"Under-Promise, and Over-Deliver"
An Interview with Chairman of the Board of Regents, James N. Scanlon
(Winter 2007 Newsletter)
After graduating from Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. in
history in 1981, James N. Scanlon entered the insurance business,
taking over as manager at James C. Scanlon Company and successfully
guiding this family business after the death of his father. He is
now Chairman of Scanlon, Guerra, Jacobsen & Burke Insurance
Brokers in Woodland Hills, California, a firm he founded in 1985
to undertake comprehensive risk management and insurance consulting.
Jim and his wife Maureen have eleven children, 8 daughters and
3 sons. Their oldest, Brenna graduated from Thomas Aquinas College
in 2006. The Scanlons are also members of Legatus, an organization
of Catholic business leaders.
Established in 2004, the Thomas Aquinas College Board of Regents
was created to both enable business leaders to take an active part
in the College’s financial development, and to help raise awareness
about the College’s unique program of Catholic liberal education.
Having joined the Board of Regents in its inaugural year, Jim Scanlon
now serves as its Chairman.
Q. How did you become involved with Thomas Aquinas College?
A. A classmate of mine from high school, Matt Gebken (’81),
went to the College, so I knew a little bit about it from him. Then
I met Tom and Terri Dillon through Legatus and really got to know
the College better. My daughter Brenna had a great experience there,
and we hope many more of the Scanlon children will attend Thomas
Aquinas College.
Q. Brenna wasn’t always so keen on attending the College
was she?
A. In the summer between her junior and senior years of high
school, Brenna, who was an exceptional soccer player, was getting
recruiting letters from all the schools she wanted to attend. It
just so happened that the Thomas Aquinas College high school summer
program coincided with a soccer tournament in which many of the
college coaches who were recruiting her would be out to see her
play. When we insisted that she attend the summer program instead,
she was not very happy. Well, after the two weeks of the summer
program, Brenna came home and announced she didn’t want to
play college soccer anymore. She wanted to go to Thomas Aquinas
College. To this day, she’s had no regrets.
Q. How does the College’s Board of Regents differ from
the Board of Governors?
A. The Board of Regents is a fairly new organization in the
history of Thomas Aquinas College. We are a group that has been
called to action, and our role should bring a lot of value to the
College. The Board of Regents is not as consultative perhaps as
the Board of Governors, but we work closely with the Governors and
the President to further the College’s mission. For instance,
the Regents’ up-coming golf tournament, to be held this May
21st at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California,
has a two-fold purpose. First, since one of our main priorities
is to raise money for the school, proceeds from the event will be
earmarked for scholarships. Secondly, a golf tournament of this
caliber will raise the public profile of the College and increase
awareness of it in the local community. The summer intern program
that Mark Kretschmer (’99) runs so well accomplishes the same
thing.
Q. Do you participate in that program?
A. Yes. And I’ll tell you why: The single biggest problem
we have today is finding qualified employees who can think. So,
not only do I participate in the Thomas Aquinas College intern program,
I encourage other businesses in the area to do likewise. Business
owners, if they’re good leaders of their firms, need to be
looking over the horizon for the next good employee. I now have
two Thomas Aquinas College graduates working for me full-time, and
I would like to hire more because they are really outstanding.
Q. How do you envision the Board of Regents in the future?
A. I hope we can continue to make bigger contributions in
our fundraising activities, in promoting awareness of the College,
and in whatever tasks the Board of Governors and the President may
ask us to carry out. Our unofficial motto is “under-promise,
and over-deliver.” We are trying to stick to that, move steadily
forward, and build a strong foundation for the Regents so we in
turn can really contribute to the College.
-- Qtrly Newsletter, Winter 2007
|
