Page 4 - Alpha Nus Spring 2016

Silva
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does! In my 37 years with the firm there was never
a thought, nor an indication from any colleague, to
do anything other than to “put the client’s interests
first, always.” It is a wonderfully collegial firm
where you can grow without limits. In my case,
after three years in the industrial engineering
consulting group, I was invited to transfer to our
strategy consulting group based in New York.
After two years there, I was promoted to Partner
and, two years later, I was asked to move back
to Atlanta to develop our Strategy Group in the
Southeast. We built the group by recruiting some
very talented graduates out of Harvard, Wharton,
Virginia, Emory, and Georgia Tech. Many of those
early recruits became practice leaders in the firm
or at client companies. I have close relationships
with many of them to this day.
What advice can you give alumni and young
actives about succeeding at a consulting firm?
In addition to always operating with the highest
level of professional integrity, you must strive to
do what I call “complete staff work.” This means
thinking like a partner to anticipate the questions the stay aloft when over the Kalahari because if you
client will ask, and taking the initiative to prepare
your work beyond the partner’s expectations. If
you do this, then partners will compete to have
you assigned to their client engagements. With
humility, you can begin to be selective! Don’t wait
to be asked to do something.
When did you discover a passion for
sailplane racing?
After the winter in Milwaukee, I was assigned to
a client plant start-up in Puerto Rico. I began taking
flying lessons in a very ratty Cessna. Later, when I
was assigned to the New York office, I found a glider
club in Blairstown, NJ, near the beautiful Delaware
Water Gap. There I met a glider instructor who was a
retired Georgia Tech Physics professor. He knew how
to talk to an “engineer” so I benefitted from his very
mathematical approach to flying with no engines – an
approach which serves me well to this day. Last year
I realized a long-term goal when I became the US
National Soaring Champion in the 15-meter Class.
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Our House as we prepare for
another successful rush.
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Fernando as the US team Captain in Finland.
What is it like to Captain the US team at the
World Championship?
I first served as US Team Captain at the 2014
World Gliding Championships in Finland where
our team consisted of six pilots and nine crew
members. We were there for 21 days and our
pilots raced a total of ten days for about six hours
each day. It was a fabulous experience to manage,
coach, and organize a very diverse group of talents!
We did reasonably well, but I learned that we have
a long road ahead of us to get to the level of the
German, French, and British teams who dominate
the sport (we are sort of like the US men’s soccer
team at the World Cup!).
Last November I went to Namibia, Africa, to
be coached by German world champions in their
team flying process. It was fantastic! One day we
flew a group of three gliders over 1000km (close
to 700 miles) over the Kalahari Desert in eight
hours. I must say that you get very motivated to
can’t find lift, and are forced to land, it would take
two days for the crew to retrieve your remains after
the lions had feasted. Currently, I am preparing to
serve as Captain of our teams competing this year
in Lithuania and next year in Australia.
How are you in touch with your Alpha Nu
brothers today?
We have quite a group of alumni in Atlanta,
and I especially enjoy playing the Tachi Golf
Tournament, and going on the Tray Mountain
camping trip.
Nu pool, and my personal favorite, floating on
the Chattahoochee River. We are also always
looking for ways to network with our alumni
and our upcoming annual alumni softball
game is on June 11th at Tanyard Creek Park
which promises to have a great turnout and be
a lot of fun.
This past semester, Alpha Nu was excited to
plan and execute our second ever USO event
through a campus-wide cornhole tournament.
To make this event happen every sorority on
campus painted us a set of boards to use during
the competition and we then had a separate
bracket for them and fraternities. All told, we
raised almost $2,000 for the USO which is a
great amount for this inaugural event and we
are hoping to make it an annual occurrence. We
also, came in 1st place in the Alpha Chi Omega
“Best Kisser” Competition which raised over
President (Continued from Page 1)
City of Atlanta, we have started the complete
replacement of our back deck and the brick work
on the back of the house. Many of you may have
noticed cracks that appeared on the back of the
house plus settling around the rear doorways.
The problem was traced back to a failed
structural support beam that attached the deck to
the house. At considerable cost and realizing no
viable alternative, this project was also approved
by unanimous vote of the ANBA Board.
All of these projects are scheduled to be
completed ahead of the Theta Chi National
Convention being held in downtown Atlanta
in July. To all our alumni brothers, I hope you
will come by our chapter house this summer or
fall and see all the completed projects.
These projects have seriously depleted
the Maintenance Reserve Funds held by the
ANBA. Our reserve fund account was created
by the ANBA Board to ensure the integrity of
our chapter house for years to come. Please
consider making a donation today to our
Annual Fund to guarantee that our house is
available for many more generations of Alpha
Nu Brothers
Ian Willoughby ’92
ANBA President
Chapter
Eternal
We are saddened to learn of the passing of our Theta Chi
brothers. Our Sympathies to their family and friends:
Leo Chandler Swicord ’51
Mace H. Phillips, Jr. ’53
Walter W. Peters ’56
John David Wray ’57
$3400 for a local women’s shelter to prevent
domestic violence. Alpha Nu currently has a
great philanthropic presence on campus and we
hope to continue to be leaders on campus in
that regard.
I am excited to move forward this summer
with the construction on the back wall of the
House Brotherhood Built and hopefully it will
all be finished by the time of our first game day.
I am extremely proud of everything we have
accomplished as a brotherhood so far this year
and I have extremely high hopes for the future
of Alpha Nu.
Fraternally,
Stephen DelSordo
President – Alpha Nu Chapter