Home > Update > December 2006 > Alumni Notes

A Lifelong Badger

To say that John Kenny is a lifelong Badger is actually an understatement. His father was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin and his parents were living just down the street from what is now Grainger Hall, when his mother walked over to UW Hospital to give birth to her son.

After earning three degrees from Wisconsin, a BS in history in 1967, an undergraduate business degree in 1972 and an MBA in 1973, Kenny has worked as a leader in supply chain management. Kenny began his career at Standard Brands, Inc. in Chicago and was soon searching for a way to reconnect with UW-Madison.

“I wanted a way to give back and get involved again at the university,” recalls Kenny. “I love to share my experience in the hopes that it will help pave the way for future graduates—that makes for better recruits, too.” He and a handful of other business school alums formed a group that eventually morphed into Wisconsin Business Alumni (WBA).

In 1989, he joined Hewlett-Packard, running its workstation manufacturing division in New Hampshire. He was with HP until 1996, when he joined 3Com as vice president of worldwide distribution for the next seven years. In 2004, he became president of FreeFlow, a company providing business services and patented technology to identify excess and at-risk inventory and create marketplaces for them to find buyers in a private online auction format, improving product lifecycle profitability.

Kenny’s experience in the world of supply chain management was a perfect fit when Marketing Professor John R. Nevin approached him to chair the Executive Advisory Board of the Grainger Center for Supply Chain Management, when the center was launched in 1994. Nevin says Kenny and other past and present members of the board have played invaluable roles in the program’s success. (The Grainger Center’s program in Supply Chain Management was ranked 7th in the country by Supply Chain Management Review.)

Kenny’s involvement with the School of Business continues. This April, he and Professor Emeritus Ed Marien will present at the Supply Chain Summit 2007, a joint initiative of the Grainger Center and Executive Education, for alumni and other leaders in supply chain management.

Kenny said he and his wife, Patricia (BS ’67), whom he credits for much of his success, enjoy their involvement at UW-Madison. “The university, especially the business school, has always been a primary philanthropic interest for us,” he said. “UW-Madison has always been a huge part of my life. It is easy for me to find an area to give back to and I enjoy doing it.” The Kennys have two daughters, Meghan and Erin.

—Kaylene Reilly

Supply Chain Summit 2007–Globalization: Opportunity or Threat? will be held April 13, 2007 and bring together industry executives and academia to explore issues surrounding global supply chains. For more information, go to: www.exed.wisc.edu/supplychain.