Strasser ’02 Successful in Finance With History Major
by Patrick McAlister '10
Rick Strasser ’02 was a history major at Wabash College. Although he had an area of concentration in business, he had only taken one accounting course. He is a Senior Consultant for IBM today working in the Public Sector Financial Planning Services and has been working with the Army’s Financial Reporting Office for over two years. He had never acquired collegiate training outside of his Wabash education to consult on the Army’s finances.  Strasser worked with a fellow Wabash alumnus, Adam Schiff ’01 for IBM. "We’ve joked a lot about how we work with some people who have gone to big state schools and majored in accounting or finance," the former Sphinx Club president said. "Here we’re able to just come in and do what they do because we were forced to learn and think on our feet."
Before the IBM consulting job, Strasser had worked at what is now known as Regents Bank in Lafayette as a commercial credit analyst. He got his job from Tom Freeman ’70. "Now that I come to think of it," Strasser said, "My career has really been built on Wabash connections." Strasser gained valuable financial training and worked in that job for one year. This ability to think on his feet is especially important for Strasser’s work. "The work we do has a lot of ambiguity," he said. "I think the things we have learned at Wabash has helped us learn how to deal with that ambiguity and be successful with that." After working for over two years, IBM saw fit in investing some more money in Strasser’s business education. He is now pursuing a dual MBA and Executive Masters in Public Administration at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in New York without cost. Aside from his busy career, Strasser has been at the epicenter of any alumni function in the area of the country he was living in at the time. In 2003, when he was still working at the bank in Lafayette, he helped organize the first Lafayette Golf Outing. He was on the board of directors for the National Capital Association of Wabash Men while he lived in D.C. and helped setup and run the first W.A.B.A.S.H. Day in Washington, D.C. He also took care of the Monon Bell telecast for multiple years. "I stay very, very active," he said. "I enjoy staying connected with all of the alums and the college." On top of the alumni events, Strasser has become involved with the Special Olympics of D.C., helping organize and run the Special Olympics D.C. Summer Games for three years. Strasser even took the Wabash alumni organization and connection with the Special Olympics to create a joint event. On W.A.B.A.S.H. Day, Strasser and other alumni were able to bowl with the Special Olympians preparing the athletes for a competition later that week. After Strasser completes his dual masters level degrees at Syracuse University, he will move back to Washington, D.C., consulting the United States Government. The work is not in a career he prepared for at Wabash, but his Wabash education prepared him well to succeed.
Printer-Friendly version
| Email this profile
| 
