PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Anthony J. Binsfeld, Eng ’74
La Crosse, Wis.
Tony believes that success is a process, not an event. “It is the satisfaction derived from a long and continuous crescendo of small wins,” he says. For Tony, those wins have been adding up over a long and successful career running his family business.
Since 1991, when he was named the company’s fourth president, Tony has been at the helm of J. F. Brennan Co., Inc., a hugely successful marine business based in La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 2019, the company celebrated its 100th anniversary. Tony says it is a landmark reached by following the Ignatian approach to decision making and leadership. “Servant leadership is a tenet of our culture,” he says.
As the current chairman of the board for the family-owned contracting firm, Tony soon plans to turn over the company to the fifth generation. Then he can look back with pride on what he calls a long and exciting career in the marine industry. “I cannot begin to enumerate the places, projects and personalities I have experienced. I have witnessed changes in technology that supplant old ways of doing things, and I like to think I was an agent of change,” he says modestly.
One of his fondest memories of his years at Marquette was participating in the Varsity Varieties. His skit ended up in "a disappointing second-place," but he still considers himself the big winner of the night. “That’s when I met a freshman performer to whom I have now been happily married for 46 years. That’s the real prize,” he says.
Fun Fact:
Tony’s parents attended and met at Marquette. He met his wife, Barbara, Sp ’74, Grad ’75, at Marquette, and two of their children attended Marquette and met their spouses here as well.