Notable Alumni

Over 100,000 students have run their own business under Southwestern’s guidance since the 1970′s alone. A few notable alumni of our program include:

• Rory Vaden – Co-Founder of Southwestern Consulting and World Championship of Public Speaking finalist – watch a video of Rory’s main message “Take the Stairs“

• Max Lucado – Best-selling Christian author
• Mac Anderson – Founder/CEO of Successories, Simple Truths, and McCord Travel
• Bruce Henderson – Founder of Boston Consulting Group

• Rick Perry – Governor (TX); 2012 Presidential Candidate
• David Rosen – Finance Director for Sen. Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, and Pat Quinn campaigns
• Ronnie Musgrove – Governor (MS)
• Marsha Blackburn – Congresswoman (TN)
• Ken Starr - Whitewater Prosecutor; President of Baylor University
• Lamar Alexander – Governor, Senator (TN); US Secretary of Education
• Jeff Sessions – Senator, Attorney General (AL)
• Fuller Warren – Governor (FL)
• Max Sherman – Senator (TX); Special Council to Governor of TX; President of West TX State Univ.
• Judge John McBryde – US District Judge (TX), appointed by President Bush
• Judge Harry Phillips – House of Representatives (TN); Asst State Attorney General
• Ted Welch – Republican National Committee Finance Chairman
• Donna Wiesner Keene – CEO of BrainTrust (marketing for political projects)
• Clyde Lear – CEO of Learfield Communications (leader in collegiate sports marketing)
• Charles Moose – Maryland Police Chief (led investigation of DC Sniper)
• Martin Fridson – “How To Become a Billionaire”; #1 ranked investment strategist
• James Wedgeworth – President of Charter 1 Realty; #1 agent in Hilton Head, SC
• Wade Shealy – Fortune 500 real estate consultant; manager of $2.5B in resort developments; founder of 3rd Home
• Mike Myers - Univ of TX Track & Soccer Stadium named after him; owns 7 Texas banks
• Tim Luzader - former President of NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers)
• John Wagner – President of Hunt Sports Group; owns Dallas & Columbus pro-soccer teams
• Jon Yarbrough – Founder/President of Video Gaming Technologies (VGT)
• Jim Ayers – Owner/Chairman of FirstBank
• Terek Al Farra – Consultant to European Union
• Bill Cochran - Northwestern Mutual, built $11.7B base; Board of Trust for Vanderbilt University
• Quayle Hodek – Founer/CEO of Renewable Choice Energy
• Michael Hale – Lead Engineer at NASA (Ames)
• Don Shafer – Founder/Chairman of BancVue & Banking Solutions (major internet banking provider)
• Todd Ballenger – Founder of Capital Savings Co, Advantage Capital Mortgage, and PlanMax Financial
• Tom Black – CEO of Tecni-flex & Imagic Corp (serves over 4,000 banks in 49 states); Author – “Boxcar Millionaire”
• Rick Desoto – Vice-President of Paine Weber (UBS)
• Chad Hoeft – Managing Director of Citigroup
• Mary Jo Grench – Vice-President of Merrill Lynch
• Richard Johnson – Founder of hotjobs.com (now monster.com)
• Dave Andrzejek – Former Director of Sales for Netscape / AOL
• Deb McCroskey – Director of Vanderbilt Health Clinic
• Chuck Leyrer – Director of Worldwide Marketing for IBM
• Heather Biance – Anchor/Reporter for NBC Affiliate WMBF – Myrtle Beach, SC
• Spencer Hays – Exec Chair of Southwestern Co; Owner of Oxxford Clothes, Tom James Co, Athlon Sports
• Henry Bedford – Chairman/CEO of Southwestern family of companies
• Dan Moore – President of Southwestern / Southwestern Advantage
• Carl Roberts – President of Southwestern Business Resources
• Jeff Dobyns – President of Southwestern Investment Services (#1 Raymond James office nationwide)
• Pat Roach – President of Southwestern Real Estate Company
• Peter Ferre – President of Southwestern Legacy Financial Services
• Dustin Hillis – Co-Founder of Southwestern Consulting

Read SW Redline’s alumni letters: