IU alumnus receives promotion in business

Garry Bridgeman is one of more than 500,000 living IU alumni throughout the world.\nBridgeman learned about stocks at the Kelley School of Business. Now he’s president of the Investment Management Consultants Association at Merrill Lynch. The association currently has 7,000 members in the United States, Canada and Australia.\n“Some kids want to be firemen; I wanted to be a stock broker,” Bridgeman said. “I always saw Merrill Lynch as very professional, and I saw myself as a very professional person.”\nBridgeman started off as a philosophy major before switching to political science and eventually landed in the business field.\n“It was a journey for me,” Bridgeman said. “At one time I thought I might be a lawyer. I wasn’t locked into this \njob frame.”\nWhile at IU, Bridgeman was involved in intramural basketball and was a member of Omega Psi Phi. After graduation, Bridgeman began working with ex-offenders who were leaving the state penitentiary. He helped them learn interview skills, network and helped buy professional clothes for them. During this time, he found 80 jobs for ex-offenders.\nFollowing his work with ex-offenders, he worked for two years as a defense contractor. After two years, he took the job at Merrill Lynch, where he has worked for 29 years.\n“I began a career as an account executive,” Bridgeman said. “At the time, people wanted to go into a job in gas and oil or real estate. It really wasn’t an area that showed prospect for a lot of growth. I was benefited by the success the industry has had.”\nBridgeman, who is currently based in Atlanta, works as a private wealth advisor of the Private Banking and Investment Group at Merrill Lynch in which he works with families and institutions with extensive wealth.\nBridgeman said he reaped tremendous rewards from IU that he could use in the future. Bridgeman remembers a professor for independent studies class where he studied marketing research. Bridgeman had the opportunity to work with a company in Indianapolis.\n“I felt it was rigorous,” Bridgeman said of his classes at IU. “I felt the classroom sizes were large. I feel now it all made sense. I found it to be leading edge in the class offerings. After you get into the real world, you realize that it makes sense.” \nThe Kelley School currently offers many opportunities for students in their career search. The business school works with students to find jobs typically within 90 days after graduation. The Kelley School and the IU Alumni Association have an alumni job board for students and alumni to help in their job search.\nFrom the very first day students enter the Kelley School, counselors are available to talk to students so when they are ready for that internship or full-time job, the school is there, said Mark Brostoff, associate director of the undergraduate career office.\nThe Kelley School of Business also has two classes that help prepare students with career planning. Here, they learn how to make cover letters \nand resumes.\n“The general idea for students is making an impact at the University and how it is different when you leave,” said Dean of Students Dick McKaig. “There are lots of students you can point to that made a difference while they were here.”\nOne idea Bridgeman stressed was that his education didn’t stop at graduation, but really began after he left school.\n“You’re constantly having to bring in new knowledge,” Bridgeman said. “IU built the frame work of how I best perform. There’s a lot of resources at IU that I wish I had now. Try to extract the most you can out of the business school. They teach you what you need to know to fully exceed.”