Finance executive will speak at Carroll University

A Carroll University alumnus who is an accomplished financier and executive will return to his alma mater for a presentation on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2014. John Donald “J.D.” Dell of Frisco, Texas, is a private equity investor and adviser to Sellars Absorbent Materials, Inc., a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of shop towels, disposable wipers and sorbents made with recycled fibers.

“Modern Finance and Financiers: Current Lessons of Hubris and Humanity” is presented as part of the Executive-In-Residence Series by the Business, Accounting and Economics Department at Carroll University. The event includes networking and cocktails from 5:30-6 p.m. and Dell’s lecture from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Stackner Ballroom of the Campus Center, 101 N. East Ave., Waukesha. It is free and open to the public; space is limited.

Dell previously was senior vice president of corporate development and general counsel for Sellars Absorbent Materials, Inc. Earlier in his career, he was the senior managing director and portfolio manager for Trammell Crow Companies Private Equity Funds, and a senior executive, general counsel and partner in Lone Star Funds/Hudson Advisors, LLC. He also has worked at Hunt Consolidated, Inc., a Big Four accounting firm and two Texas-based law firms, first as an associate and then as a partner.

A civic leader, Dell has volunteered for several nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, including Jesuit Foundation at The Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, Good Shepherd Episcopal School, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church and Campus Ministry at Texas A&M University.

Dell enrolled at Carroll University as a first-generation student, and was the first member of his family to earn a college degree. He participated in numerous extra-curricular activities, including varsity debate, varsity swimming, Student Senate, Delta Rho Upsilon fraternity, and a New Cultural Experiences Program trip to Eastern Europe and Russia. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science with Summa Cum Laude honors in 1982.

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dell entered a joint law/accounting program. From 1983-1986, he was a research assistant in agricultural law and taxation for the College of Agriculture. Dell earned a Juris Doctor degree with Magna Cum Laude honors from the College of Law in 1986. That same year, he also earned a Master of Science degree in accounting from the College of Business.

For more information on Dell’s presentation, contact Greg Kuhlemeyer, chair of the department of Business, Accounting and Economics, at gkuhleme@carrollu.edu.

About Carroll University
Carroll, Wisconsin’s oldest four-year institution of higher learning, is an independent, co-educational comprehensive university grounded in the liberal arts tradition. Incorporated in 1846, it offers bachelor’s degrees in 57 majors and master’s degrees in business administration, education, exercise physiology, graphic communication, nursing, physician assistant studies and software engineering, as well as a clinical doctorate in physical therapy. For more information, visit www.carrollu.edu.