Alumni Profile Patrick Cowan, ’11

Why was an MBA an important step in your career?

I considered earning an MBA to challenge myself, surround myself with amazing and brilliant people and take my career to new levels. Professionally, I didn’t “need” an MBA to be successful in my existing role, but I knew my existing role was temporary and an MBA from Chicago Booth would open new doors for me personally and professionally.

What attracted you to Booth’s Evening MBA Program?

I looked at a number of business schools and absolutely fell in love with Booth. As a firm believer in free and open markets, Booth seemed like the perfect place for me. I toured the school, audited several classes, spent time with current and former students and every interaction made me a stronger believer that Booth was the best spot for me.

Tell us about your career progression post MBA. How did the MBA, Booth network, etc. impact your opportunities and/or progression?

Shortly after receiving my MBA I took my first true leadership position with Northern Trust. I was promoted to lead a large corporate banking team for nine Midwestern states with 15 employees and credit exposures well into the billions of dollars. I believe that Northern saw that I was able to handle the responsibilities of a 50-60 hour per week career, travel and still handle two challenging and time-consuming Booth classes per quarter.

A few years later my wife, who is also a Booth MBA graduate, was transferred to Denver, Colorado which required me to find a position outside of Northern Trust. Through my network, I was able to attain the position of the Commercial Banking Team Lead and Senior Vice President with U.S. Bank, running the Denver Region. After four successful years with the Commercial Banking Team, I was asked to join Ascent Private Capital Management of U.S. Bank as their Chief Banking Officer. This is my first national position with clients spanning from Florida to Washington, New York, to California. We work with ultra-high net worth families where my team handles any and all credit / depository needs of our clients. We have worked with wealthy families to finance many things including private companies, real estate, major league sporting teams and financed significant contributions to centers of higher education.

What aspects of the MBA do you continue to use in your current role?

I firmly believe that the most important thing a student will get out of a Booth MBA is their network. A strong network will serve you well after your time in class is over. That said, of the many aspects of a Booth MBA, there are two classes that had a huge impact on me and, to this day, I use what I learned daily. The first is Professor Scott Meadow’s Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity. In Commercial Banking and Private Wealth, we do a substantial amount of work with Private Equity Firms, line of businesses, Leveraged Recaps, etc.

Both taking Scott’s class and serving as a Teaching Assistant for two quarters gave me the experience and background to understand the industry which further allowed me to build a rather large private equity-based book of business.

The second class that I use the skills and lessons in my daily life was Professor Linda Ginzel’s, Essentials of Effective Leadership. Booth is known for the analytics, the data and creating formulas for valuing the most complicated derivative product, yet it was a leadership class that stuck with me. What people need to know is that as you climb in your career, you won’t always be the person crunching the numbers or completing the valuation. As you climb, you build teams and more importantly, lead teams. Running a business will take you away from those technical skills in the day to day and will require the soft skills that are too often overlooked but become increasingly important over time.

Any advice for prospective students seeking to advance in the same industry and/or within the same organization?

Take in all that Booth has to offer. It may seem like a long time that you are there, but trust me, it is short. Spend time with your classmates, as much as you can. These folks will be your largest advocates, your sources of deal flow, the connection for your next promotion or your next business partner if you decide entrepreneurship is your next calling. Or if you are lucky like me, you may also find your partner in life (Jamie Loucks Cowan EVE’10).