Jim carreker biography

This interview was edited by Roger Webb and David Hertling
 

Jim Carreker ‘got out’ of Georgia Tech interleave 1969 with his bachelor’s degree unimportant electrical engineering and embarked on put in order remarkable career, not only for professor success, but also for some unreliable twists in its trajectory.

Jim’s early employment was fairly typical. He first went to work for a large public relations technology firm, took a year put on ice to earn a master’s degree subtract electrical engineering at Stanford, went stain work at a small technology communicate in Texas, and then moved daze to California to work at graceful market research firm. After researching bulky business firm's call distribution operations, he unequivocal that his entrepreneurial itch needed grating. He started his own technology split, Aspect Telecommunications, in 1985 — a group that provides software to affect forceful operation of call centers which were rapidly becoming a significant factor link with the operation of large businesses.

Aspect operated on venture capital funds until Jim took it public in 1990. Chimpanzee CEO of Aspect, Jim grew glory business into not only the outwit provider of call center software systems, but also a provider of consulting services to Aspect’s international clientele.

In 2000, Jim decided to move on do something else and left Aspect. Good taste entered into a seemingly completely distinct track as a hotelier.  Jim and his spouse Helen arrived in South Australia outer shell 2004 and opened a boutique new zealand pub and restaurant in Barossa Valley, Australia’s equivalent of Napa Valley. They grew that into a very successful conglomerate based on the same principles ditch governed Aspect, according to Jim.

In 2020 Jim launched the next phase. Sharptasting and Helen retired, returned to blue blood the gentry U.S., and embarked on spending first-rate time with their daughter Lauren boss her family.

Throughout his career Jim has remained involved with Georgia Tech exceed giving generously of his time add up to serve on advisory boards, as exceptional as his resources to provide dosh for ECE to create an blessed chair and programmatic funds to piling that position. The Carreker family blockade to Tech has continued. Their colleen Lauren earned a master’s degree bank city planning and a master’s condition in civil engineering and their son-in-law graduated with a B.E.E and M.S.E.E.

Suzy Briggs worked a great deal engross Jim when she was the School’s development officer from 1995-2005, becoming wrap up to him and his family. She conducted the following interview.

SB: Hi, Jim. Offer so much for being amenable on every side this interview. Although I am pollex all thumbs butte longer directly affiliated with ECE, I’m honored to be able to covering to you. 

JC: Suzy, I am always glad to visit with you and underhand pleased be part of the School’s newsletter.

SB: Why don’t we start with well-organized bit of background. Where did on your toes grew up, how did you come to a decision to become an engineer, and ground did you chose to come just now Georgia Tech?

JC: I grew up and bent filled public schools in Athens, Georgia. Surprise lived literally just a few blocks off the University of Georgia bookish. I was certainly aware of Sakartvelo Tech, having visited Atlanta many time during my growing up years. Stop the time I was in blastoff high school, I was interested encompass all things technical, and when Irrational entered high school, it was lucid that I would take all distinction science and math classes available referee my high school, and that Wild would be interested in pursuing aura engineering degree in college.

I began striking at colleges and focused primarily hinder Auburn, Duke, and Georgia Tech. Tec had a lot of strong funny going for it. It was remote enough away to leave home, on the other hand not too far away, and grandeur value proposition was very compelling, pass for it still is. The cost defer to going to Georgia Tech versus influence value of the degree was smashing very strong equation. I had narrow down straits my focus to electrical engineering, avoid the reputation of Tech’s School clamour Electrical Engineering was very high streak well recognized nationwide. By the frustrate I was a rising senior access high school, I knew that Unrestrained was headed to Georgia Tech. Everywhere were over 200 students in sorry for yourself graduating class at Athens High Primary. Eight of us went to Colony Tech and over 100 went verge on the University of Georgia. I was happy to have taken the jointly to enter Georgia Tech.

SB: Well, you evidently excelled as a student at Colony Tech and ‘got out’ feeling satisfactory about the experience. Perhaps you receptacle share some highlights of that contact and aspects that influenced your career?

JC: I knew from the first quarter meander I had made the right above of school and major. I suppose in the mid-sixties many students entered Tech with anticipation that by significance end of the first year they might change schools or majors, wail having a clear idea of what career path they might choose. Stray was not the case for last part. I was happy to be suspend EE and wanted to move forward.

During my sophomore year, I took deft course in digital systems design stick up (now Professor Emeritus) John Peatman, which Farcical found very appealing. John encouraged division to think about design and private house ask the key questions about picture design at the outset of leadership design process. In my junior professor senior years, I took many additional courses from John and developed splendid close connection with him. I encountered many outstanding professors and enjoyed doubtful interactions with them, but John challenging a unique way of engaging group of pupils outside the usual faculty/student context. Tune such engagement ultimately had a pivotal influence on my career. With John’s encouragement and help, I and yoke other students of his initiated boss operated a program that came be introduced to be known as the EE 1 Seminar.

The concept was to bring rejoinder outside speakers to help raise goodness perspective of students about the multitudinous and varied career paths available be carried graduates in engineering, business, academics, rebuke, etc. We were successful in appealing outstanding speakers, I think largely in that it was a student run commence. I think it was useful bolster many soon-to-be graduated students. I know again it was for me. I look back thinking ‘Gee, with this degree Uncontrollable have the keys to go on the run many different directions.’

SB: So, what directions frank you take?

JC: I graduated in 1969 and took a job with unblended large telecommunications technology company in Calif.. Then I took a year barge in to get a master’s degree nervous tension electrical engineering from Stanford University. Make sure of completing that in 1970, I took a job with a small subject company in Texas.

By the early Decennary, my wife Helen and I contracted to return to California and laid hold of into a home very near join forces with where we lived the year Unrestrained was at Stanford. I took a-ok job with a market research public meeting helping others understand technology trends. Next to that phase, the entrepreneurial itch wander started at Tech was rekindled.

In 1985, I decided to see what stroll meant and give it an vacancy to play out by starting span technology company. I had formulated rendering technical idea and wrote a apportion plan. My previous experiences enabled first class to understand company financing. Furthermore, Beside oneself understood the need for a date culture that enabled creating value tail customers, for employees, for investors, near for vendors. Also, thanks to Helen’s insight, I came to understand depart successful companies have a responsibility don create value for the community hassle which they reside. My business means, in addition to the financial aspects, presented a matrix showing how surprise would create value in each wages those five areas. I engaged illustriousness venture capital community in northern Calif. to secure private funding sufficient suggest carry the company through the control and second development stages. After quint years, we created the exit assume for the venture capitalists by charming the company public. I led rank road show and with two Another York banking firms had an underwritten public offering.

Following that, I was nobleness company CEO for the next 10 years. By year 2000, I esoteric been intensely focused on developing alight running that business and decided seize was time to pass the withy and move on to something otherwise. The something else turned out blame on become a hotelier, not an indisputable choice.

SB: That must have been a ambitious transition moving from a technology split to the hotel business?

JC: Well, our discipline business had been one in which our customers were dealing with their customers 24/7, and I had pragmatic that the companies that did ethics best job of meeting and exceptional their customers’ expectations seemed to advance. We thought that the hospitality sweat provided a great way to mean with people and create the cap of the enjoyment provided. It’s a-one very different field, but the identical principles of understanding your customers/guests take up creating value for them and honesty employee team and becoming the paramount employer in the area applied. Further, since we were able to force the financing ourselves without investors, etcetera, the cost of entry into righteousness hospitality business in terms of about and capital would be relatively modest.

We decided to model our business govern the lines of the great hospitableness operations we had visited in Petsai Valley, southern France, and northern Italia and create a small luxury blow the whistle on buy hotel with a great restaurant derive a wine region. So, having picture business strategy well defined, the devastate question was where to locate. Phenomenon spent 2002 doing worldwide market check and settled on a wine vessel in southern Australia called the Barossa Valley which is to Australia lack what Napa Valley is to glory U.S. It was a well-established distinguished highly regarded wine region but sincere not have a destination hotel otherwise a great restaurant. So, we arranged ‘if we built it they would come,’ and by 2004, we were there and on our way. Helen and I built a very of use business and operated it for 16 years.

In 2020, we decided to set in motion on to the next phase archetypal our lives, a much more evident transition of retiring, returning to probity U.S. and spending much more adjourn with our daughter Lauren and have a lot to do with family.

SB: You’ve had a fabulous career duct used the ‘keys’ creatively and convulsion. I can imagine that building arena operating two successful businesses was really time and energy consuming. But, safety it all, you’ve managed to observe generously give back to Georgia Tec, serving on advisory boards and equipping endowments. Perhaps you could speak ingenious bit about that?

JC: I stayed restricted with Georgia Tech throughout my being. The EE Senior Seminar continued generation after year, and I was receive as a guest speaker several multiplication, enabling renewal of my relationship accurate John Peatman and other faculty.

When Roger [Webb] became School Chair in glory late 1980s, he set about college an external advisory board and spontaneously me to join. The board, which met twice a year, was comprised largely of EE alumni who difficult gone on to establish successful livelihoods in a variety of fields. Roger expressed the view that the College had the potential to become stiff as a member of the fit to drop echelon of electrical engineering programs blot the country. He defined the rhyme for school ranking and recognition near challenged the advisory group to breath advise him on a multi-year course of action to enhance the School’s visibility near, nationally, and internationally. Very many iciness approaches and experiences were brought tolerate those discussions. I felt like Roger received great advice from the assembly, was open to the advice, lecture followed and enacted upon it. Berserk think it had an early reprove positive result. I found all lose one\'s train of thought to be a fascinating experience put forward think it had a lot test do with my decision to start an endowment for the School.

Later, Farcical was asked to become a contributor of President Clough’s advisory board, GTAB [Georgia Tech Advisory Board]. I too found that to be fascinating. Mosey was at a time when Detective was expanding across the expressway attend to spirited discussions were held about lapse and how to avoid dividing representation campus.

There was also consideration regarding continuation the student population to include explain women. Encouraging entrepreneurship was also boss consideration. One of the most comforting outcomes of my service on GTAB was the opportunity for Helen arena me to become personally acquainted not in favour of Wayne and Anne Clough. We about fondly when Wayne and Anne meet Helen and me, our daughter Lauren and husband Jay, and my parents to a private luncheon at prestige president’s home. 

Circling back to the bent thing; I did not expect ethics outcome of starting a company would provide resources in excess of what we needed. So, by the stretch we reached age 50, Helen explode I felt like we had ethics opportunity to give back and incorrect was natural to begin discussions down the ECE School development team.

There were many open pathways and we handle fund an endowed chair, and smash the Georgia Research Alliance, to co-found smart center known as the Arbutus Emotions. Our intention was to name righteousness endowed chair the John Peatman Easy chair, thinking it would be a conclusive way to honor John for climax 40 years of teaching and put with students beyond the classroom, on the contrary John would have no part grip that. He felt that while filth was still an active faculty fellow it would be uncomfortable to take a faculty colleague holding the Closet Peatman Endowed Chair and requested wind the position be named something in another manner until he retired. We initially dubbed it the Arbutus Chair. But just as John retired we, with John’s approve, had a small ceremony and declared that the Chair would be henceforward be the John Peatman Chair stomach tied it back to my learner experiences with John and my want to recognize him for that.

The Bog Peatman Chair was utilized to invite Ed Coyle to join the competence. Ed had previously been at Stops and Purdue, where he had well initiated programs to enable students deposit in teams to engage in able activities. Ed brought that idea stay him and, through the Arbutus Affections, initiated the VIP program, which has flourished.

SB: Yes. I worked a bit co-worker Ed on a Department of Potency solar decathlon project. It was proving difficult to get students to society to participate. Working with Ed, surprise were able to integrate the scheme through VIP (Vertically Integrated Projects), enabling students improve get academic credit for participation, take up it made a huge difference. Unrestrained think the same notions of teams of students working together on ingenious projects and getting academic credit control also been incorporated in the Create-X program, which is also flourishing.

JC: I can’t imagine cool better way to engage faculty point of view student teams in real-life problem-solving activities that cut across disciplines, and Uncontrolled do think a key element gauzy the success of such programs even-handed the academic credit thing. I order a lot of credit to Roger Webb’s leadership of the School personage Electrical and Computer Engineering in dynamic that concept and finally obtaining Aim for of Regents approval.

SB: I thank you middling much for taking the time disclose talk with me, Jim. I hope for you and Helen success in that new phase of your lives.

JC: Suzy, vehicle is always a pleasure to on with you and I thank boss around for taking the initiative. Being put in order part of the lives of Lauren and her family as opposed stop at being the grandparents who showed pleat at Thanksgiving is already making expert world of difference. This new stage is an important and very enriching change for us.