Legacy of Leadership: The Alumni Network of Northwestern Tennis
8/27/2018 4:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
By Jake May
Why is tennis still denied the attention it deserves in American sports culture?
The Williams sisters continue to transcend the game well into their careers and efforts to grow tennis' presence among youth in urban areas has proven fruitful. Despite such positive signs, the sport draws relatively little interest from the American public.
Things are similar at a Big Ten University, where football and basketball draw the most eyes and the most revenue. But taking a closer look at both the sport of tennis and those who played it here at Northwestern should cause more heads to turn towards the tennis courts.
If you peel away these misconceptions and stereotypes, you will find a highly individual, cerebral sport that breeds successful people from a variety of backgrounds both on and off the court.
At Northwestern, the unique blend of elite academics and tennis fuels one of the most impressive alumni rosters of any sport at any university in the country. Former tennis professionals, CEOs of prominent companies, highly successful entrepreneurs, and current leaders of America's tennis governing bodies all share the common thread of Northwestern tennis.
Within the tennis world, the web of connections between Northwestern alums is thick. The current Chair of the Board, President, and CEO of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is Katrina Adams '89. Adams played professionally for 12 years and won the NCAA women's doubles championship as a Wildcat in 1987. She is the Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program and a television commentator. Adams is the first former tennis professional, the first African-American, and the youngest individual named to her position.
One of her predecessors in that position is fellow alumnus Jon Vegosen '73, who served in 2011 and 2012. Vegosen walked onto the varsity team his freshman year and received All-Big Ten honors in 1973 after playing varsity all four years. He later graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern Law School and went on to co-found a successful corporate and litigation law firm in Chicago.
Judy Levering '60 (USTA Chair, President and CEO from 1999-2000) made tennis history by becoming the first female leader of the USTA in its 118th year. Along with Vegosen and Adams, Levering has been an important presence on the Board of Directors of the USTA Foundation since its founding nearly 20 years ago.
Vegosen currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which also appointed Dr. Timothy Russell '77, a former university professor, orchestra conductor, and not-for-profit entrepreneur, its CEO. During his time at the USTA, Vegosen worked closely not only with Adams but also with Todd Martin, the former world No. 4 in singles who left Northwestern as the No. 2-ranked collegiate tennis player.
The three of them once comprised 20 percent of the USTA Board. Martin now serves as the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where he has worked alongside longtime ITHF board member Doug Conant '73. Conant, who played alongside Vegosen for four years, is a former president of Nabisco and was CEO of Campbell Soup Company for a decade. Conant is now a New York Times best-selling author and sought-after speaker.
The question of why this combination of Northwestern and tennis works so well does not distil to a single factor or reason. Rather, many factors combine to create an environment that attracts elite student-athletes.
Chris Combe '70, '99 P, '06 P, '09 P, Northwestern trustee, is the former CEO of Combe Inc., an American personal care company whose products are sold across six continents. Combe called tennis "the perfect sport for the Northwestern scholar-athlete" because of the reactive skills, creativity, and intellect required to handle the demands of both tennis and Northwestern academics.
David G. Kabiller '85, '87 MBA, Northwestern trustee and co-founder of the highly successful global investment management firm AQR Capital Management, suggested the strategic nature of tennis attracts people who excel academically.
The balance between academics and athletics found at Northwestern is another key piece of the puzzle, according to Vegosen.
"You are there to have a complete experience," said Vegosen, who stressed the "healthy respect" the University maintains for its student-athletes.
Dr. Russell believes "Northwestern has a very solid grounding of athletics within the academic environment. They have not let sports subsume the role of a university."
Judy Levering perhaps put it best, simply stating, "the school has always had its priorities in the right place."
The combination of elite tennis with elite academics produces, among other things, a strong sense of individuality. Conant, who volunteered as an assistant coach at Northwestern while earning his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, mentioned feeling "incredibly accountable" while on the court. He credits Northwestern with developing his strong individuality later honed at the workplace.
Adams called tennis "an individual sport where you build confidence and self-esteem. When you put that alongside what Northwestern offers, it makes a better individual because of what you go through as a student-athlete."
Clearly, Northwestern tennis attracts upper-echelon athletes with the self-discipline, character, and intellect to balance Division I athletics with a rigorous academic workload. But how does the program repeatedly attract that special breed of person?
The coaching staff deserves much of the credit. Arvid Swan, who just finished his tenth season at the helm of the men's program, is only the fifth head coach since 1931. On the women's side, head coach Claire Pollard wrapped up her 19th season in charge, having qualified her team for the NCAA tournament every year of her tenure and winning 16 straight Big Ten titles from 1999-2014.
Coaches across the decades garner praise as leaders who also served as teachers and mentors.
Conant, who played under the legendary Claire Riessen, mentioned how Riessen raised his competiveness to a level he thought unattainable. Martin, coached by Paul Torricelli, said Northwestern employs "great coaches throughout the years who have helped kids thrive." Martin said the culture isn't one of cutthroat competition, but rather a steady demand for excellence originating from the coaches and extending beyond the court.
Support from the University and alumni cannot be overlooked.
Named in recognition of a generous gift from Chris Combe in honor of his father, Ivan, in 2001, the Combe Tennis Center is located at the north end of campus. Combe mentioned the support of then-University president Henry Bienen in building the facility, saying he elected to put the tennis center in a central campus location because tennis is "a sport anyone can play."
Most importantly, Northwestern tennis athletes are equipped for life after tennis. The value of a Northwestern education cannot be overstated, but augmentation from the competitiveness, individuality, and discipline required by tennis certainly helps, as do the incredible alumni connections.
The NU for Life program, founded by Kabiller, gives student-athletes the chance to work closely with career counselors at every stage of their college careers to create networks and aspirations of their own. Additionally, the Northwestern tennis alumni community is intimate and close-knit, making mobilization and connection across generations easy.
When former student-athletes that thrived after Northwestern discuss their experiences on the tennis team, one thing becomes clear – Northwestern tennis attracts and produces leaders.
The formula for success is complex, but the combination of tennis and a Northwestern education prepares those student-athletes to take on leadership roles years later.
Judy Levering, who attended Northwestern at a time when women's tennis was nothing more than an intramural program, explained why.
"The sport of tennis has so many life skills embedded in it that the combination really works when you're at a school when the top athletes are top students," she said. "You step to the center of the circle when you're out there on the court. A leader has to do that."
Why is tennis still denied the attention it deserves in American sports culture?
The Williams sisters continue to transcend the game well into their careers and efforts to grow tennis' presence among youth in urban areas has proven fruitful. Despite such positive signs, the sport draws relatively little interest from the American public.
Things are similar at a Big Ten University, where football and basketball draw the most eyes and the most revenue. But taking a closer look at both the sport of tennis and those who played it here at Northwestern should cause more heads to turn towards the tennis courts.
If you peel away these misconceptions and stereotypes, you will find a highly individual, cerebral sport that breeds successful people from a variety of backgrounds both on and off the court.
At Northwestern, the unique blend of elite academics and tennis fuels one of the most impressive alumni rosters of any sport at any university in the country. Former tennis professionals, CEOs of prominent companies, highly successful entrepreneurs, and current leaders of America's tennis governing bodies all share the common thread of Northwestern tennis.
Within the tennis world, the web of connections between Northwestern alums is thick. The current Chair of the Board, President, and CEO of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) is Katrina Adams '89. Adams played professionally for 12 years and won the NCAA women's doubles championship as a Wildcat in 1987. She is the Executive Director of the Harlem Junior Tennis and Education Program and a television commentator. Adams is the first former tennis professional, the first African-American, and the youngest individual named to her position.
One of her predecessors in that position is fellow alumnus Jon Vegosen '73, who served in 2011 and 2012. Vegosen walked onto the varsity team his freshman year and received All-Big Ten honors in 1973 after playing varsity all four years. He later graduated Cum Laude from Northwestern Law School and went on to co-found a successful corporate and litigation law firm in Chicago.
Judy Levering '60 (USTA Chair, President and CEO from 1999-2000) made tennis history by becoming the first female leader of the USTA in its 118th year. Along with Vegosen and Adams, Levering has been an important presence on the Board of Directors of the USTA Foundation since its founding nearly 20 years ago.
Vegosen currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which also appointed Dr. Timothy Russell '77, a former university professor, orchestra conductor, and not-for-profit entrepreneur, its CEO. During his time at the USTA, Vegosen worked closely not only with Adams but also with Todd Martin, the former world No. 4 in singles who left Northwestern as the No. 2-ranked collegiate tennis player.
The three of them once comprised 20 percent of the USTA Board. Martin now serves as the CEO of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, where he has worked alongside longtime ITHF board member Doug Conant '73. Conant, who played alongside Vegosen for four years, is a former president of Nabisco and was CEO of Campbell Soup Company for a decade. Conant is now a New York Times best-selling author and sought-after speaker.
The question of why this combination of Northwestern and tennis works so well does not distil to a single factor or reason. Rather, many factors combine to create an environment that attracts elite student-athletes.
Chris Combe '70, '99 P, '06 P, '09 P, Northwestern trustee, is the former CEO of Combe Inc., an American personal care company whose products are sold across six continents. Combe called tennis "the perfect sport for the Northwestern scholar-athlete" because of the reactive skills, creativity, and intellect required to handle the demands of both tennis and Northwestern academics.
David G. Kabiller '85, '87 MBA, Northwestern trustee and co-founder of the highly successful global investment management firm AQR Capital Management, suggested the strategic nature of tennis attracts people who excel academically.
The balance between academics and athletics found at Northwestern is another key piece of the puzzle, according to Vegosen.
"You are there to have a complete experience," said Vegosen, who stressed the "healthy respect" the University maintains for its student-athletes.
Dr. Russell believes "Northwestern has a very solid grounding of athletics within the academic environment. They have not let sports subsume the role of a university."
Judy Levering perhaps put it best, simply stating, "the school has always had its priorities in the right place."
The combination of elite tennis with elite academics produces, among other things, a strong sense of individuality. Conant, who volunteered as an assistant coach at Northwestern while earning his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, mentioned feeling "incredibly accountable" while on the court. He credits Northwestern with developing his strong individuality later honed at the workplace.
Adams called tennis "an individual sport where you build confidence and self-esteem. When you put that alongside what Northwestern offers, it makes a better individual because of what you go through as a student-athlete."
Clearly, Northwestern tennis attracts upper-echelon athletes with the self-discipline, character, and intellect to balance Division I athletics with a rigorous academic workload. But how does the program repeatedly attract that special breed of person?
The coaching staff deserves much of the credit. Arvid Swan, who just finished his tenth season at the helm of the men's program, is only the fifth head coach since 1931. On the women's side, head coach Claire Pollard wrapped up her 19th season in charge, having qualified her team for the NCAA tournament every year of her tenure and winning 16 straight Big Ten titles from 1999-2014.
Coaches across the decades garner praise as leaders who also served as teachers and mentors.
Conant, who played under the legendary Claire Riessen, mentioned how Riessen raised his competiveness to a level he thought unattainable. Martin, coached by Paul Torricelli, said Northwestern employs "great coaches throughout the years who have helped kids thrive." Martin said the culture isn't one of cutthroat competition, but rather a steady demand for excellence originating from the coaches and extending beyond the court.
Support from the University and alumni cannot be overlooked.
Named in recognition of a generous gift from Chris Combe in honor of his father, Ivan, in 2001, the Combe Tennis Center is located at the north end of campus. Combe mentioned the support of then-University president Henry Bienen in building the facility, saying he elected to put the tennis center in a central campus location because tennis is "a sport anyone can play."
Most importantly, Northwestern tennis athletes are equipped for life after tennis. The value of a Northwestern education cannot be overstated, but augmentation from the competitiveness, individuality, and discipline required by tennis certainly helps, as do the incredible alumni connections.
The NU for Life program, founded by Kabiller, gives student-athletes the chance to work closely with career counselors at every stage of their college careers to create networks and aspirations of their own. Additionally, the Northwestern tennis alumni community is intimate and close-knit, making mobilization and connection across generations easy.
When former student-athletes that thrived after Northwestern discuss their experiences on the tennis team, one thing becomes clear – Northwestern tennis attracts and produces leaders.
The formula for success is complex, but the combination of tennis and a Northwestern education prepares those student-athletes to take on leadership roles years later.
Judy Levering, who attended Northwestern at a time when women's tennis was nothing more than an intramural program, explained why.
"The sport of tennis has so many life skills embedded in it that the combination really works when you're at a school when the top athletes are top students," she said. "You step to the center of the circle when you're out there on the court. A leader has to do that."
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