by Kristin Todd Stires
Although it was several decades ago, Stu Solomon still remembers his first Baylor experience.
“We were living in Lampasas, Texas,” he said. “I was in third grade and attended my first football game, which happened to be at Baylor. It was a Baylor versus SMU game. Baylor didn’t win, but it did give me a good introduction to the university.”
While the game left an impression on Solomon, he learned more about Baylor from his older brother and later enrolled due to the university’s culture and Christian environment. After graduating with a BBA in Finance and Management Information Systems and earning an MBA, Solomon joined Arthur Andersen’s consulting division, which became Andersen Consulting and eventually Accenture. He now oversees 4,300 employees in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region.
“Accenture is a great place to grow a career,” he said. “While I’ve been with the same company since leaving Baylor, I have had the pleasure of serving clients in a number of different industries including financial services, public service, high tech, communication, utilities, consumer products and healthcare.”
Solomon started his career on the West Coast in California (he’s originally from Santa Monica), and then began working with clients on the East Coast. He and his family relocated to Virginia in 1999.
“One of the great things about where we live now is that Washington sits at the crossroads of industry and public service—the commercial world and the government world,” he said. “It’s a great place to work and participate in the community.”
And Accenture places an emphasis on serving the community through one of its core values: stewardship. Solomon is actively involved with expanding the company’s corporate citizenship programs and launched the company’s annual “Day of Service” five years ago at the D.C. location.
“Accenture hires people that are wired to give back to the community in addition to serving our clients,” he said. “That’s one of the things I love about working at this company—the nature and caliber of our people. Our 4,300 metro area employees participate in about 100 community service projects with our annual Day of Service, whether they are painting a school or helping a nonprofit install a computer network. Many of them already volunteer throughout the year, but this is a concentrated effort to give back. It’s energizing and has rippled out to other locations as well.”
Although companies grapple with a number of challenges today—globalization, environmental issues, technological advancements—Solomon believes they should make an “intentional effort” towards dramatically improving education and our communities.
“Most Americans in my generation were raised in a very capitalistic environment and focused on climbing the corporate ladder,” he said. “Companies need to be better stewards of their communities. Not just because it’s the right thing to do but because of the positive results it brings to the community, which is where their workforce and customers are located. Additionally, we need to focus on education at the K-12 levels in order for our workforce to compete on a global scale. The awareness of the problem exists, but it needs to turn into action.”
Solomon has kept ties to Baylor through his support of the university and serving as a member of the Hankamer School of Business Advisory Board. He and his wife of 27 years, Gina, whom he met freshman year at Baylor, were honored as Baylor’s 2012 Parents of the Year—daughter Melissa graduated in December 2012, and Michelle (senior) and Jeffrey (sophomore) are current students. Solomon also couldn’t be happier that RG3 made his way to the Redskins. In fact, he believes “Sic ‘em Skins!” is a fitting motto for all Baylor alumni!
“Baylor is revitalizing our nation’s capital through RG3,” he said. “Seriously, he is a great example of a committed, high-performing leader that lifts those around him. Whatever you do, do it heartily. Be an ‘RG3’ in your area of expertise, live your life with principles, and your service will be useful to transforming the lives around you.”
