GOOD BUSINESS
Deep roots of giving back His parents taught the value of hard work and a generous heart.
ALUMNI IMPACT
Providing internships, providing support
Photograph (bottom) by KRISTIN DAVIS ’19
I
N 2016, AT JUST 30 YEARS OLD,
Andy Wannemacher ’08 was named president of a complex logistics and manufacturing company with 150 people on the payroll. It was a high-pressure, prove-yourself moment. Three years into his tenure as president, both Wannemacher and the company are thriving — a fact Wannemacher credits to the University of Dayton. The magic, he said, comes from pairing the UD curriculum with the Marianist values and tradition of giving back. After graduating with a double major in finance and leadership, Wannemacher returned home to Lima, Ohio, and began working as a salesman for Wannemacher Total Logistics. His father had led the company since the early 1990s — transforming it from a local trucking operation into a diversified company with several sites across Ohio. Each rung on Wannamacher’s ladder to the top had to be earned. He rose from salesman to sales director and then to vice president. His earliest days at the company were anything but easy: As a teenager, Wannemacher worked part time sweeping floors and cleaning bathrooms. Today, the voices of faculty in UD’s School of Business Administration still ring in his ears. “A lot of the theories and strategies resonate,” he said.
FOR CURRENT LAW STUDENT
Marcus Vickers and his fellow classmates, spring was unlike anything they’ve ever dealt with. Even as COVID-19 forced the suspension of in-person classes, it soon became clear that wasn’t all that was going to be impacted. “I was waiting around to hear from a few different internships,” Vickers said. “Once the virus hit, I stopped hearing anything.” And it wasn’t just Vickers. “What became clear is that we had a number of students still seeking internships, but more than that we had a handful whose internships were rescinded because the employers could not provide them,” says Tim Swensen, assistant
Wannemacher’s passion for community and giving back is significant, but so is his modesty, with an extensive Google search required to understand the range of his philanthropy. The Lima Rotary Club, Young Professionals and Chamber of Commerce get his time. And his company supports a range of community causes, such as STEM programs for kids and programs promoting the performing arts in Lima, Ohio. In 2016, Wannemacher’s parents donated $1 million to their alma mater, Bluffton University, where his father serves as a trustee. Following in his parents’ footsteps, Wannemacher donated to UD’s School of Business Administration Dean’s Funds for Excellence during the inaugural University giving day in 2019. Although he’d made annual gifts before to UD athletics and the business school, this investment was directly prompted by his parents’ tradition of philanthropy. “My parents always taught me that, when you’re successful, you owe to the people who helped you get there,” he said. “I’d been meaning to do this,” he said about his gift to UD. Giving day caught his attention and made it easy. His hope is that his gift enables the business school to deepen its excellence and grow its advantages. —MELINDA CHURCH
dean and director of the Career Services Office. So Swensen decided to use social media to ask Dayton law alumni if they could offer any internship possibilities. “I was hoping I’d find 10 or 15 in my wildest dreams,” Swensen said. “In a day, I had 25.” That number has since grown to around 40 openings. The offers include varying areas of law and range from in-person to remote work and full time to part time. “It’s been phenomenal what the alumni have done and how willing they’ve been to step into that void and offer these opportunities,” Swensen said. They include alumni like Matt
Altick, who graduated in 2018. “The reason I wanted to go to law school is I always liked problem solving and helping people,” said Altick, who now works at the Clark Firm in Dallas. “My internship was a great experience, so I wanted to pay it forward,” Altick said. “This was a good opportunity to help. We want those students to have the same advantages we had.” Which is why Vickers will be working remotely with Altick’s firm over the summer. “I’m really excited,” Vickers said. “I feel I’ll have a lot of back and forth with attorneys and get a firsthand experience of how they deal with things.” —J O R D A N B U R G E S S
Summer 2020 | UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON MAGAZINE
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