3M and Macalester

Tomov is the beneficiary of a longstanding network including Mac economics professors Karl Egge, Gary Krueger, Joyce Minor ’88 and others, and current Mac alumni at 3M, particularly Ippo Vrohidis ’88, left, finance director for 3M’s Industrial and Transportation Business. 3M, long known for Post-its and Scotch tape, is a $23 billion a year company operating in 65 countries in markets from healthcare and highway safety to abrasives and adhesives.

“As I count it, at least six graduates have had full time jobs at 3M these past eight years because of Ippo,” says Karl Egge, now professor emeritus. Egge and Vrohidis have been the lynch pins in this successful network.

“In November 2009, Ippo Vrohidis and Disa Sheqem came to recruit for their summer 2010 internship program,” says Tomov. “Three Mac candidates then came to a breakfast at 3M where we had interviews for the next three hours, as well as a tour of the 3M Center in St. Paul.

“I started the summer program a week after graduation. I was part of 3M Corporate Auditing for six weeks and then moved to Financial Planning and Analysis. The 3M internship program is dynamic and well paid and gives you numerous opportunities, for example, giving final presentations in front of 3M’s CFO, Mr. Pat Campbell.”

During his internship, Tomov obtained interviews leading to his current position as a financial analyst in 3M Tax, with responsibility for transfer pricing, a position previously held by at least two other Mac alumni/3M employees—Astghik Poladyan ’06 and Disa Sheqem ’08 (now analysts in Business Finance and Investor Relations, respectively).

Vrohidis is always a favorite when he comes back to campus as guest lecturer in an economics class. “It’s fun and energizing to get back to Mac,” he says. “There is a great buzz at the campus. Macalester was great to me and I believe in giving back. From a business perspective, 3M is always looking for great talent and connections to the community; Mac is the perfect venue to accomplish both of these goals.” Since 1982, the company has presented the 3M Scholar Award, a cash prize, to Macalester seniors who have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement in economics.

The networking mantle at Mac is fostered by all economics faculty members but is especially being taken up by Joyce Minor, the Karl Egge Professor of Economics, whose responsibilities include teaching and fostering the student/alumni connections that are a hallmark of economics at Macalester. She brings to the department valuable industry experience in “the real world” including her longstanding post at Lehman Brothers, where she served as a senior vice president in Equity Research.

“Professors at Mac teach you how to think and how to approach problems and issues from different perspectives,” says Vrohidis. “In 3M Finance, we are looking for strong analytical skills as well as leadership. I find that many Macalester economics graduates have these qualities.”