Richard Allison:
CLASS OF 1970
Lincoln Elementary SchoolClass of 1970
Bethel park, PA
Yale UniversityClass of 1994
New haven, CT
Bethel Park High SchoolClass of 1976
Bethel park, PA
Richard's Story
Post merger - married in June of 1991 (wife Zung was born in Saigon, Vietnam) - now with three products of unlimited potentials: 1997-Roberta, 2000-Catherine, 2002-Christopher.
Rudderless after high school in 1976 - studied the martial arts, tinkered with performance cars, had a girl friend - normal and usual pursuits for that time. Then joined the USAF to have means to pursue an undergraduate education. Determined I had some hidden language abilities (some say English is a foreign language that way it is used in Pittsburgh). Studied the Vietnamese language and culture at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. Worked in a specialized role as a Vietnamese Linguist/Analyst of Asian affairs 1983-88;.
After separation from active duty, finished the bachelor studies with honors and went to work in the Washington DC government contracting industry. Decided to return to school and was accepted to the Yale School of Management - Class of 1994.
With MBA in hand, joined a newly opened office in Hong Kong in 1994 for GE Capital's Global Project and Structured Finance Group. Different world and different time, chasing investment opportunities in non-recourse financing of mega-infrastructure projects. Progressed to roles including board director to four foreign energy companies, including the infamous Dabhol Power Company that was expropriated by the government of India. Took six years, but company got its private equity investment back in negotiated settlement; i.e. $120 million dollar recovery to GE while lenders and other stakeholders did not.
Have been pursuing independent consultant work since 2004, determined to make a difference helping small and mid-sized companies navigate and succeed in international business that has been my world for most of my life. I develop integrated strategies around political, economic, and cultural understandings that are built upon deep understanding of risk.
Looking Back and lessons learned
In retrospect, recognize wasted opportunities during public high school education and beyond and can nev...Expand for more
er put back time.... determined my kids won't following in that path. So far so great. Eldest was a "President Award winner" in middle school - for having A's in all subjects for entirety of 6, 7 and 8th grades! (Yes, maybe should check the dna as that certainly wasn't my record.). Instead of a drop off in first year of high school - she's stepped higher - now with a 4.22 gpa and all Advanced Placement courses including Chinese, Latin, Biology and Geometry (if she holds this track, she'll have college level calculus as a high school senior, :-)) She also plays the flute in the concert band and fences - with the foil and s on the "headmasters list". Best of all - is a good kid.
#2 is the Year of the Dragon child and is High Honors for all of her first three terms of the first year of Middle School, even better than the same time frame of her big sister. Cat is also developing athletically and runs track for the school's team. Her first big event was this past weekend in a water soaked outdoor state championship where she ran the opening leg of a 4 x 400 relay. Also a good kid.
#3 is the prince and is hitting a growth spurt. At age ten, he just passed his Mommy in height. The national test for Cognitive Ability is now administered to 4th graders and it was determined he's in the top 1 % of "potentials", according to the CoGat. Not to let his head get too big to slow his growth, we've highlighted he missed several on the test so far from a "perfect" score. :-) Good kid.
I live in Fairfield, Connecticut where liberal spend and recessionary economic growth are reinforcing spirals. If you are in our neck of the woods, please by all means get in touch. My work often takes me to Asia, particularly Southeast Asia. if you are a business owner or leader and need to grow, let's discuss aligning your businesses with faster growth markets - either as an investor, import/export, distributor, or other. I't is my calling to work with you in developing winning cross-border business strategies.
So that is my update as of June 2012.
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