Transcript: Bill Conway on Mines, Bold Bets, and Quiet Generosity

Good morning and welcome back to Late Start Show. We are here today with Mr. Bill Conway, University School Class of 1945 graduate, founder and chairman of Fairmount Minerals, and Cleveland entrepreneur, community activist, and philanthropist. How are you doing today, Mr.

Conway? I'm doing very well and happy to be here. It's great to have you on the show. You know, Mr.

Conway, you've lived through nearly a century of change. So let's back up all the way back to the very beginning. You were born in Cleveland in 1927, right in the middle of 13 children, and grew up during the Great Depression and World War II. What was daily life like in a family that largely grew up during such tough times?

And were there any early lessons or childhood memories that stayed with you? Wow. There's so much I could respond to that. But let me first of all say that I was blessed to be in the middleman of a 13-person family.

I was the seventh child. There were two girls, a girl, 11 boys and another girl. We were fortunate in that my father had a career development and got into the food business early on so that we were able to persist and survive where other people were struggling during the Depression and then during both wars as far as my father was concerned. in a steady job, did well, was relatively paid very well, such that he was able to build at the urging of one of his colleagues a house on Claythorne Road just behind University School because as the colleague had said, you've got all those boys, they should be going to University School. And so actually nine boys did go to U.S.

Seven were captain of the football team. And we could roll out of bed, run down, grab a breakfast, run down the back stairs, cross the Melbourne, up the back stairs, through the gym, onto the end of the campus, I entered the chapel for the morning chapel when they still had that. And your father became president of Fisher Foods. Right as, I believe, four of your brothers went off to fight in World War II, that left a lot of responsibility, I'm sure, for you at home.

And how did you step up in those years, and how did that kind of shape your work ethic and sense of responsibility as a teenager? Well, Jack, that's a very good question because it certainly is very pertinent to my development as a, first of all, as a young man and then as a father and a business person. We had, as you said, there were five of our boys. My oldest brother, Dan, who was class of 37, I believe, captain of the football team, and a very outstanding young man, let's just say, from all reports.

He died in a training accident just in 1941, just before Pearl Harbor. It was devastating to all of us, particularly to my mother and father, to have lost him. And then four other sons going into the service was very difficult for my parents in particular. It meant that all of us, and it turned out that I stepped up in particular because of the age and my position in the family, to help my parents as best I could handle the younger children during that difficult time.

One of the phrases that we did some deep research on you and found was one of your fathers where you said he used to say be a giver not a taker how did kind of hearing that as a young man influence the choices that you made throughout your life and career especially starting early on well that was one of my father's favorite uh takers was uh be a giver not a taker and be a builder upper not a terror downer the idea being that the way you advance your own life and that around you is to be supportive and giving not only in many ways. We talk about giving advice, for example, but also being a giver with respect to supporting those institutions that you're involved in, that you value. That was one of the important things that he conveyed to all of us, and one which fortunately some to a greater or lesser degree, but have followed in our whole lifetime. And I just want you, if you could paint the scene for us, because I'm just picturing the Conway household in the 1930s.

Was it like what would we see, what would we hear? Was it noisy, joyful? What were your parents teaching you guys values of, like the hard work, discipline? in how did they manage to raise 13 children and still have each one of them have strong character well i'm not sure jack uh it's a miracle in many respects but but they there was my father worked very hard he uh did not have a uh he went and didn't go beyond the 10th grade in his education he valued education that's why he moved to us to to shaker heights to go to university school And so that education was one of the aspects of life that he instilled in us in saying, you're getting it, it's not being paid for, and totally you've got to support it going forward. And that is one of the aspects of it.

He had a saying, which also was, your education is your inheritance, and the idea being that he was putting all his money on us and the education that we received, and it was expected of us to give back to compensate for that. You know, you went to university school, especially the high school, at a pretty incredible time in our country's history and in U.S.'s history. What was school like? What was high school like back then under all these different conditions and did the war ever play any sort of impact into any of your high school?

Oh, absolutely. We had drills. We marched. We had one of the famous English teachers, who was Major Gunn.

He was kind of the assistant headmaster, but he was also the drillmaster for the team. And so there was always discussion about it. And as I said, we used to have, in the beginning, chapel and there would be discussion about what's going on in the war. And yet we're still young, ambitious, rambunctious, mischievous, whatever you want to call it, young people with a lot of hormones floating around.

We had our own lives. This is where sports comes into play too. The diversion of it, the ability to really throw yourself into it was a diversion from the pressures of war. Going into those sports and extracurricular activities that you did here at university school, what were those and what role did they play in your education?

Well, sports, particularly football, was a big part of my life, but also my brothers. I also played baseball, good field, no hit. And every once in a while when I drive by Cleveland Heights High School, I think of some of the beatings we took from them and the high school baseball fans. The activities otherwise, primarily I enjoyed the challenge of learning, particularly as I made friends with a couple of very important people in my lives who were smarter than me.

And they inspired me to try to do the best I could. Hayden Thompson, Jack Avery, their classmates, and then the teachers. I can't say enough about that. And that's one of the things from a philanthropic standpoint that I've been committed to is that the most important element of the school is not the bricks and mortar and the fields around, it's the teachers.

And they're the ones who convey the best of not only learning, but of standards and of moral and integrity. I have Bruce Griswold, who at the time was getting his law degree but also taught math. He had had polio and was not in the military, was an outstanding mentor and guide. Nate McLaughlin the ornery kind of old physics teacher that really inspired me Ralph Vince our football coach who was a not a full time employee he was a lawyer but he had played in the Washington Jefferson Rose Bowl game in 1923 and was an inspiration.

And there were many more. But the thing that I learned from that is that and it is the most important aspect of what you guys are getting is it's the quality of the teaching at university school which is the most important aspect of it. We have wonderful facilities and all that, but it's the teachers that make the difference. You know, I would truly say that one of the most intertwined things with U.S. is our motto, right?

It's at the front, especially when you walk in, responsibility, loyalty, consideration. And throughout my life, you know, I'm a lifer, and throughout my entire life, I've seen those as the three words that kind of just guide you through U.S. Those three words as a motto were incorporated seven years before you graduated, right? So how was it going to the U.S. with these core kind of tenets of responsibility, loyalty, consideration really just starting to be formed and staying strong even until today?

Well, you know, I think the – I'm not sure about the evolution of those words as such. But the attitude that they convey is certainly one which was apparent at the time that I was at school. and then, and it is, continues to be one of the guiding principles as far as I'm concerned. You're responsible not only for your own behavior, but those of people around you, particularly if you have a responsibility as I was, as a chief executive officer, you're responsible for those people. You have to be considerate of their needs, their aspirations, their hopes, and then loyalty is a two-way street.

You have to be and need to be loyal and supportive of those people that I think that motto is just outstanding. I would add to it the addition that came through one of the planning sessions that I was involved in some years ago, when the inclusion in our objectives of being a place where every boy is known and loved is, to me, one of the most meaningful expressions of what is the responsibility of a faculty, of a board of trustees, and a parent. Well, that's amazing. And I just want to know, I'm sure there are many, but is there one story from U.S. or kind of moment, game, class that you still can remember vividly and stands out there in your experience?

Oh, there's lots of them. You know, I suppose, yeah, I'd say one that, you know, Well one of the I love football and I fortunately played had good experience in both the US and in college And the team building aspect of it has always been an important part of my life and something that I learned from my father as well. He supported amateur football and baseball in the Sandlot Leagues in Cleveland over his lifetime and supported each of us as we came through university school. But I suppose I would say that one day when there was a lightning storm came up in the fall and we were called off the field and went down to what was then called the senior locker room.

And this of course is in Shaker, in this small locker room where the teams gathered. And on the wall, on the doors of the lockers were nicknames of various people that had preceded us. And people were talking around, well, who are you? What should your name be.

So here was a famous pitcher, as I recall, in the early 1940s. They called Frank Moose Lowe. Somebody said, Conway, that sounds like you. Let's call you Moose.

And that's what happened. I then became Moose. And I still use that as my password in some of my things up. And I consider that to be one of the things I look back on with a lot of fun.

Yeah, that's awesome. You know, after U.S., let's kind of go to those Yale days. After U.S., you head to Yale and graduate in 1949. How was the transition from university school to Yale?

And you also played football at both. So how was kind of that experience too? Well 1945, when I graduated, the war was going strong and I was young for my class so that I went immediately from the U.S. in June of 45 to Yale and started my freshman year. I was also close to draft age, had taken my exam, was ready to go.

I was also, and I was still very much involved at Yale in football as well as classes as a freshman, and was about ready to be drafted when the bomb was dropped in Hiroshima. And they called off the draft, although we continued our obligation to serve in the National Guard. So I missed the opportunity, if you will, or the chance, but I avoided getting into military service at that time and was able to concentrate then not only on my football but also my academics, and thoroughly enjoyed what I was doing. And it was very, very well prepared compared to some of the other students that were in my classes.

Oh, we're just going to fix you. Let me real quick. This always does this. Real quick.

No, don't even worry. Don't worry. Okay. Yeah.

It's kind of flimsy sometimes, so it's going to be tight real quick. Okay. There we go. All right.

Well, let's keep this going here. Mr. Conway, what did you study at Yale and why did you choose that major? And then did any of your college interests hint at your future career, or did that kind of just happen by chance?

I entered Yale with the idea that I was going to become a chemical engineer. I had won the chemistry prize as a senior at university school. Nate McLaughlin was a wonderful teacher and I had an interest in the engineering aspects of things generally and that was my goal initially. I found out there were two things in the way of that.

One was, and both of them happened to be organic chemistry. One was that the lab was at the same time as football practice, and secondly, that I couldn't understand organic chemistry for the life of me. So I changed my degree into an industrial engineering program, which was more suited to the combination of business practices and engineering. Yeah, cool.

You know, let's talk about kind of that football. You talked about the fact that your brothers all were also kind of like Yale football captains and it's kind of, or football captains at university schools. So when you kind of went to Yale and you played football and you kind of brought that football spirit to Yale, what was it like? What was it kind of like playing in the Ivy League at that point?

And how was your kind of experience handling both at the same time? Well, I was very fortunate. that in hindsight, the timing in so many ways, that the transition post-war, but the first year in 1945, there were still people such as myself, mostly younger and not terribly advanced skill-wise, football players, but we had an opportunity play and to learn and to get experience. And when the next year older men with experience in the military, but some of whom played football in the military as well, the competition became pretty severe. I guess in hindsight I'd have to say that maybe even though at U.S.

I was considered to be a pretty big guy, I was 188 pounds and 6 feet tall and fit in as a freshman pretty well. When these big guys came back from the war though I was a shrimp and they moved me from end to center and linebacker. But it was a challenge, but it was great fun. And I guess in hindsight, two things happened.

I loved to mix it up. I loved tackling and hitting guys. And I guess in hindsight, I was pretty fast. So I suppose in today's field, I might be considered as a defensive back.

But anyway, that's where I fit. coaches seemed to appreciate my effort and things I learned from Coach Vince, that you never give up. Yeah, and I'm sure that had to be some of the most competitive football that was played at the Ivy League level with those older gentlemen coming back from war. So that's an awesome experience. As graduation approached and you were looking to leave Yale, what career paths were you considering?

Did you know you wanted to go into business, or were you still exploring and keeping your options open? Well, I had continued in the engineering track and there was an opportunity and I think as I look at it now that my father was not insignificant in introducing me to some gentleman at a company called Pecan's Mather. Interestingly, Pecan's Hall being related there too, but in the iron ore business. I had an engineering background, looked like an opportunity to develop some skills and understanding of that business in a training program that they urged me to undertake after I graduated.

In fact, because I was captain of the football team and there had been a tradition at Yale the retiring captain could stay on as a assistant coach the following fall. And I took that opportunity. Just coincidentally, I had a very good friend who was up the road at Vassar, so she thought that was a good idea too, and later became my wife. And so I ended up as being an assistant coach for that one year and then went into the mining business in Minnesota.

You know, kind of the industrial field is super great. You talk about mining and it was kind of, it's a hard career path to just kind of look at and know that you really want to get into. did early in your career did you ever question your decision to kind of enter the field or did you really just write it right away know that it was the place for you well I you know it's interesting I I don't think I would challenge that I looked at the opportunity I I had learned from my father the importance of the people that we worked with. And I learned early on the value of a good, solid working man in that case in the mines or on the engineering crew. Didn't make any difference whether I went to Yale or they didn't go to college at all.

They were very important contributors to the success of that operation. And for the most part, we were committed to doing their work and being part of the team. And then came a major chapter in your life. You spent four years in Australia helping out at an iron ore mine.

What led you there and what was life like working so far from home? Well, as I grew in my responsibility with McCann's Mather and the iron ore sales operations and had been exposed to the full gamut of what that company was doing in developing mines in different locations and establishing joint ventures and developing new operations. I was recommended by the people in the organization who had decided we should be looking at iron-ore mining operations around the world. And so I was given the opportunity, the challenge, to say, well, see if there's a market for this mine that we think we can develop in Australia with the Japanese steel industry.

Make a long story short, three years later we were at the point where I and my associates had convinced some of the Japanese steel companies that they could and should make an investment in an iron ore mine which would be operated by pecan's mother uh and in in pursuing this opportunity uh i talked to the uh and had traveled a lot of time in australia and japan still as the vice presidents of iron ore sales they might have thrown international in there to make me feel good but the uh uh in a trip by the with the managing partner in Australia, told him, said his name was John Sherwin, said, John, this is going to be a challenge for management. Said, you know, the people here are going to have to have a responsibility in making decisions on their own and not being able to touch base with Cleveland every minute. And he said, well, how about you? And that I didn't expect.

Maybe in the back of my mind I was ambitious enough, because I admit that I always say I had ambitions to be captain of the Yale football team, or U.S. football teams, and to always try to get the best opportunity. And this came along. My fabulous wife immediately said, oh, that sounds exciting, let's do it. And we had four children.

We built a house on Fairmont Boulevard, just down the road here. But we packed them all up and shipped. We were there for four years It was a wonderful experience You know let skip a little more ahead In 1970 about 20 years into your career you went back to school for an executive program at UC Berkeley What really motivated you to return to the classroom kind of mid-career? Well, there was and is still within a lot of industrial firms and other financial firms as well, programs for executive training.

A very good program here at Case Western Reserve, which I've been involved in and have sponsored many of my associates. So I was offered that opportunity by my then boss, and he said, well, how would you like to go to Harvard Business School? I said, do I have to go to Harvard? How about UC Berkeley?

So that's how that happened. I just couldn't take it. And now subsequently, I've got a couple of grandchildren with Harvard degrees. I've gotten over that a little bit.

Well, let's talk about 1978. That was a big year in your life, because at 50 years old, you made the bold move to purchase Best Sand in Chardon. And what did you see in that company that maybe other people didn't that led you to buy that company? Number one, it was a business that I had a point of support.

Mining, processing, safety, the elements there that I looked at and say this is underperforming operation that I can do something with it without a lot of expenditures and improve the operations and the life of the employees were being kind of taken advantage of at that time. So I saw that opportunity, I must admit at the time, Jack, that it was a kind of ho-hum, You know, this will save you, keep going the way we go, and it would be a nice job, I'd be comfortable, it's only half an hour from home, and you should get along all right. Well, circumstances changed, and opportunities became available, and I, with the help of a lot of other people, took advantage of those opportunities, and grew from what was a very small sand mining operation to a very substantial industrial sand complex, I'd have to say, throughout the country. You know, one of the things that you've said in the past about the company was you're only good as the people that you have, right?

How did that principle kind of guide those early decisions? And also kind of looking back, what was Best Sand like when you took over? And what potential did you see in it that maybe others didn't? Well, basically, I go back to my father saying, it's all about the people.

That was his mantra, that he supported every way to help people improve their performance and to listen to them. So that was one of the things that I carried over through my early days at PM and elsewhere. and then as I looked at this, at the operation, I realized that the management from whom I bought the company did not take that approach at all. And that if you could just turn it around and say, hey, you are important, I want to hear what you have to say. Your job is important to me, I want it to be safe.

That was what really turned it around and made it a profitable operation even before our opportunities for expansion came on. And let's talk about that opportunity for expansion. You met Mr. Chuck Fowler and you two formed a very strong partnership and eventually you merged into Fairmount Minerals, which became that large company which you were talking about.

What gave you the courage to go all in with that? Well, you've got to back up a little bit. Before I met Chuck, who was in the sand business as well, operating in Illinois, we'd been approached by Halliburton Company to provide sand for fracking of oil and gas strata in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania called the Clinton Formation. And so with the contract that we negotiated with Halliburton, we were able to expand our plant, improve the product quality, not only for fracking but also for our other lines of business.

And that led me then to the opportunity to, when Chuck's company became available and he and management there were interested in buying that company, I was able to say, Chuck, let's get together. Let's work to find a way to put the two companies together and become what became then Fairmont Minerals. You know, as Fairmont kind of grew, what really were some of those milestones or some of those moments where you looked back and were like, wow, you know, look how far we've come. especially early on it's really nice to get some validation on how far kind of companies come and how operations are going well so do you remember any early moments with kind of mr fowler where you looked back and were like wow look how far we've come i would say uh just when when we with the help of outstanding professionals in accounting and legal firms, Kelsey Halder and Griswold being one, and Arthur Anderson, helped us find a way to acquire what was Wedvin Silica, with Chuck Fowler's operation in Illinois for really, looking back on it, we stole it. I mean, they came up with a legal basis from an accounting standpoint to acquire the company under a capital lease, which meant we could pay for it as we went rather than having to come up with a lot of cash in front. and ultimately it was a very fortunate, Chuck Fowler was a, and is, a very bright guy.

He was a terrific operating guy, nuts and bolts. I was supposed a little bit more on the visionary side and a little bit more of a risk taker. When we saw the opportunities there and some other opportunities, we continued to grow the company. And Fairmount's motto became, Do good, do well.

That goes along with a lot of the sayings that your father had and that you've adopted over your time in business. But where did your commitment to that line come from? Well, we mentioned the fact that the executive training programs which are available throughout the country. Case Western Reserve, which I'd gotten involved with early on in the Weatherhead School, not as an advisor.

I didn't take courses there. I was on the board. I got close to a couple of the professors and spoke at some of their classes and all. and then there was a professor by the name of David Cooper writer who was operate organizational management so I think was the title of his his class but hey he was the one who said that in still install and not us in our organization that motto of do good do well so Chuck Fowler Jennifer Deckard, who ultimately became our another, both of those were CEOs, and half a dozen or more of our management team went to the executive programs at Case Western Reserve and learned that approach from David Cooper Ryder. do good, do well. In other words, you take responsibility of your employees, take responsibility of the community that you operate in, particularly if you're in an extractive industry such as mining, where you are by definition defacing the earth in a way.

But if you do it properly and then we do your recovery and your relationship with your neighbors properly, it can be done appropriately. One of the cooler things is that Fairmont eventually became a global publicly traded company. What did it feel like to see it listed on the New York Stock Exchange and kind of looking back see you come from just this boy in Cleveland kind of going through the U.S. all the way to a part of such a big company? Well, pluses and minuses in that.

Obviously, Basically, as we developed the company and we took opportunities that had come to us because of the oil and gas business in particular, and the growth of opportunities, and people came to us wanting to join forces and provide additional capital. That's when we grew. And finally, well, joined forces with a private equity firm who helped us expand and acquire other operations. And with their business plan, their business model was to acquire companies, in our case, generally 50.05%. 0.5 percent.

They just had control. Now ultimately you take it private, take it public. And so that's the evolution of that. Now, looking, well we'll go forward, we'll deal with that later but they were wonderful people to work with.

And we learned a lot and they helped us grow and they did a lot with respect to and they respected the motto of do good, do well and enhanced our ability to support our people. And was it difficult to eventually pass the torch and watch others around you make the decisions about the company that you built or was it nice to kind of see that continue? Jack, I don't consider that, and I don't because I guess I didn't really pass the torch and went in the traditional way. I stepped aside as chairman and CEO.

Chuck Fowler and Jennifer Deckard and I were a team. I can't tell you how many times they would come into my office and sit on the couch and we'd just talk about people, we'd talk about opportunity, talk about and programs that we were doing and so it was a team effort. I didn't look at it although I was still chairman and therefore and not 10, 12 years older than Chuck, maybe more than that, 20 years old. But it was a team effort.

So I didn't feel I was stepping aside you know let's kind of go to one of your other big passions golf you know in the mid 90s you decide not just to play golf but also build the sand ridge golf club on georgia county right what kind of inspired that and do you still maybe play a little or ever get on the green all right We had the quarry operation in Chardon, which was Bess Sand, is in the Munson Township in a parcel of land, kind of a triangular shape. And when Walter Bess had sold the company to me, and the only reason I was willing to buy it and only buy half of the sand reserve that he had there was it's all I could afford. And also that I felt sooner or later who else would Walter sell to than me? And that is what happened when he passed away and a few years later his estate approached us.

Of course we played considerably more than we would have if I'd been able to afford it at the at the time because we had increased the value of those reserves The property is bisected by erosion channel from the Wisconsin glaciers of 30 million years ago and so to the south of the erosion channel there is more sandstone but it was not enough or it wasn't close enough to the mine to make it worthwhile to develop that. So at a board meeting we talked about what do we do now? You know you can't build a housing next door to a housing development next door quarry where every week you set off a diamond blast, dynamite blast. And so one of our joker directors said well we can always build a golf course, ha ha.

Well it turns out that we had been, that was one of our minor markets was the bunker sand and top dressing sand for golf courses. We had a consultant who said, you know, I have contacts with Tom Fazio, the golf course designer. Let me talk to him and see if he'd be interested. So that's how that evolved.

He came, Tom came and looked at it and said, oh, this is beautiful. He said, I love the terrain. And he was telling me, you're not going to build houses around it, which is a bane of his existence, aren't we? So we built it.

It was the late 90s. It was business was good. The economy was good. Again, I took advantage of the Weatherhead School students who did a survey of whether there was room for another golf course.

At the time it seemed to be a good idea. We decided it would be a golf course only, not a country club, no swimming pool, would have food service and then had built three cottages. So it was a very good success to begin with and then the recession of 2008 hit and we have ended a lot of problems. What are you proudest from that golf course?

I mean when it's gained national recognition now but what are you most proud of when you look back on that golf course? Well I'm most proud of the fact that then two years ago when we had a 25th anniversary of the club we invited and featured the various golf course superintendents who had and agronomists that have worked on our property over the years and there are 20 people who have graduated i call it sand ridge academy have moved on to be top golf course superintendents throughout the country uh and talk man oakmont and and uh and in pittsburgh the saucon valley country clubs in pennsylvania inverness and toledo uh clubs in arizona florida uh so that just as I'm so proud to see our employees of Fairmount and grow in their opportunities and responsibilities seeing those people develop that's the thing I'm most proud of you know beyond golf you supported many different Cleveland institutions let's start with the Cleveland Botanical Garden what kind of drew you to that organization and how have you really it kind of impacted it Well, I'm a softy for wonderful women who have a mission in mind. Betty Evans, who was the wife of Ray Evans who had been the chairman of Diamond Shamrock, who had hired me when I went to work for them, she approached me when they were starting a construction project at the Botanical Garden to say, could you take on the job because we don't want a bunch of women that don't know anything about building anything, except maybe their house and their lovely gardens. But that's how I got involved in it, and I loved all that stuff.

I've always loved, as my wife Mary did, gardening and observing those things and she was very active in the Cleveland in the Garden Club of Cleveland so she was very supportive of my getting involved and so that construction proceeded and it was a very interesting and worthwhile experience. And you've also supported university school and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. What has just driven that overall sense of giving back. Obviously your father's motto of be a giver, not a taker.

Is that what it is? And how have you really tried to embody that motto? Well, I think, Jack, you touched on the fact that what I learned from my father. But, you know, the idea is that I've been blessed in so many ways and taken advantage of the opportunities that were given to me in institutions of education and cultural support in the Cleveland community that I felt it was the right thing to do.

It was in a way an obligation but one who happily entered into because I think and the people that you get involved in whether it be at university school, the amazing different headmasters and development officers and boards of trustees what I've learned and and all of that and the same is true with the potato garden and and the Cleveland Clinic in particular you know going kind to just your whole life like overall there's been so much that has changed since you've obviously been here or even since you were little? What kind of invention, whether or not it's in what you do for your living or just overall, or just change surprised you most in your lifetime? The surprise is the rapidity of change. That there is such a thing going on.

Now I look in this room the technology that's available to all of you and that the learning and whether it be ai or or uh this the uh uh tremendous advances in in chemistry uh life sciences uh the spread of knowledge increase in knowledge uh the opportunities that are available to all of you to make a difference and take advantage of your education. That, to me, is the most exciting part of what I see ahead. Mr. Conway, we talk about the golf course, Fairmount, your family that you've built, but going into some of those smaller moments, I mean, you're 98 years old.

What are some of the small moments in your life that bring you joy and make life so beautiful to you? Well, I've got to say that my wife Mary was the most important part of that. The support that she gave me all through my career, moving to Hibbing, Minnesota at 30 below when we were as a bride, moving to taking up four children and packing them down to Australia for four years, supporting them and their education while I was still traveling back and forth in Japan or Tasmania. So that, to me, is the most important aspect.

You know, looking kind of to the future, what do you still kind of hope to see happen in the world, whether it's kind of just the small things inside your family or if it's just the larger things on a more global stage? Well, I would like to see people getting along better, generally in the world. I think the most important aspect in what we've been able to do and what you all are experiencing here, education to me is the most important aspect of it. And that I'm concerned about the fact that the education of boys in the general population is not as strong as it used to be relative to the opportunities or the needs.

And that's why I very strongly support what U.S. is doing in both the academic world, the technology world, and the athletic world. The opportunities that you have here are tremendous, and that's why I support it, and I urge everyone else to do it in their schools, not just OUS. And one theme that we talk a lot about here at school is gratitude. Every day before lunch, we have a moment of gratitude, and we are really encouraged to reflect back and be grateful for what we have.

I mean, I know this is a huge question to ask, but what are you most grateful for in your life, whether it's people, opportunities, or challenges that have built you into who you are? Well, obviously it's the people who have made the impact on my life. It's the most important aspect. And you've got to start with my mother and father. than Mary, my wife, my brothers and sisters, my colleagues, and going right back to the early days in Hibbing, Minnesota and working in the pits.

I've learned so much from other people, from different backgrounds, different experiences, and find that the more you support them, the more you give of them, the more you get back. That's beautiful. You know, and thinking about all the people that you've influenced, you've touched countless lives, whether directly or indirectly. What do you kind of hope people you know, who know you or learn about you will kind of carry forward?

If there's one lesson from your life that you'd like others to kind of remember and maybe teach their kids and kind of the next generation? You posed tough questions. I would say listen to what the needs are of that person or that organization. Listen more than talk and try to analyze and be supportive. ask questions but don't be a put don't as my dad says be a builder up or not a tear downer you can ask a question in a way which is unless it's a very positive response or you get one a negative and look for the positive and be grateful for what the support that other people have given you and see if you can do that and supporting other people finally mr conway you know reflecting on everything we've talked about throughout the episode your upbringing in a loving large family your kind of bold career moves and innovations your deep commitment to kind of community and community values i kind of want and the question or and the podcast with the question we asked all of our guests what is your why in other words when you get up every morning what is the core driving purpose or belief that continues to still inspire you to give, to strive for better, and to just live every day to the fullest?

Well, these days it's first of all getting up. That is an accomplishment in itself. But in all seriousness, I think I would have to say, and I don't do it exactly this way, but in the way that my life has evolved to say in effect saying what can I do today to make things better for my family for my community for the world if that not too big a question but see how from a positive standpoint you can influence what's going on around you well Mr. Conway it's been great having you on the show today thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts insights experiences and stories with us to our listeners thank you so much for tuning in and we'll hope you'll join us next wednesday for another episode of late star show thank you mr conway been a great pleasure true honor