Scott Stenmark C’91 majored in accounting at North Park. After working in finance at Kraft Foods and BMO Harris Bank, Stenmark has returned as the University’s Vice President of Finance.
North Parker: How did North Park prepare you for your career?
Stenmark: North Park gives you a different perspective on the world and how your work impacts others, not just within that company, but to the community that you’re working in. You start to think about how your faith interacts with what you do on a daily basis and how you can work that faith into the office place. It’s something that smaller Christian liberal arts colleges provide that the larger state universities don’t.
NP: What is your vision for North Park?
Stenmark: When I attended, the University was a series of buildings on city streets. There wasn’t the central quad area that we have today. Today, when I walk around the campus, and especially when you’re around the library and the Johnson Center, you have a real sense of a community and a university.
North Park has changed a lot in the 25 years since I attended, and I have all kinds of thoughts in my head about new buildings and programs; how the University could look in 25 years.
NP: What’s your favorite North Park memory?
Stenmark: I was not a great basketball player over my four years here, but I practiced a lot (See 1989–1990 team photo above; Stenmark, #20, is kneeling, far right.) I would say some of the trips we took make up my favorite memories. Some of the long van rides—to and from Augustana or Millikin—are the things that I remember and reminisce about most. We don’t talk about the games as much as we talk about the experiences in the locker room and the trips. One time we rendered the van unusable for the choir, after a food fight.