ASU Sun Devil 100 business leaders mentor students

TEMPE, Ariz. - Sun Devil 100 leaders are all about giving back to students. These honorees include businessmen and women like CEOs, vice presidents, and executives.

What they're saying:

"I am an ASU grad, graduated in 1986, was one of the first members to carry business schools' claim to fame when they first opened up," one honoree said.

Ken Gerard is the CFO of Azbil North America, an overseas affiliate of the Azbil Corporation.

"We've been in business now 30 years, a 120-year-old Japanese corporation that wanted to move business to North America. Our role is distribution of products, so we distribute semiconductor business," Gerard said.

Gerard is one of the 100 honorees, offering opportunities to meet with ASU students, giving them insight on career paths in his field.

"Our philosophy is also working with partnership with ASU, developing students, getting opportunities for first steps," Gerard said. "When I was going through school, I worked my way through school and I realized having an opportunity to work really helped to enhance our abilities. I brought that here, and we try to get as many employees as we can working with the student body."

Exploring opportunities now will help give students connections moving forward.

"Talking to young accountants, 'How do I get to that next level? Do I want to become an accountant, a CFO? How do I work through this," Gerard said. "There's hundreds of people like myself that have had a great career and with the help of ASU and partners that really want to give back. We have a lot of skill sets and can help them through that process, especially in the beginning choosing that right career. It's not taking the first one, it's taking the right one."