To say Dan Green ’83 is passionate about connecting with Michigan Tech students and sharing his experiences is an understatement. He volunteers in numerous ways, sharing his story and experience to help the next generation of Huskies succeed.
“I know all this stuff, and I didn’t want it to go to waste when I retired,” said Green. “It’s so energizing to be able to share with current students to help them understand better what to expect after graduation.”
The reconnection to Tech all started two years ago for Green, who earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1983. Dean Johnson, dean of the College of Business, was working with volunteers Jenny Johnson and Scott Pattullo ’81 in looking for alumni willing to share how they had used their degree.
“Two weeks later, I was on campus guest lecturing in a classroom,” said Green. “On the way home, I was asking why we weren’t doing more of this.”
Green’s experience comes from a career in the banking and financial technology industries. He worked the first half of his career at credit unions, specializing in mortgage banking. While working for Boeing Employees Credit Union, Green was involved in a startup called Prime Alliance, a FinTech specializing in mortgages.
“BECU was building this software for themselves, but after showing it to other credit unions, a company was formed. After acquisitions and by the time I left, it was a $100 million business.”
He credits former professors Jim Gale, Tom Merz, Terry Munson, and others with being influential in his education. An econometrics class was a light bulb moment as it tied all the pieces together on “how to pull important pieces of information from a pile of numbers.”
Green believes there is a lot of untapped potential with the Time and Talent program. “I had been gone from Tech for 40 years before Jenny contacted me. I got to thinking that there have to be a lot of us with a lot to offer—not necessarily in terms of money, which is important, but in terms of human capital. Experience. Time.”
Green has found it easy to form connections with students because of the shared Michigan Tech experiences—the remote location and traditions. “You kind of can’t help but have things in common,” he said.
Green met his wife, Jane Mooney ’83 at Michigan Tech. Her experience with Summer Youth Programs as a child led to her attending Tech as a student. The Greens have committed to volunteering for a full week during SYP each summer.
“It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year,” he says.
The goal moving forward is to expand Time and Talent to develop alumni and student connections across all departments.
Jennifer Lucas (Jung) ’09, Tech’s Assistant Vice President of Alumni Engagement, lauds the work of Green and Johnson. She encourages others to get others involved.
“It is our mission in the Office of Alumni Engagement to provide meaningful programs for our alumni to connect with each other and the University, and the Time and Talent initiative that Dan is championing is a perfect example of that. It’s a pleasure for our team to offer opportunities to our amazing alumni who are willing to share their wisdom directly with current students to come back to campus for a guest lecture. We are so lucky to have Dan working side by side with us on this, and are very grateful to him and to Jenny for the effort they put in!
“We look forward to growing this initiative by enabling more alumni to join our Time and Talent roster, and being able to match them with the right classes and student groups on campus.”
More information, visit: mtu.edu/alumni/volunteer/time-talent.