Fifteen years had passed since Andrew Davis (BBA ’01) had spoken to his college mentor, Terry marketing professor Kevin Ellis, and when the two men got together on Feb. 8 . . . well, they just couldn’t stop talking.
“Professor Ellis and I met for a late lunch,” says Davis, who is now a champion racecar driver and the subject of a cover story in the winter issue of Terry Magazine, “and we were still catching up with each other at 5:30 in the afternoon!”
Ellis is a car guy himself, having worked for Volkswagen in the 1970s when VW was doing critical market research and creating the initial dealer structure for Porsche/Audi operations in the Midwest.
“It was very gratifying,” says Ellis, “to hear Andrew say that the marketing skills he learned at Terry helped him create his own personal brand and gave him the confidence to make presentations to team owners and potential sponsors.”
Davis enjoyed hearing about the success of Ellis’ National Sales Team program, which was just getting off the ground when he was in school, and he says the lunch with Ellis was the first step in getting him reconnected with Terry.
“Professor Ellis and I are planning for me to meet with members of Terry’s sales and marketing fraternity, Pi Sigma Epsilon,” says Davis. “I’m looking forward to telling current students how important Terry was in making my career dreams come true.”