Page 3 - The Alpha Gam - Winter 2015-16

Alumni News

Have Alumni Donald “Buzz” McKay
News? Receives Rare Honor

Special thanks to We want to hear from you! Send your Congratulations to the Georgia
personal updates, accomplishments, Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame
Han Chang & Nick Hoffpauer adventures, and photos to our 2015 Inductee, US Army Colonel
for creating a video to support Communications Coordinator Brent Donald “Buzz” Mathis McKay, Jr.;
the Century Campaign. Yancy at BYancy@thelaurusgroup.net, VALOR; Vietnam. Buzz received this rare
or simply fill out the tear-away form and noble honor from the GMVHOF for his
at the bottom of your cover letter and sterling active duty record and post military
return it in the mail. We want to share life. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is
it in the next issue of The Alpha Gam! to honor Georgia Military Veterans; to
educate Georgia citizens, especially young
Visit us online at: Americans, of the sacrifices for freedom;
and to inform the public of the Inductee’s
www.godeltasig.com outstanding accomplishments. The banquet
was held on Saturday, November 7, 2015
Stahvee Alpha Gamma Open and Buzz was presented with the Georgia
Date Military Veterans’ Hall of Fame Medallion,
Marietta City Club - Saturday, April 30, 2016 Certificate, and Coin.

RSVP you or your foursome to Stan Hill: j.stan.hill@gmail.com
Deadline: March 31, 2016

Spence (Continued from Page 1)

things for which I am very proud: (1) We was equally significant with the assassinations of business that needed some “adult supervision” to
eliminated physical hazing during “hell week” and Dr. Martin Luther King in April and Robert manage its product development and deployment on a
the initiation ritual – Butch Johnson continued the Kennedy in June. On April 5, 1968, our cook worldwide basis. I took the position with CompuServe
prohibition through his subsequent term as well; Susie Loveless and I drove downtown to to manage its worldwide infrastructure deployment
(2) I invited two social clubs from Oglethorpe The Ebenezer Baptist Church to see Dr. King’s and its $100-million/year technology capital budget.
College where we were trying to start a chapter body delivered from Memphis – that may be the Managing supply management and procurement gave
to dinner at the chapter house. Both clubs had most significant “Forrest Gump” event of my life. me access to serious emerging IT technology resources
African-American members; so, our chapter at Cisco, Compaq, HP and Microsoft, so I re-tooled as
was the first on campus to answer the question: After graduation, how did you get a job an IT executive.
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” – without with Industrial Nucleonics/AccuRay?
Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn – in that How did this open the door for consulting?
very segregated fraternity environment at GT. For During my co-op work experience, I met I had 35 successful years in the Columbus
reference, when I entered GT in fall quarter 1963, people from AccuRay at the Charleston paper
the first three African-American undergraduate mill. In 1968, they were recruiting engineers technology community. I raised venture capital and
students entered GT, making it the first southern who could work in their expanding southeastern grew small privately held companies to a valuable
school to become racially integrated without paper industry markets. liquidity event. I was able to market my services
the force of a government mandate. During this on my own terms to do interesting work and avoid
period of 1966-1969, our chapter evolved to a What type of work did you do over the high travel. Although that work is pretty much
theme of academic success, social justice and course of your career with the company? behind me now, I continue to get calls and to advise
athletic success while conducting terrific house at the board level of small companies, especially in
parties featuring the likes of Maurice Williams & I had the good fortune to gain international the non-profit space.
the Zodiacs and The Atlanta Tams, thanks mostly experience with AccuRay and later with CompuServe
to Steve Boothe as our social chairman. doing business throughout Europe, Asia, South Africa, Spence (Continued on Page 4) 3
Chile and Australia/New Zealand, with those regional
Do you have any memories about the offices reporting to me in Columbus. This work was
historically political moments that took very important to my family life, as we could remain
place during that time? in one place while I pursued my career objectives.

The 1960s were politically charged to say the Why did you decide to transition into IT?
least. I participated in a few marches in Atlanta In 1995, I had been with one company/business for
sponsored by both SCLC & SNCC; however,
I never had the opportunity to meet either Julian 27 years and been through two significantly difficult
Bond or Andrew Young. Of course, we all acquisitions as the cultural leader and senior operations
remember where we were on November 22, 1963 manager of the acquired companies. In the early 1990s,
– I was in Chemistry 101. But the spring of 1968 the ABB ownership with its fundamental European
mentality essentially wore me down. CompuServe,
headquartered in Columbus, was a growing technology