona.But it wasn’t the only venture he started withUA connections.“I met a lot of great friends in college who I stilldo business with,” he says. “Mark Schlossberg andScott Douglas are my partners in a real estate business,Southwest Value Partners.” Among its otheractivities, the firm acquired and sold a large officeportfolio in downtown San Diego. “Over the last 15years, we've bought and sold over a billion dollarsof real estate,” Sarver says. “Often time, success inbusiness is directly related to the people. It’s likethat saying, you’re better off in a bad deal withgood partners than a good deal with bad partners.”A UA connection also put Sarver on the path tobuying an NBA franchise. UA men’s basketballcoach Lute Olson put Sarver in touch with SteveKerr, a 15-year NBA veteran, who helped the bankerbecome the majority owner of the Suns in 2004.Robert Sarver photoRobert Sarver on the basketball court with his son Zach.That year the Suns enjoyed the third-greatest turnaround in league history.“The goal is always to win a championship, and we’ve come pretty closethese last three years I’ve owned the team,” he says.But franchise ownership offers another perk: “It’s a business I can enjoywith my family,” Sarver says. “We go to games together, and follow allthe scores.”The importance of family is also apparent in Sarver’s philanthropic efforts.He and his wife, Penny, recently donated $1 million to build the PhoenixFamily Museum, and Sarver sits on the board of the Sarver Heart Center atThe University of Arizona. Sarver helped build the Center in honor of hislate father, Jack.“Early in my career, I volunteered my time, and now that my time isconstrained with running a public company and with family, I donatemoney,” explains Sarver. “The number one reason I do it is that I enjoy it.It makes me feel good.”IN MEMORIAMLina Maria Giraldo Castellanos, national commercial manager for theapparel line D’Moda in Pereira, Columbia, was shot minutes after leavingwork on the evening of July 17, 2007. She died later at the hospital.The eldest of three sisters, Lina was 30.Lina earned her MBA at the Eller College of Management in 2002 withconcentrations in finance and marketing. She moved to Bogota aftergraduation, but spent the last three and a half years in Pereira, workingfor D’Moda. “A great talent has been lost,” says her cousin Alvaro PelaezCastellanos, who is an associate and manager of the company’swarehouse facilities.1960sTim Plodinec ’69 BSBA Area DevelopmentTim is the accounts receivable director of RedChamber Co. in Verona, Calif.1980sSusan Molloy ’81 MBAIn January, Susan and her husband Mike Molloywere featured with their reference website AcronymFinder in The Wall Street Journal.susan.molloy@gmail.comHelayne Blovin ’82 BSBA AccountingHelayne is the controller for Counsel on Call, aprivate women-owned business that has beenselected to the Inc. 500 list for the past three years.She is responsible for all accounting functionsof the company as well as supervision of alltechnology matters and HR functions.hBlouin@bellsouth.netKelly Baker ’88 BSBA ManagementKelly manages, standardizes, and leads continuousimprovement initiatives related to inventorymanagement processes across North and SouthAmerican mining operations for Phelps Dodge.kcb_tjl@yahoo.com1990sKevin Kruszenski ’91 BSBA BusinessKevin was recently named director of equity tradingfor Keybanc Capital Markets. He oversees listedNasdaq program and corporate services tradingdesks while supervising a team on the New YorkStock Exchange.kevko@sbcglobal.netScott Pleyte ’93 BSBA MarketingScott worked with the San Antonio Spurs wherehe built their email marketing program fanloyalty program as well as database marketingsystem. In 2006 he accepted a MarketingManager position with Time Warner where hehas been involved with improving its online andemail marketing as well as expanding newproducts and programming.uofatexan@yahoo.comAndrea Barrett-Casertano ’94 BSBAMarketing/EntrepreneurshipAndrea is the owner/publisher of two real estatemagazines, Homes & Land and Estates & Homesof Tucson and Southern Arizona.abc24@cox.netAnna Marie Delgado ’94 BSBA AccountingAnna Marie is a real estate agent at WindermereTucson High Desert Properties in Tucson.She specializes in residential primary andinvestment properties.AnnaMarie@AnnaMarieDelgado.comLety Santillan ’97 BSBA Marketingand ’02 MBALety is a principal project management liaisonfor Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson.letitoss@yahoo.comMichele Lee ’98 BSBA MIS/OMMichele is a merchandise planner for WilliamsSonoma in San Francisco.michelelee@yahoo.comNithin Lype ’99 MBANithin is an IT consultant for Ernst & YoungConsultancy in Safat, Kuait.Castellanos family photoLina Maria Giraldo CastellanosKelsie Schmit ’99 BSBA MIS, Marketing, andEntrepreneurshipKelsie founded KMS Billing Solutions, a providerof insurance billing services for chiropractors inPhoenix, Mesa, and Scottsdale, in June of 2005.She is a newlywed; her husband, Tim Hualde,is a firefighter in Buckeye, Ariz.kelsie_schmit@yahoo.com2000sFeliciano Garcia ’00 MBAFeliciano is a logistics manager of strategyplanning for IKEA in Tempe, Ariz.felgarce@yahoo.comTrisha Gardner ’00 BSBA Marketinggardneraz@yahoo.comBrad Stoler ’00 BSBA AccountingBrad recently opened a commodity and foreignexchange brokerage focusing on both institutionsand individuals in Michigan. bstoler@gmail.comYuping He ’01 BSBA MISYuping is a developer for Remittance andPayment Identification with IntelligentRemittance Recognition, which providesautomation security controls efficiencies andflexibility towards check and remittance imageprocessing in California.phoenicians@gmail.comHector Cueva-Rosas ’03 MBA MISHector is an information technology managerfor Magna International in Tucson.Bret Stoneking ’04 MBABret is head of quality assurance test and integrationand training for the global collaborative workenvironment of the Air Force Research Laboratory,which is headquartered at Wright-Patterson AirForce Base near Dayton, Ohio.bret.stoneking@wpafb.af.milDavid Whitehouse ’04 MBADavid is a business development / project managerbuilding a real estate management practice at aglobal management consulting firm headquarteredin Philadelphia, PA. He is currently working a REITon Wall Street organizing $80 billion in real estateassets in a property management database.dwhitehouse@smartgrp.comElise Alvidrez ‘05 MPAElise is a financial management specialist for theU.S. Department of Agriculture in Dallas, Texas.elisealvi@yahoo.comNavin Kanneganti ’05 BSBA AccountingNavin is an associate with PricewaterhouseCoopersin Dallas, Texas.navin.kanneganti@gmail.comSeung-Woo Lee ’05 MS MISSeung-Woo is an assistant manager for SamsungElectronics in Korea, where he is in charge of masterscheduling market analysis for SCM Process Design.seungwoolee@hotmail.comAlysha Perisho ’05 BSBA MISAlysha is a Technology Risk Consultant for Protivitiin Phoenix, Ariz.alysha.perisho@gmail.comKelly Tealdi ’05 BSBA MarketingKelly is currently an assistant vice president andsmall business relationship manager for JP MorganChase Bank. She manages all of the business bankingfor three different Chase branches in Tucson.kelly.k.tealdi@jpmchase.comIsaac Albrecht ’06 BSBA FinanceIsaac is a financial analyst with Raytheon MissileSystems in Tucson.Michelle Miller ’06 BSBA MarketingMichelle is an HR operations recruiter for StateFarm Insurance in Tempe, Ariz.Rajat Mittal ’06 MBARajat is the regional manager of strategy andplanning for the Asia Pacific and Greater Chinaregions for Johnson Controls, Inc. He is currentlyin Singapore, Japan.Marilu Perez ’06 BSBA ManagementMarilu is a client services representative withMission Management and Trust in Tucson.Carlos Romero ’06 BSBA Managementromero1984@gmail.comJose Salmeron ’06 BSBA FinanceJoe is an associate business analyst with SempraEnergy in San Diego, where he performs financialanalysis on capital projects and analyzes thefirm’s R&D equity portfolio in order tomaintain diversification.arturo11bravo@yahoo.comE L L E R C O L L E G E O F M A N A G E M E N T28 ELLER PROGRESS THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONAWWW.ELLER.ARIZONA.EDUFALL / WINTER 2007 29