Our Home Hospitality events are this week, April 21st through the 26th. These social events will replace our Wednesday, April 24th lunch meeting. We want to thank all the members who have graciously volunteered to open up their homes and host an event. This is a wonderful way to relax, meet fellow Rotarians outside of the lunch meeting and have some fun. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call the Rotary office - 623-2281. Again, these events take the place of our lunch meeting on April 24th. Our next regular lunch meeting will be held on Wednesday, 5/1/24 at the TCC. Our speaker for this meeting will be RCOT Foundation- Cliff Bowman.
Meeting:
WEDNESDAYS, 12:00 NOON - 1:20 PM
Meetings are held at Tucson Convention Center
260 S. Church Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701 (USA)
Rotary Office: 520-623-2281
Tucson, AZ 85701 (USA)
Rotary Office: 520-623-2281
Our Home Hospitality events are this week, April 21st through the 26th. These social events will replace our Wednesday, April 24th lunch meeting. We want to thank all the members who have graciously volunteered to open up their homes and host an event. This is a wonderful way to relax, meet fellow Rotarians outside of the lunch meeting and have some fun. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call the Rotary office - 623-2281. Again, these events take the place of our lunch meeting on April 24th. Our next regular lunch meeting will be held on Wednesday, 5/1/24 at the TCC. Our speaker for this meeting will be RCOT Foundation- Cliff Bowman.
Fletcher is a third generation Tucsonan. His grandfather Russell moved to Tucson from Indiana just after the depression. Russell worked for the WPA and laid many of the downtown and University area sidewalks for $1.00 a day and eventually went to work for the railroad. Fletcher's mother was a Tucson High School grad and Fletcher attended John B Wright, Davidson and Amphi. He completed a BS in Rehabilitation at the University of Arizona in 1974 but left Tucson for greener pastures attending graduate school at ASU.
Fletcher rose through the ranks in many health care companies in Oklahoma, Maryland and Texas and while in Texas in 1996 he conceived and launched the Providence Service Corporation, the first home based mental health company in America. His wife, Liz, actually suggested they base the company in Tucson and Providence was launched in January 1997. Fletcher followed an unusual route for Tucson companies with Providence: his money, family and friends, venture capital, and ultimately a very successful IPO. When he exited Providence in 2012 it was a billion-dollar business located in 44 states and employing over 11,000 people. During the Providence run Fletcher became very involved in the rebuilding of downtown Tucson. He relocated the company headquarters to downtown Tucson in May of 2010 remodeling a block of boarded up buildings that not only became the company headquarters but opened up restaurant, residential and commercial space. His passion for downtown was a catalyst for many and in 2012 he was appointed to the Rio Nuevo board, responsible for the State funds designated to revitalize Tucson, and elected Chairman unanimously by his fellow board members. Just weeks after his announced retirement from Providence Fletcher launched a new company called Sinfonía, also in a remodeled downtown warehouse. SinfoníaRx was the first major spin out from Tech Launch Arizona. Sinfonia sold in October 2017 and McCusker immediately launched UA Venture Capital, a growth fund dedicated to UofA commercialization. UAVC has made 15 investments in UofA related science and technology and has become a pivotal part of the developing start up ecosystem expanding in the Tucson region.
Remember: Since Wednesday, 4/10/24 is the second week of the month, there will be no lunch meeting at the TCC.
At our next lunch meeting on 4/17/24, we are looking forward to a wonderful presentation by Fletcher McCusker.
Ignite Sign Art Museum: Since April 10th is the second week of the month and there is no scheduled lunch meeting, we will be touring the Ignite Sign Art Museum. Here are the details: When: Wednesday, April 10th 331 S. Olsen Avenue Time: 11:30 a.m. (Flexible timing; folks can stay or go as they wish) Cost: $12 Per Person. Come out for a tour of the museum, a demonstration of neon sign making, a quiz answering contest. Meet afterwards at Floras Market for those that can continue the fun and fellowship. Sign up on the website and register your guests as well.
Carol Stewart, a long-standing authority on research parks, is the Vice President for Tech Parks Arizona at the University of Arizona. Carol Stewart leads the UA Tech Park at Rita Road and is developing the UA Tech Park at The Bridges. She is also president of the University of Arizona Center for Innovation (UACI), a technology business incubator network serving the University of Arizona, Tucson and international community.Stewart’s expertise in university research parks spans decades and nations with more than 20 years of experience working with research parks, technology commercialization, business incubation, governmental relations and business development.
As a pioneer in the research parks world, she has driven national policy, standardized programs, created national and international networks, built technology clusters, engaged stakeholders, and assisted countries with the development of their national science and technology policies.
Stewart is passionate about her community and serves as a champion in university-based economic development. She is a member of Southern Arizona Leadership Council, Flinn Foundation Steering Committee, a member of the Canadian Global Mentor Program and she also serves on the Board of Directors for Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce, Pima County’s Workforce Investment Board, Arizona Technology Council, Desert Angels, and is the Vice President on the national University Economic Development Association (UEDA) board, and a member of the North American CEO Council for Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW).
She also serves as the North American Division President for the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP). IASP is the worldwide network of science parks and areas of innovation. IASP has nearly four hundred members in 74 countries. Previously, Stewart served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), which represents 170 research parks in North America. She collaborates with numerous leaders world-wide to build and grow university-related research parks through education, unification, and collaboration. She helps to expand and advance the impact of research parks and areas of innovation by showcasing best practices across the globe.
Her proven success record also includes co-founding the Canadian chapter of the Association of University Research Parks, founding director of the David Johnston Research + Technology Park at the University of Waterloo spearheading the development of the park, advancing the park to over the one-million-square-foot milestone, leading the marketing efforts and launching the professional services division of Maplesoft, a global spin-off company from the University of Waterloo, and enhancing the entrepreneurial culture of Canada at the Canadian Industrial Innovation Centre (CIIC).
Brent Brennan is the next Head Coach of Arizona Football. Brennan joins the Wildcats following seven seasons leading the San José State University football program where he steered the Spartans to three bowl game appearances and earned the 2020 Mountain West Coach of the Year award. Brennan, 50, is an experienced leader in college football who enjoyed two stints coaching under legendary Arizona head coach Dick Tomey, the winningest coach in program history. The San José native first learned under Tomey with the Wildcats as a graduate assistant in 2000, and again from 2005-09 at SJSU as an assistant coach. The ties between Brennan and the University of Arizona run deep, with Brent’s brother Bradley playing five years as a wide out in Tucson under Tomey, and Brent’s wife Courtney being an alumna of the University.
Among a multitude of accomplishments at San José State, Brennan became the first head coach in SJSU history to lead the Spartans to three bowl games in a four-year span. He also steered SJSU to back-to-back winning seasons in 2022 and 2023, marking the first time it had been accomplished by the Spartans since the 1991-92 campaigns. Throughout Brennan’s lengthy and accomplished career, he helped develop five All-Americans and 19 Professional Football players, including six who enjoyed NFL careers of five-plus seasons.
Brennan and his wife Courtney are the proud parents to two daughters, Blake and Casey, and one son, Scott.
THIS MEETING IS SPONSORED BY:
