ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR AWARD

Thomas H. Werner, Eng ’86 Los Altos, California

Tom Werner credits Marquette with accelerating his success by shaping his work ethic, ability to set priorities and quest for excellence. “Marquette taught me the importance of being in service of others,” he says. “It gave me a much stronger moral compass.” That compass has guided Werner’s career of building great companies with the potential to positively impact the world. Joining California-based SunPower in 2003 when it had just 30 employees, Werner served 18 years as CEO, building it into two publicly traded companies that are leaders in making and installing high-efficiency solar systems. He is currently board chairman of H2U and FLO. Just as transformative is Werner’s passion for philanthropy that empowers others to achieve their potential, as embodied in his significant leadership gifts, with his wife, Suzanne, to fund scholarships for first-generation Marquette students, establish a faculty chair and postdoctoral fellowship in sustainability (in the Opus College of Engineering) and support the award-winning RISE pre-orientation program for multicultural and underrepresented students.