Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award

Edward J. Scott, Bus Ad ’80
Franklin, Tenn.

Ed Scott says his years at Marquette provided the critical thinking and technical skills necessary to have a successful 35 years at Caterpillar, a career that took him across the United States and to Santiago, Chile.

When he retired in 2016, Ed held the position of corporate treasurer, a role that he’d had in his sights for decades. Soon after starting at Caterpillar in 1981, as a funding analyst, an older colleague asked him about his career goals and Ed gestured to the corporate treasurer’s office door. In 1986, Ed wrote a letter to his dad, thanking him because he’d recently given up cigarettes. “I wrote that I wanted him to be healthy so he could be there to celebrate with me when I became treasurer of Caterpillar,” Ed recalls. “I even emphasized this with the words ‘and I will.’” When Ed was ultimately appointed treasurer in 2010, his proud dad returned that letter to him saying, “I knew you would achieve your goal!”

Ed has been similarly focused in retirement. “Giving back to Marquette is…part of my retirement mission,” he says. He returns to campus periodically to speak to Marquette Executive-in-residence Chris Swain’s finance classes, and he and his wife have provided financial support for scholarships and capital campaigns for the colleges of Business and Nursing.

As a person for others, Ed is committed to community service. He has been deeply involved in Junior Achievement, receiving a 2016 national award from JA for his years of leadership. He currently chairs the Finance Council at his parish, St. Philip.

He also considers himself to be very blessed that he met his wife, Karen, Nurs ’80, at Marquette. “Her love and support is a huge reason for the personal accomplishments I have achieved,” he says. “From my perspective, she is the co-recipient of this award.”

Fun Facts:

What is one of your favorite Marquette memories?

The obvious answer is meeting my wife, Karen. If I could add another favorite memory, it would be the journey to winning the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship my freshman year in 1977. Three friends and I drove from Milwaukee to Oklahoma City. The father of one my friends was a very close friend of Al McGuire. As a result, we stayed at the hotel with the team, rode the team bus to the game and sat in the second row behind the bench. When Marquette won the game to advance to the Final Four, we celebrated on the floor and on the bus with the team. That was an awesome freshman experience!

Name someone (past or present) with whom you'd like to have dinner.

I have always been a huge Ronald Reagan fan so if it must be one person it would be him. But if I could expand the invite to a table of four, it would be Ronald Reagan, St. John Paul II, Margaret Thatcher and me. These three great leaders profoundly changed the world.