FLT Profile: Adam Day
Get to know University Finance and Administration’s (UFA’s) Financial Leadership Team (FLT) through our FLT Profile series. Featuring Q&As with each FLT member, the series paints a portrait of who our leaders are — outside of the office.
UFA’s FLT is comprised 12 individuals: Adam Day, J. Michael Gower, John Fahey, Jason MacDonald, David B. Moore, Nimish Patel, Ruth Philo, Stephanie K. Reed, José M. Román, Eugene Simon, William Troy, and Kim Yozgat.
This profile features Adam Day, associate vice president and associate treasurer.
Is there a businessperson you admire?
“My father is a successful executive whom I admire for many reasons. I have learned a lot about business and leadership from him, but most importantly, I have observed how he treats people. He is the kind of person that everyone likes, and that’s largely because of how he treats everyone with respect and courtesy regardless of their relationship to him. I recall visiting his office when I was very young and being struck by how he knew every single person in the building by name, including the parking attendant, security guard, and cleaning person. He also always puts his family first, which is something I emulate as well.”
Do you have a favorite object in your office?
“I have a few pieces of art from my kids, but I particularly like a painted rock from my son (who is now seven) that he made in kindergarten. The rock is colorfully painted with the words, ‘my dad rocks,’ which is the kind of silly pun that every dad loves. It’s also a simple reminder of the joy that my kids bring to me.”
Did you have a career fork in the road?
“I had two pretty significant forks in the road in rapid succession. At the end of business school, I accepted a job offer in consulting. On the night of my graduation, my wife and I found out that she was pregnant with our first child. I started in consulting a few weeks later, working very long hours and, when not travelling, commuting two hours each way to New York City.
After our son was born (who was colicky and a terrible sleeper), we spent a year looking for a house with a better commute. When that failed, we realized that we had to make a change, so I found a job in corporate Treasury closer to home. About 18 months later, when my wife was eight months pregnant with our second son, that company was taken over by another company based in Milwaukee. Being close to family support, we were not willing to relocate, so I was forced to again look for another job. I was fortunate to find my role at Rutgers, which was a great fit for me and allowed me to stay close to home.”
How do you unplug?
“As some know, I have a hobby of repairing and restoring vintage watches. If I have the time, I enjoy taking an hour or so to work on a watch project. Due to the intricacy of the work, it forces me to be fully present and concentrate on one single task. This is a nice way to clear my mind of whatever else is going on at the time. Unfortunately, with two young kids, there hasn’t been much ‘unplugging’ time lately, but I’m trying to be better about that.”
What is your guilty pleasure?
“My year-round guilty pleasure is fried food, mozzarella sticks and Chick-fil-A sandwiches in particular. I try to limit myself to these treats once a month, but that can be hard to do. I do have one seasonal guilty pleasure—Hallmark Christmas movies! I’m only a little embarrassed to say that these moves are one of my favorite things during the month of December (despite the movies starting around Halloween, which we try to wait until after Thanksgiving to watch).
My wife has a hard time with the cheese-factor sometimes, but it’s just nice to watch something that you know will work out in the end. Bonus points for movies that include Christmas magic and/or romances with a prince/princess when the protagonist doesn’t know their love interest is a prince/princess…”
What is your favorite music genre and/or your favorite “get pumped” song and why?
“I wouldn’t say I’m a huge music person, but I tend towards the music of my high school and college days—'90s alternative and grunge and early 2000’s alternative. While many people better themselves through listening to podcasts, I typically listen to ‘Lithium’ on SiriusXM during my commute. I don’t think my iTunes account has anything more recent than 2005 in it.”
