Page 1 - Alpha Nus 2017-18

Alpha Nu Building Association of Theta Chi, Inc. | Winter 2017-2018 | Georgia Institute of Technology
Alumni Office | P.O. Box 80828, Atlanta, Georgia 30366 | www.gt-thetachi.org

Alumni
From the Spotlight:
Alumni President RYAN M. GRACIANO ’04

Brothers, Editor’s Note: For this edition of the newsletter we’re shining the Spotlight on Brother
Alpha Nu was well represented Ryan Graciano ’04. From the hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ryan graduated
at this year’s homecoming when with a BS in computer science. His degree would come to serve him well—Ryan is now
the Jackets defeated the Wake the CTO and co-founder of Credit Karma. Now married to fellow Georgia Tech grad and
Forest Demon Deacons 38-24. Greek, Rebecca, for nine years, they share a three-year old son, Everett. For fun, he enjoys
Several members of the class of anything technology-related, board games, and weight lifting. Outside of work, Ryan and
1967 got together for their fifti- Rebecca are sponsors of the charity She-Can—a mentoring and educational program that
eth reunion and were in attendance as a group at the provides support to young women seeking to further their education.
reunion reception and dinner, the Ramblin Wreck
Parade, the Old Gold Induction ceremony, and the Back in school, what led you to join the chapter?
football game at Bobby Dodd Stadium. Jeff Smith Mostly random coincidence. My roommate fresh-
’76 provided a recap of the festivities: man year wasn’t a freshman—he was a brother and
We had a great turnout for this year’s home- he invited me and a couple dorm mates to come by
coming weekend and we hope to see more pledge and check it out. I had no intention of joining, but
classes get together in 2018. The 40th Reunion figured it would be more interesting than hanging out
activities attracted the likes of Jim Prokupek around the dorm. I went by the house wearing the t-
’77, David Hoyer ’77 and Ken Ludvigsen ’77. shirt of a band I liked and it turned out a few brothers
Bubba Lee ’70 came up from Gulf Shores and were huge fans as well. Finding common ground led
brought lots of fresh gulf shrimp he prepared for to some quick friendships.
our front yard tailgate. Bruce Grasso ’72, Barry
Merrill ’73 and Theo Mann ’72 wanted to see if How do you stay in touch with your Alpha Nu
Ron Swicord ’73 had really travelled from Seattle brothers today? Ryan on the beach in San Francisco with his wife
(he did). Gary Wetherbee ’71 says he’ll be at the Some of my class has an email thread that’s semi-ac- (AXO at Georgia Tech) and their two dogs.
campout. tive, and we’ll use it to plan the occasional guys’ trip.
Harold Smith ’77 made his second trip to At- A few of us live in the Bay Area, and we’ll get together What inspired you to develop your own
lanta/GT this fall. Don Weaver ’77 told us about for drinks now and then. company?
changing out his bovine heart valve for a pig valve I didn’t think I was ready to start my own thing yet,
in June, and is back hiking every trail in north but in hindsight, nobody’s ever ready to start their
Georgia near his home in Blairsville. Pete Wells After graduation, what type of work did you do first company. You just do it. You wing it and you
’78 has retired from his power utility responsibili- with IBM? work hard and you work smart and you hope to hell
ties…he wanted more time for diving and fishing I actually joined a startup in an entry-level software it works out.
near his south Florida home. role, and they were acquired by IBM soon after. I de- Anytime I’m about to embark on something new,
Locally, Marty McFarland ’79 and Rob Brown veloped a rep early on at IBM for solving hard prob- I think of all the other people who’ve done it. Not
lems outside of my job description. I basically picked everyone is Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos. Lots of people
up tough projects on the side, things I would never be who aren’t extraordinary have started their own suc-
expected to do as a junior engineer, and made them cessful companies and that experience is what made
happen. IBM fast-tracked me, pairing me with all them extraordinary. If they can do it, you can do it.
sorts of higher-up mentors—people with decades of
experience who managed hundreds of people - but
even though things were going well there, I didn’t
feel the big corporate route was a good fit for me. I
wanted to have a bigger impact and to move faster.
I often give new grads the advice that they should
excel at whatever they do—that’s table stakes—but to
get ahead, do more. Do things you wouldn’t be ex-
pected to do. If you consistently take initiative to help
the company, people will notice that you’re an outlier
and you will be fast tracked. If you only do what you’re As an active member, Ryan studied abroad in New
The 2017 men of Alpha Nu with chapter expected to do, then you can’t be surprised if your ca- Zealand on the Aus/NZ/Japan. Here he is preparing to
Sweetheart Olivia. reer moves at roughly the same pace as your peers. bungee jump down into the gorge behind him.
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