All-University Award Recipients
Spirit of Marquette Award
(For Professional Achievement Before Age 40)
Scott H. Schroeder, Bus Ad '92, Grad '96, Law '96
Scott Schroeder lives life to the third degree. Intensely focused and driven, he has done quite well quite early. And, yes, he does have three degrees in business, management and law all from Marquette.
Scott is a founding partner at Balyasny Asset Management, where his suitably intense goal is "to be an integral part of building one of the best global hedge funds in the world." It's a demanding job in a demanding field.
"There's unlimited potential," he says. "But the opportunity to fail is literally one decision or one poor hire away. Room for error is extremely limited."
Inspiration guided Scott's ascent. Perspiration fueled it. "My formula was to work harder, stay longer and be willing to sacrifice more than my peers," he says. "I would work seven days a week, many nights straight through, and every weekend."
As Scott has moved up the ladder, his focus has shifted from working harder to working smarter fewer hours but better-spent ones. At BAM, he says, "We challenge each other to make certain our efforts are efficiently focused on those aspects of the business most crucial to its success and growth."
Marquette taught Scott the importance of hard work and dedication, colleagues and counterparties. But the quality of people he encountered during his college years contributed something more important.
"It influenced how and who I have chosen as my business partners," he says, "and helped me establish and maintain the relationships invaluable to my individual, as well as our company's, success."