The RDS Distinguished Speaker Series was established to provide Claremont McKenna College students with perspectives on leadership, management, and life after CMC. Through the Speaker Series, CMC students and Robert Day Scholars will interact with prominent leaders in business, finance, and government. These speakers include successful Claremont McKenna alumni, local leaders, and national figures.
Fall 2013
G. Jeffrey Records, Jr. ’81
October 11, 2013
G. Jeffrey Records, Jr. is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MidFirst Bank, a $10 billion commercial bank and mortgage servicer headquartered in Oklahoma City. MidFirst's primary asset focus is nationally diverse real estate lending, and its deposit gathering is predominantly through branches in Oklahoma and Arizona. Outside of banking, Jeff has played various roles as an entrepreneur and developer. He is Co-founder and/or principal of: Hunter Roberts Construction Group based in New York; Guilford Re in Bermuda; Zaza Hotels in Texas; Rottet Studio design firm in New York, Houston and Los Angeles; and, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jeff continues to serve the Oklahoma City community as an advocate and contributor for various charities. After graduating from Claremont McKenna with a bachelor’s in Economics in 1981, Jeff began his career at California Mortgage Services in Santa Ana, CA. He joined Midland Mortgage/MidFirst Bank in 1983, and became president and CEO in 1987.
Kevin Tan ‘86
October 28, 2013
Kevin Tan led an International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank Group) project team to facilitate the development of a risk management department for China’s National Council for Social Security Fund in 2004. The resulting project report was the first such report submitted to China’s State Council by the Social Security Fund, and the Fund adopted 72 out of 78 explicit recommendations. This success led to another IFC-funded project (also led by Kevin and completed in 2006) to facilitate the investment infrastructure for overseas investments for the Fund. In 2005, Kevin became the first Chief Representative of The Northern Trust Company in China, where he remained until January 2009. Since then, Kevin has been Outsourced Chief Investment Officer for various pension plans varying in size from $45 million to over $1 billion. After 26-years in Corporate America, including 5 years on Wall Street, Kevin decided to pursue a PhD in Economics focusing on market efficiency. Previously, Kevin earned an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College.
Bill Gross
November 1, 2013
Bill Gross founded Idealab in March 1996 and serves as the company's Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer. Bill founded Idealab to create and build successful businesses that capitalize on innovations in areas with significant growth opportunities, including the Internet. A lifelong entrepreneur, Bill started several companies prior to Idealab. In high school, he founded Solar Devices, a firm that sold plans and kits for solar energy products. In college at the California Institute of Technology, he patented a new loudspeaker design and formed GNP Loudspeakers, Inc. After graduating from college, Bill and his brother Larry started GNP Development, Inc., which made a natural language product for Lotus 1-2-3 called HAL. In 1985, Lotus Development Corporation acquired GNP and Bill became a software entrepreneur at Lotus Development. In 1991, Bill started Knowledge Adventure, an educational software publisher that grew to be the third largest educational software publisher in the world and was eventually sold to Cendant Software and is now a division of Havas Interactive, which is owned by Vivendi. Bill serves on the boards of directors of numerous companies. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology and of the Art Center College of Design. Bill received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.