The Distinguished Business Alumnus Award is the highest honor given by the Wisconsin School of Business. In the school’s more than 100-year history, only 77 individuals have been honored with this award.    

On Friday, Oct. 16, 2009, the following awards were presented for 2009.

 Stephen M Bennett, BBA ‘76           

Former CEO, Intuit Inc.

Steve Bennett is an angel investor and board member. He left Intuit in 2007 after eight years as President and Chief Executive Officer. He is a board member of Sun Microsystems, Qualcomm, and Intuit and two private companies, Sojern and Nemean Networks, where he is the Chairman. He is also the Chairman of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Wisconsin School of Business.

 Under Bennett’s leadership, Intuit grew the existing businesses while expanding into new markets. Intuit’s emerging presence included online banking and health care, complementing its flagship brands —QuickBooks, TurboTax, and Quicken, leaders in small business, consumer tax preparation, and personal financial management software. Intuit revenue grew to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2007 from less than $1 billion in fiscal 2000.

 Bennett’s focus on increasing employee engagement and creating a high-performing organization has led Intuit to being named to Fortune magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” list for six consecutive years and Fortune’s “Most Admired Software Company in the United States” for the last four years.

 Bennett joined Intuit from General Electric Co., where he managed complex and diverse organizations during a 23-year career. He most recently served as an Executive Vice President at GE Capital.

 Patrick A Thiele, BBA ‘72, MS ‘75

President & CEO, PartnerRe Ltd.

As President and Chief Executive Officer of PartnerRe Ltd., Patrick Thiele is responsible for the strategic direction and management of the company. He is also a Director of PartnerRe. Under his leadership since 2000, PartnerRe has successfully transitioned from a Cat-only reinsurer to a well-diversified, global reinsurance company, with 13 office locations worldwide offering reinsurance coverage for property and casualty, catastrophe, specialty lines, life, and alternative risk products.

 Prior to joining PartnerRe, Thiele was Group Director of Development of CGNU (formerly CGU), and Chief Executive Officer and President of St. Paul Companies’ worldwide insurance operations. Under Thiele’s direction, the St. Paul Companies became the fourth-largest commercial lines carrier and the eighth-largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. Thiele was involved in all financial and operating functions, including: domestic acquisitions and expansion overseas and at Lloyd’s, restructuring by specialized business units, and launching a venture capital investment arm. At his departure, The St. Paul Companies was a successful property and casualty insurer with assets exceeding $30 billion and premiums greater than $7 billion.

 In addition to his degrees from UW-Madison, Thiele also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Wisconsin School of Business and the board of the School of Risk Management and Actuarial Science at St. John’s University. 

 Glen E Tellock, BBA, ‘83           

President & CEO, Manitowoc Company

Glen Tellock is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Manitowoc Company, Inc. Prior to being named CEO in 2007, Tellock served as Senior Vice President of the company and President of Manitowoc Crane Group (2002-2007). In that role, he is credited with building Manitowoc Cranes into a global leader. Today, Manitowoc is one of the most respected names in the world in lift solutions and food service equipment. The company’s two businesses, Manitowoc Cranes and Manitowoc Foodservice, are global leaders in market share, product innovation, and product support services. They employ nearly 16,000 people and run operations in more than 20 countries.

Tellock joined The Manitowoc Company in 1991 as the Director of Accounting and soon after took over the role of corporate controller (1992-1998). He briefly held the role of Vice President of Finance (1998-1999) before becoming Chief Financial Officer of the company (2002 -2007). Tellock started his career as an audit manager for Ernst and Whinney, now known as Ernst and Young, and later joined the Denver Post Corporation as a financial planning manager.

In addition to his work at Manitowoc Company, Tellock has served as a member of the Wisconsin School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board and the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Manitowoc County.

David R Anderson, BBA ‘70, MBA ‘74

Chairman & CEO, American Family Insurance Group

David Anderson joined American Family Mutual Insurance Company as Budget Director in 1975 and held various positions in the controller/finance area until his election as Vice President of Information Services in 1996. Anderson was elected President and Chief Operating Officer in 1999 and on January 1, 2007 assumed his current role as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Based in Madison, Wis., American Family Insurance offers auto, homeowners, life, health, commercial, and farm/ranch insurance, plus financial services, in 18 states. Founded in 1927, the company employs more than 8,300 people and sells its products through 4,000 independent contractor agents. American Family is the third largest mutual property/casualty insurance company and the sixteenth largest property/casualty company in the nation.

Anderson is a member of several industry boards including the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. In addition, he serves on the boards of Meriter Health Services, Inc./Meriter Hospital, Inc./Meriter Management Services, the Wisconsin School of Business Dean’s Advisory Board, and the U.S. Bank Advisory Board. He continues to serve on the boards of the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Future Madison Housing, and United Way of Dane County.