Paul Robert Haklisch

FAVORITE MEMORIES OF WILLIAMS

Art History classes with Profs Stoddard and Faison
Econ with Prof Gates
Poli Sci with Prof Gaudino
Seminar with James MacGregor Burns

WILLIAMS CLUBS / ACTIVITIES

Outing Club, Gulielmensian, WMS-WCFM, freshman lacrosse, Winter Carnival chairman

CURRENT INTERESTS, PASSIONS, AND ORGANIZATIONS

Interests: Reading, hiking, traveling, golf, fly-fishing, boating
Passions: Supporting education and arts organizations

LIFE SINCE GRADUATION

Life doesn’t follow a straight line—at least mine didn’t. In fact, my path was more like a circle—having retired to Williamstown 15 years ago. Like so many others, I have had my share of speed bumps and potholes, exhilarating times and tragedies. However, taken as a whole, I am thankful for my journey and the family and friends who supported me along the way. In short, I am very content and grateful to be where I am at this point in my life.

My career started immediately after graduation. With no spare cash, I started a job at Citibank at 8 a.m. the morning after our Sunday graduation. Transitioning from a liberal arts education to a banking environment was no small task during my three years at Citi. At the same time, I met my amazing life partner, Mela. Following our wedding in her hometown of Charleston, S.C., and after a six-week Amex trip to Europe ($1,250 per person!), we drove to Palo Alto, where I attended Stanford Business School and picked up my MBA degree. Next stop was back East (Scarsdale, N.Y.), as I started a 30-year investment banking career focused on M&A, restructuring, and capital raising for a wide range of financial institutions. It was the heyday of bank consolidations, and we rode the wave in all parts of the country, collecting a lot of airline advantage miles along the way.

Mela was a science policy consultant with several universities, and we had a hectic lifestyle. That was especially true when our son, Brian, was born in 1979 and our daughter, Katharine, in 1982. Following a “Family First” motto, our lives were filled with school sports, music recitals, scouts, and family trips. Both Brian and Katharine were fortunate to attend Williams. Their experiences differed, but both had an outstanding time at Williams, as did we as Williams parents. Today, married with children, two girls each, they live and work in NYC and Brooklyn. Brian works for a private equity firm, and Katharine started her own contemporary-art advisory firm.

I enjoyed my work as a managing director at several investment banking firms, but it was always my intent to get off the train in my mid-50s. I was able to do that in 2007. Having built a weekend home in 2000, we put down our stakes in South Williamstown. More than 20 years later we have no regrets. We never tire of the beauty of the Berkshires and have enjoyed the area’s wide array of cultural offerings. We have supported and sponsored many such activities in the Berkshires, NYC, and South Carolina. Active involvements with not-for-profits, particularly in the fields of education and the arts, has been a major priority for us. All of this would not have been possible without Mela. She makes every day a joy and challenges all, especially me, to make our world a better place.

With our travels abroad and visits to our granddaughters, time spent hiking the Berkshire mountains, reading and enjoying life in a beautiful college town, mowing my meadows, and fly-fishing on the Deerfield River, I am very fortunate to be in a good place in so many ways.

I wish all my classmates well and look forward to catching up at our milestone reunion!