C-Day Class Speakers

 

Senior Class Speaker: Thad Shelly '75
CEO, Lazard Wealth Management LLC, New York, NY

Mr. Shelly leads all efforts working with wealthy family groups and individual investors in the management of their investable assets and is a member of the Investment Committee responsible for overseeing client portfolios. Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Shelly was a Senior Managing Director at Bessemer Trust, overseeing client acquisition and account management for their Delaware Trust Company, Mid-Atlantic, South and Southeast regions. Before assuming his regional management responsibilities, Mr. Shelly successfully managed Bessemer's Washington, D.C. office while overseeing the firm's Equity Risk Management advisory services. Prior to joining Bessemer in 1998, Mr. Shelly was the Founder and Director of Private Client Services at Legg Mason from 1992 to 1998. He began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. from 1984 to 1992 where he provided investment advisory and brokerage services to institutional and wealthy individual investors. He is also a member of The Florida Council of 100, a business leadership organization of CEOs.

  

Junior Class Speaker: Joe Ehrmann
Coach for America

Joe Ehrmann has been an educator, author, activist, pastor and coach for more than 25 years. Joe was an All-American football player at Syracuse University, lettered in lacrosse and was selected to the Syracuse All-Century Football Team. Joe went on to play professional football for 13 years. He was named the Colts "Man of the Year" and was the NFL's first Ed Block Courage Award winner.  Parade Magazine featured him on its cover, naming him "The Most Important Coach in America" because of his work to transform the culture of sports. In addition, he was selected as one of the "Most Influential Sport Educators in America" by the Institute for International Sport.

Mr. Ehrmann is co-founder of Baltimore's Ronald McDonald House and was chosen by the Baltimore Business Journal as the "Renaissance Person of the Decade" for his dedication and commitment to Baltimore's betterment.  He is also co-founder of The Door, a community-based organization that addresses issues of poverty, systemic racism and social justice.

His revolutionary concepts of transformational coaching, team-building, mentoring and coaching are the subject of his newly released book: InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives. Joe also was the subject of New York Times Best-Seller, Season of Life: A football star, a boy, a journey into manhood.  Yet, his greatest source of accomplishment and pride has been his 30 plus years marriage to Paula and his four children Ali, Esther, Barney and Joey.

 

Sophomore Class Speaker: Hiter Harris '83
Partner, Harris Williams & Co, Richmond, VA

Mr. Harris co-founded Harris William & Co. in 1991 as a national investment banking firm focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Under Mr. Harris' leadership, Harris Williams & Co. has become one of the largest and most influential mergers and acquisitions boutiques in the country. Having directed over 200 mergers  and acquisitions transactions during his career, Mr. Harris has worked extensively in the industries of consumer products, building products, industrial manufacturing, natural resources, retailing, media, and various services businesses. Mr. Harris earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, with Distinction, in 1987.

  

Freshman Class Speaker: Tulane Patterson ‘78
Founder and author

Mr. Tulane Patterson is a native of Lynchburg and a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, class of 1978. He also holds an MBA from Lynchburg College. In 1998, Mr. Patterson founded Generation Solutions, a home retirement and health care service company in Lynchburg and in Roanoke. Following that , he founded Generation Home Medical in 2005 and the Covenant Foundation, now Centra PACE, in 2001. Last year, he founded Christian Health Outreach, a not for profit third world health care health education ministry. Mr. Patterson has authored over a dozen published articles and two books and has served on the boards of several civic organizations such as the Lynchburg Kiwanis Club, the Free Clinic of Central Virginia, and the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of commerce.

He is married to Claudia and they have four daughters.