Top-level Executives Attribute Success to Ripon
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hat happens when a student graduates from Ripon College and steps out into the “real world” with a liberal arts degree? Three graduates who have become top-level executives in the healthcare industry say their undergraduate experiences at Ripon had a hand in getting them to where they are today and led to some surprising interactions along the way. Bob Malte ’76 of Littleton, Colo., and Kevin Sheridan ’82 of Wilmette, Ill., both majored in economics at Ripon; and Robert Brandfass ’83 of Morgantown, W.Va., majored in politics and government. “Ripon enabled me to be wellprepared, to listen, to ask good questions, to learn from every experience (including your mistakes) and person and to be a student for life,” Malte says. “My main job as CEO [of Exempla Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge, Colo.] is to create an environment in which our staff and doctors can be their best every day. I think that’s the same role Ripon plays in the life of its students. [Ripon taught me] the value of hard work, the blessing of good friends and memories for life.” Malte started working in a hospital in his hometown of Chicago during summer vacations from Ripon, and it did not take him long to discover his love for not only the hospital environment, but also the impact that these establishments and the people who work and practice in them, have on others. Working in an organization with more than 2,000 physicians, nurses, support staff and volunteers, Malte now has the opportunity to enjoy the hospital environment on an entirely different level. Sheridan became aware of the healthcare market at a young age, thanks to his father’s role as a labor relations consultant helping organiza-
Bob Malte ’76
Kevin Sheridan ’82
tions remain non-union. This exposure, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit, his time at Ripon and graduate studies at Harvard Business School, directed Sheridan to become founder and CEO of the Chicago-based HR Solutions International Inc., a human capital management consulting firm that specializes in employee engagement and exit survey design, implementation and results. Although HR Solutions does not confine itself to one industry, it does largely specialize in healthcare, which, according to Sheridan, did not occur by accident. “Given the fact that there are huge generational changes going on with an aging workforce and an aging population, healthcare has been and continues to be a growth industry and the one that HR Solutions targeted deliberately because it’s a good industry to be in,” he says. He says being president of Ripon’s judiciary board gave him the skills required for his role as CEO, “especially in the aspect of having to make certain tough calls and difficult decisions,” he says. “Quite humorously, half of the people that were brought up in front of the judiciary board were fraternity brothers of mine, so I had to establish a delicate balance of
Robert Brandfass ’83
maintaining those relationships, but also upholding the judicial law. “Serving as president of Ripon’s judiciary board gave me the additional benefit of providing me a very keen opportunity to develop a relationship with the dean of men, as well as the president of the College. Each of these leaders ended up giving me great references, which ultimately helped me to be accepted by Harvard Business School for my graduate studies.” Additionally, Sheridan says, Ripon was small enough that he was not lost in a sea of students, unlike larger schools. “Thankfully, I went to Ripon,” he says. “The school’s size created an environment where one is apt to get involved and grow personally.” Brandfass says that his Ripon College liberal arts education provided him with a broad-based education in which he studied a variety of subjects. “This gives you a better working knowledge of the world around you,” he says. “It taught me how to think, how to learn and how to problem-solve while being flexible and nimble — just what you need to be a vice president and general counsel.” After Ripon, Brandfass attended law school at Case Western Reserve University. He went to work as a trial attorney in 1986 for a law firm that defended
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