Ridiculous Alum of the Day: Timur Galen

Timur Galen (Skyscraper Museum)

 
Timur Galen... cool name right? Coincidentally, Timur, Class of 1978, is also a really cool guy!

(Shout-out to Dylan Lazovik who gave me the idea for this post.)

After graduating from Haverford with a degree in physics (and spending a year undertaking a very prestigious Luce fellowship), Timur recieved a Masters in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

Yet, Timur didn't just become any sort of run of the mill architect. Instead, he worked at such firms as Venturi & Scott Brown and Maki and Associates!!!! (For the non-Cities majors out there.... THIS IS A BIG DEAL :D). Then, he changed gears and worked as the chief Imagineer for Disney! Specifically, while Timur was at Disney, he spearheaded the renovation and expansion of the classic Disneyland theme park.

Timur when he worked at Disney (Laughingplace.com)

Of course, bringing joy to the hearts of children and designing fantastically innovative buildings did not sate Timur's thirst for a really cool career.

Timur then started to work for Goldman Sachs and is now the Global Head of Corporate Services and Real Estate! Additionally, Timur continues to give back, not only by serving on various arts and philanthropic councils in New York City, but also by giving back to Haverford through service on the Board of Managers. He also is on the Ryan Gym Renovation Committee.... so perhaps a Disneyland-like Ryan Gym is in our future?

So... in summary.... Timur Galen: Architect, Disney Imagineer, Goldman Sachs Executive... all-around badass.


For more information about Timur:
http://www.design.upenn.edu/calendar/timur-galen

Ridiculous Alum of the Day: John C. Whitehead

We all know the Whitehead Campus Center... however have you ever wondered about the life story of the guy who it was named after? Well, John C. Whitehead has had a pretty awesome life so far.

The Ever Suave John C. Whitehead

To briefly summarize:

• Haverford Class of 1943, Harvard Business School Class of 1947 (Fun fact: he was first appointed as a professor at Harvard... and then he got his MBA... badass)
• Served in the US Navy where commanded 54 men ... at 21 years of age (liberal arts education?)
• Rose up the ranks at Goldman Sachs to become the Co-Chairman and Co-Senior Partner
• Served as the United States Deputy Secretary of State during the Ronald Reagan administration.
• Former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, United Nations Association, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 
• Head of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation after 9/11
• Won a massive amount of awards for serving his country     including the Presidential Citizens Medal and many honorary doctorates 

So... in short: He ran the biggest and most important investment bank in the world, played a key role in 80s foreign policy, and led Ground Zero reconstruction efforts among other things. Wow.

An older... but still suave John C. Whitehead

For more about John C. Whitehead:

Wikipedia Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Whitehead

Harvard Business School Profile: http://www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurs/pdf/johnwhitehead.pdf