Joseph Sun ’96 MBA | Choosing Kellogg Over a Lifetime

When you make a gift of a flower to someone, the fragrance actually stays within your palm. And when you smell it, you feel good for several days. So, the more you give, the more you see. I'm Joseph Sun. I am an investment manager. I've pretty much spent all my career in finance. Uh, and I started my own firm, Solaris Capital. — Something that I would like people to know about my dad is that he's a very kind and loving person. He really has an empathetic heart. — My dad is always willing to give. He is frugal to himself yet generous to other people. — He's a really sincere friend over the past 20 plus years. — He makes a great beef noodle. That was the reason why I choose him to become my roommate. He always been very passionate uh whatever he does. — Kellogg and Northwestern have been ingrained deeply into me and my family. So, as my kids were growing up, they saw a lot of purple. — Purple. Purple everywhere. 70% of the shoes are purple. — Most of my wardrobe is purple. I've always have a Kellock bug in me and I've always loved Kellock. Back when I was about 24, 25, I started looking at all the top business schools in the US. He was not considering Kellog because um he had scholarship elsewhere. His family was not very uh well off back then. — I grew up in a teacher family because both my parents used to teach in school. My dad was a very wise man. Still is. I definitely think Kellogg had an immense effect on how he behaves, how he leads. — One of my most memorable classes from Kellogg was investment banking. Uh, and our professor was a gentleman by the name of John Robertson. He actually called me out for not participating enough in class. When I told him, "Professor is not in my culture to speak up in class," he said, "It's If that classmate could do it, you can do it. " That really um impressed me a lot. That really changed me quite a bit. — He has contributed so much to the Kell community, — particularly what he's done with the alumni community in Asia and in Taiwan. Joe is uh you know without a doubt the number one cheerleader for you know for not just for Kellogg but also for Northwestern here in Taiwan. — I created the Kellogg Club of Taiwan so we could strengthen our efforts and the result was immediate. — He has done a tremendous job and raising the profile and also the enrollment and yielding students to attend Kellock. — The first time I received a donations the citation my first donation was only 300 bucks. When I was more established in my career, I started to realize how important it was to give back. In case you haven't started giving back to Kellogg, it's never too late to start. — I'm so proud of him for receiving this award. He totally deserves it. — The amount of passion and dedication that he has for the cause, I think it's really, really commendable. we love you uh you know and continue to do what you do. Let's you know u stay together right to continue to advance for the cause of the school. — It is fantastic what you've done for both Kellogg and Northwestern. You have turned yourself into a purple machine. — Congratulations, Dad. You made it. We all love you and we're very proud of you. I'm very proud of you and you really deserve this award. I am so proud of you for doing something so meaningful and impactful. Congratulations.