Tuesday, February 26, 2013
WE MEET AT RIVER CITY BREWING COMPANY
Lunch begins at noon - Meeting begins at 12:30 p.m.
Meet Tim Cost
President, Jacksonville University
Tim Cost became Jacksonville University’s 12th President on Feb. 1,
2013, coming full circle from his time spent at the school decades
earlier as a student-athlete.
In assuming a leadership role, he realized a personal and
professional dream to apply the skills he began acquiring with his
liberal arts education at JU to help lead and develop people at his
beloved alma mater to their fullest potential.
His 30 years on senior management teams at several of the world’s largest and best-known institutions, including Eastman Kodak, Bristol-Myers Squibb, ARAMARK, Wyeth and PepsiCo, helped refine his approach to leadership, capitalizing on the strengths of diverse teams to maximize talent, trust, connections and performance. President Cost is committed to helping mentor young talent, and likes to say it’s about “inspiring the good to be great.”
“Jacksonville University is a special place. We are committed to
creating an extraordinary educational experience for our students –
academically, socially and culturally – so that JU continues to nurture
the visionary leaders who will shape our future,” Mr. Cost said.
Affable, confident and not above poking fun at himself for getting
“a little jacked-up” – his version of passionate – over the things he
cares most deeply about, he can often be seen around the beautiful JU
campus bantering with students; texting alumni, Trustees or community
members; or pulling aside faculty or staff members for a quick piece of
advice on a new program or practice.
“Good coaching moves in all directions, and I learn something valuable here every day,” Mr. Cost said.
Mr. Cost graduated magna cum laude in 1981 from JU. As a JU athlete
and four-year varsity letterman on the baseball team, he is one of the
top 10 winningest pitchers in JU baseball history (.688 career winning
percentage). As a freshman, he pitched the only 9-inning no-hitter in
Jacksonville University history. After his undergraduate work, Mr. Cost
evolved as a new JU alum, growing his career and family. Wife Stephanie
has owned her own business and led many philanthropic efforts, daughter
Melanie is a consultant in Washington, D.C., and son Drew works in
management for Gatorade. As Mr. Cost built a successful professional
career, he continued focusing his energy on becoming deeply invested in
the success and growth of the University.
He was selected one of Jacksonville University’s “75 Most
Distinguished Dolphins” to commemorate the University’s 75th
anniversary, and also received JU’s “Distinguished Alumni Award” in
2006. He joined the JU Board of Trustees in 2009, chairing the Board’s
Enrollment and Retention Committee and Development Committee. He is also
chair of the ground-breaking $85 million “Aspire: The Campaign for JU
2016” comprehensive giving campaign, which is designed to support
faculty development, student scholarships, honors and undergraduate
research, the JU Annual Fund and unrestricted giving needs; expand the
new College of Health Sciences; bolster campus enhancements; and enhance
student life.
“In my heart I never left JU. I’ve invested more time and energy
here than anywhere. It’s a special place. (JU Past President and
Chancellor Emeritus) Fran Kinne was a huge part of my life and taught me
what a real leader is,” Mr. Cost said. “(Retired) President Kerry
Romesburg taught me the importance of listening, and viewing problems
from all angles to arrive at the best solutions to move forward.”Over the years, Mr. Cost involved himself in numerous campaigns to
support and improve JU, including spearheading the development of the
running trail on Dolphin Green, the C.P. Cost indoor hitting facility at
JU’s baseball stadium, the “Artis 53” Scholarship Campaign, “Adopt a
Classroom” and many others.
Building on the education he received at JU, Mr. Cost crafted an
impressive background as an experienced business leader, adding to his
academic credentials along the way with an MBA in Finance and Economics
from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business at the University
of Rochester. Over 30 years at several FORTUNE 500 companies, he
acquired sophisticated skills in marketing, strategy, public policy,
capital markets, crisis and issues management, investor relations,
government affairs, business development, philanthropy, brand and
corporate communications, customer outreach and retention, mergers and
acquisitions, regulatory affairs, corporate social responsibility,
reputation management and alliance development.
He taps into those experiences regularly in his role as JU’s leader, he noted.
“We work hard on the kind of shared governance – shared leadership,
really – that makes an institution work best. If you use that model,
you can move effectively from consulting people, to cooperating, and
then to really collaborating. And that journey is important to making
sure we develop and support the best possible JU for students, faculty
and staff.”
Mr. Cost is well-versed in balancing the best interests and
competing incentives of many stakeholder groups: employees, communities,
investors, analysts, boards, partners, fellow executives, regulators,
investor/owners, policy makers, elected officials, government
organizations, media, customers and advocates.
During his professional business career, he was recognized as part
of successful senior management teams known for innovation (FORTUNE’s
“Most Innovative Companies”), workplace environment (“Best Places to
Work”), inclusion (“Best Places for Women,” “Best Places for Hispanics”
and others) and progressive management (“Most Improved U.S. Investor
Relations Program”), among others.
Handling high-profile, public, on-the-record interactions with
media, investors, donors, government officials, partners and
stakeholders, he has been honored as one of the top business
communicators in U.S. corporations (The Holmes Report, 2011).
Through it all, he has remained closely connected to higher
education through his years of committee, council and board work, as
well as through a career path that includes clients on dozens of college
campuses.
His work ethic and commitment to giving back don’t stop at the
business or academic world: Mr. Cost has devoted numerous hours to civic
and community volunteerism, including, among many others, co-chairing
the Franklin Caucus (business leaders dedicated to positive community
involvement and economic development); co-chairing the Philadelphia
Leadership Exchange (75 public and private sector senior leaders sharing
best ideas among major geographic regions); working on the Philadelphia
2016 Olympic organizing effort; helping youths in Students in Free
Enterprise; and helping Community Volunteers in Medicine, receiving the
Pillar Award for his philanthropic and leadership service to provide
health care to workers in need.
“Ultimately, to me – and this counts for colleagues, the community
and students, staff and faculty – leadership is all about service. You
need to meet people, make connections, create improvements and have an
impact … every day,” Mr. Cost said.
“There is no leadership without followership. There must be trust
in a leadership team to achieve the pace and trajectory to truly
succeed. We are absolutely committed to making sure our students and
faculty have everything they need to excel at Jacksonville University.”
Introducing Our Newest Members!!
Ryan Maloney is married to Amy, and they will
celebrating their 10th anniversary in August of this year. They live in
San Marco and have two children, Christopher who will be 7 in a few weeks,
and Sarah who just turned 5. Ryan is involved in the community as mentor
with the United Way Achievers for Life program and as a member of the YMCA's
Downtown District Board. He is also a huge Seminole football fan,
and enjoys attending Jaguar games as well. Ryan tries to work out a
couple times a week, and also enjoys playing tennis.
Robyn Watson is
married to Doug Watson, an insurance agent. They met and started dating
16 years ago and have been married for almost 7 years. We have two four
legged children (golden retrievers), “the boys”, Wrigley (3) and Murphy
(1).
When
not working, Robyn enjoys spending time with family and traveling. She also loves spending time in the Florida sunshine - playing golf, hanging
out at the beach/pool or playing out in the yard with the boys. She
recently started running and completed her first Gate River Run in 2012
and her first half marathon in Savannah in Nov 2012. She is signed up to
complete another half marathon in April in Kansas City.
Additionally, Robyn belongs to a neighborhood knitting club and she enjoys reading and scrapbooking.
Upcoming
Club Events
Plan
to stay after the Rotary meeting on March 19th to pack Easter baskets for
our Literacy Class that members are mentoring at San Jose Elementary School. All
items to fill the baskets will be there
Nothing
else is needed! This will also count as a makeup for those who may need it.
Equally
important, try to attend the delivery of baskets on Thursday, March 21st at 2:00pm at the San Jose Elementary
School, if possible
The Rotary Club of South Jacksonville is presenting a night at the Alhambra featuring the play “Driving Miss Daisy”. Proceeds will benefit the Episcopal Children’s Services “Generations Start” Project. March 6, 2013 at The Alhambra Dinner Theatre, 12000 Beach Boulevard.
Our
club has committed to buying the entire show for the evening and we will have
exclusive use of the venue. Reception will begin at 5:30 PM with the bar
being on the main floor. Dinner service will be 6:30 PM to 7:30
PM. Show begins at 8:00 PM.
Each
club member is responsible for the sale of 4 tickets at $75.00 each for a total
of $300.00. Your account will be billed automatically March 6.
*Sale or purchase of a sponsorship at any of the levels below satisfies your
ticket responsibility.
As you can see from the seating chart, the tables are filling up. Please let Patti know which table you prefer from those that remain. Several more have been taken since the photo above was taken, so get your request in quickly.
There
are sponsorship opportunities at the following premium levels: (See
promotional sheet at the sign-in desk for the complete benefits of each
sponsorship level.)
*SPONSORSHIP LEVELS
Title Deed
Package $7,500
Limo
Package
$5,000
Driver’s
Package
$2,500
Passenger’s Package
$1,000
Recap of the February 19th
Meeting
Greeters: Dale Malloy Ryan Maloney, Travis Peters, Cheryl Robitzsch &
Robyn Watson
The Pledge & Prayer: David Bissell
Introduction of Visitors & Guests:
Bill Langley
Introduction of
Guest Speaker: PP Hobart Joost
Guest Speaker: Jim Overton
