EMP-22

Hello all! Greetings from the Northwest. Since I took on this role, I have had very few of you contact me to let me know what is new in your personal and professional life. Finally someone emailed me with their new info. Bob Wallner has taken a new job and found out that transition can be fun. He landed at a new position after leaving Grubb & Ellis Co. in July. He writes: “Please accept my gratitude for your help and support during my recent career search. I used the months of July and August to relax, polish my golf game (it needs a few more years of work), and contemplate what comes next in my career. It was the best summer I have had in my adult life!” Bob is pleased to report that he has accepted a position as counsel in the law firm of Pircher, Nichols & Meeks in Chicago, where he will be working in the corporate and securities department. For your records, Bob’s new business contact information is: Robert Wallner, Pircher, Nichols & Meeks, 900 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1050, Chicago, IL 60611. Tel: 312.915.3142. Email: rwalner@pircher.com.

Since no one else has written, here is my update. For starters, my daughter Blaire, who was 7 at the time of graduation, is now a sophomore at USC. My son Jack, who was born in the middle of exam week, and used to delay our study group crying for his bottle, is now 13. My wife Jan is still flying with Delta and has survived the industry for 27 years. I am in my third and last start-up as CEO of Grace’s Kitchen, www.graceskitchen.com, a fresh-frozen take-home gourmet concept. In fact, I met and hired my vice president of sales and marketing at a Kellogg alumni event. I think we were the oldest alumni there.

At the other end of the spectrum, I have retired as president of a biotech, Inologic Inc., www.inologic.com, where we developed and are preparing a curative drug for clinical trials this year for treating cystic fibrosis. Additionally, we developed a radioprotective compound that will shield you and me against exposure to high doses of radiation should there be a nuclear accident. Don’t ask me how I got into this. I am now only on the board, so none of you have to worry about taking something I developed!

I really would like to hear from more of you. Send me some photos and news! I am sure some of you have done some great things... like retire. We would love to hear about it. I am committed to tracking each and every one of you down this year. Don’t make my job too hard!

Stay healthy. John Wyatt