ALUMNI STORIES
FROM MASON TO WALL STREET
Business Alumni on Careers in Finance and Investment BY KATHERINE JOHNSON DIAS
Webb spent 42 years in finance, also serving as executive vice president and CFO of Kellogg Company for three years, vice president and CFO at Visteon, and holding senior finance positions at Ford Motor Company for 22 years.
WEBB Tom Webb, BS Business Administration ’74 and MBA ’77 1998 Alumnus of the Year Tom Webb recently retired from CMS Energy, where he spent 16 years as the executive vice president and chief financial officer. During his time at CMS Energy, Webb led the company to a total shareholder return that exceeded 2,000 percent over 15 years, delivered a 7 percent EPS growth each year, and used more money for customer service improvement than his peers. “I enjoyed the challenge around creating an atmosphere that led to a keen drive throughout the company to serve customers and investors. The best ideas and results come from a well-aligned high-performing team, rather than a C-suitedominated approach. Sustaining the performance, aligning Wall Street, and communication with customers and investors work,” he says.
10 IMPACT Spring 2020
Webb says the key takeaway from his career was the importance of focusing on both customers and investors. He expects downturns to occur but says, “Companies and banks that successfully serve their customers and their investors will come out of the next downturn as big winners. It’s possible to win in the good times and the tough times.”
Ivy Zelman, BS Accounting ’90 School of Business Prominent Patriot Ivy Zelman serves as chief executive officer of Zelman & Associates, which she founded in 2007. The company provides housing market expertise, research, and analytics. Zelman remembers the launch of the company as invigorating and rewarding, with 75 clients signing up the first day. On a typical work day, Zelman is either traveling for speaking engagements or attending on-site meetings with clients. When she’s at her home base in Cleveland, Ohio, she leads a team of 12 analysts, whose research projects she oversees, and networks with new and existing lists of C-suite executives to investigate new trends in the housing market. Zelman values her team, saying that every person matters and she doesn’t work in isolation. However, as the CEO, she must make the difficult decisions. “We have to be bold with the changing business dynamics, and that’s what the CEO does. I collaborate with my senior team members, but ultimately the decision comes down to me and my partners, and what we do will determine our success or lack of it,” she says.
