Executive Profiles
The Education of Mayor McGinn
Hizzoner slides through the crowd, baseball cap in hand. There is no great to-do about his presence; Mike McGinns style doesnt demand it. Hes no glad-hander and the occasion is solemna Wedgwood neighborhood memorial walk for the family struck down on a March afternoon by a drunken driver. Clad in brown cords and tucked-in blue…
Executive Q&A: Windermere Real Estate CEO Geoff P. Wood
In 1994, Windermere founder John Jacobi brought his son-in-law, Geoff Wood, into the company to help run the rapidly growing business. Wood, CEO since 1999, works with his wife, Jill Jacobi Wood, and his brother-in-law, John OB Jacobi, to run Windermere, which includes 297 offices and 5,723 real estate agents across the western United States…
Lifestyles of The Rich & Not So Famous
Remember that scene in My Fair Lady where Eliza Doolittle goes to the Ascot races dressed like a blueblood but makes a bloomin arse of herself every time she opens her mouth? Hold that image. I cant afford valet parking at the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, let alone the $500-plus ticket to attend the Seattle…
Executive Q & A: Itron CEO Philip Mezey
In January, Philip Mezey became CEO of Itron, a company with $2.4 billion in sales last year. Mezey, who has a background in history and software, is intent on transforming the Spokane-area maker of smart meters into a technology-intensive business with an expertise in smart grids and smart cities. EDUCATION: I studied history at the…
Executive Q & A: Chris Schmidt, chairman & CEO of Moss Adams
This month, Chris Schmidt takes the helm of Moss Adams, an enterprise with 2,000 employees and record revenues last year of $343 million. The company is the largest accounting firm in Washington and Oregon and among the largest in California and Arizona. It also has offices in New Mexico and Kansas. EARLY YEARS: I grew…
Executive Q&A: UW Medicine CEO Paul Ramsey, M.D.
As head of a sprawling medical institution with a $3.2 billion budget and a strong, globally respected presence in medical education, health service and research, Paul Ramsey has navigated rapid changes in the way medicine is researched, taught and delivered. YOUTH: I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My father was a CPA at American Standard,…
Talking Points: Robert Peters Washington state president, Bank of America
Bob Peters took over the Washington operations of Bank of America in 2009, just as the bank faced a subprime mortgage crisis tied to its acquisition of troubled Countrywide Financial. Now, Peters is leading a drive to get the bank, which built its dominant local presence through the acquisition of Seafirst Bank in 1983, to…
Executive Q&A: Stephen A. White President/CEO, Milliman
YOUTH: I was born in Oregon but came to Seattle when I was 4. My dad was the city manager of Mountlake Terrace for over 25 years. I was the numbers guy in the family. I went to ODea High School, then the University of Notre Dame, where I was a walk-on on the football…
J. Gregory Seibly President and CEO, Sterling Financial Corporation
YOUTH: When I was a kid, my father worked as general counsel for a horseshoe manufacturing company in Lodi, California, near Sacramento. He had been a horse racing fan all his life. I went to plenty of horse races and my dad still owns interest in a couple of horses, but Im just a watcher….
Executive Q&A: Maud Daudon, President/CEO, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
EARLY YEARS: I grew up outside Chicago, where my father was a corporate lawyer. He loved the law, and was a huge participant in civic lifevery involved in United Way. My mother was on the board of Planned Parenthood for years. My parents were both Republicans in the days when Republicans were centrists, like Dan…
John Jastrem, Chairman & CEO, Callison
EARLY LIFE: I was raised in Plains, Pennsylvania. My father was involved in the Manhattan Project during World War II. He was in the military police and also cooked for some of the guys. He knew all the scientists. FIRST JOB: My uncles were entrepreneurs who believed in child labor so I started working very…
Cover Story: Kemper Freeman Jr.
Ever since Miller Freeman moved from Seattle to the rural Eastside in 1927, his family’s fate and fortune have been closely entwined with Bellevue’s. Miller Freeman’s son and grandson helped transform the farming hamlet into a bedroom community and then into a major commercial center with its own bustling malls and skyscrapers. Now, as Bellevue…
Jay Inslee’s uphill battle
At the annual Kitsap County Democratic dinner in February, Nancy Nystrom pushed through the crowd looking for Jay Inslee, the seven-term congressman and Democratic candidate for governor of Washington. When Nystrom spotted him, she marched up, her head barely reaching Inslees shoulders, and laid out why Kitsap County needs a four-year college. Inslee listened intently…