Alumni Connecti N - St. Vincent-St. Mary High School

Pat then changed his career orientation
and worked for Arthur Young & Co., a CPA
and consulting firm. He worked as an
auditor with some unusual assignments,
such as dip sticking the large Long Beach
Harbor oil tanks on New Year’s Eve and
counting sides of beef in a huge freezer to
ascertain year end inventory levels. He also
was a management consultant,
concentrating on internal control systems
for small businesses. As part of his personal
and career development, Pat attended
Northwestern University’s Graduate School
of Management for two successive summer
terms, graduating with a Certificate in the
Professional Accounting Program,
becoming a Certified Public Accountant in
California.
Joining Rockwell International, Pat
moved to their corporate headquarters in
Pittsburgh, working on the corporate
accounting staff and then transferred to the
automotive group in Detroit, as Manager of
International Finance. He traveled
extensively and prepared investment
proposals for joint ventures in Colombia
and Mexico and acquisitions in Spain,
Brazil, and the United Kingdom.
Pat continued his interest in
international operations, but now
combined it with a new high technology
focus by joining Fairchild Semiconductor at
the beginning of the rise to prominence of
Silicon Valley in San Jose, California. This
was an exciting and dynamic time with the
explosion of numerous new companies in
diverse high technology industries. Pat, as
Manager of International Finance, was
involved with the foreign subsidiaries and
affiliates, especially those of Hong Kong
and Japan, with a focus on planning and
transfer pricing.
Moving on to National Semiconductor,
Pat was an expatriate in Singapore, as
Director of Finance for the Asia Pacific
Manufacturing Operations. He was
responsible for all financial and accounting
matters for nine plants in Singapore,
Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong,
Philippines, Indonesia, and Australia, with
over 20,000 employees. He was promoted
to Corporate Controller, the Chief
Accounting Officer of the Corporation, and
returned to the Silicon Valley headquarters.
Pat also served as the Chairman of the
United Way Campaign and Treasurer of the
Employees’ Political Action Committee.
Expanding the scope of his experience,
Pat joined Philips Semiconductors, as Vice
President of Assembly Operations. He was
responsible for all manufacturing and test
operations at plants in the United States,
Korea, Thailand, and Philippines covering
6,000 employees. He introduced and
implemented Just-in-Time and Statistical
Process Control programs in all the plants
and installed a manufacturing control
system featuring a diagnostic cost system,
manufacturing standards, performance
measurements, and rigor in all planning
and commitments. For over seven years, he
traveled to Asia one week each month to
review performance at the plants. Pat led
the company to a recognized industry
leadership position in cost, quality,
reliability and delivery.
Pat then joined Coopers & Lybrand, an
international professional services firm, as
Partner-in-Charge, West Region
Manufacturing Consulting. Pat established
the firm in high technology consulting,
directing extended Just-in-Time
implementation engagements to three
different semiconductor manufacturers in
Malaysia, Taiwan, and Morocco.
He also led the installation of an
Activity Based Costing system for two other
semiconductor manufacturers in their
factories in the United States and their
assembly plants in Asia. Pat performed
litigation support and provided expert
consulting services for a law firm defending
a semiconductor manufacturer against the
Internal Revenue Service in a $100 million
transfer pricing case in U.S. Tax Court.
In the ensuing years, Pat continued his
career concentration in high technology
and international operations, serving as
Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating
Officer, and Chief Executive Officer of
several high technology companies. These
firms were in various business sectors, such
as semiconductors, computer multimedia,
computer hard disk drives, and wireless
Internet network processors and software.
These companies ranged from a private
start-up company, to a small public
company to multi-billion dollar revenue
public companies. Pat’s activities included
several company restructurings and raising
capital through a $150 million debt offering
and $17 million equity offering with
venture capital investors. One successful
refinancing effort led to the sale of a
struggling company for a 20% premium in
excess of its market price.
Pat was a member of the Board of
Directors of Catalyst Semiconductor,
Integrated Packaging Assembly
Corporation, OSE USA, Inc, and Creative
Insights. He currently is serving as a
director on the Boards of Micro
Component Technology, Inc. and PLX
Technology, Inc.
Pat has spoken on various topics at
conferences and seminars sponsored by the
Institute of Management Accountants, the
American Electronics Association, the
Institute of International Research, the
Association for Manufacturing Excellence,
and the California Society of Certified
Public Accountants.
Pat is married to Roberta Laundrie, a
graduate of Akron Garfield High School,
The Ohio State University, and Santa Clara
University. They have two children, a
daughter Gail, and a son, Kent. Both Gail
and Kent are graduates of The University of
Southern California and live in Los Angeles.
Pat and Roberta live in Northern
California.
Now retired, Pat enjoys reading,
watching sports, especially football and
baseball, and cheering for all his alma
maters. Pat has rediscovered a long lost
interest in fitness and tries to exercise daily
and to live a healthy lifestyle. Roberta is
still working as a psychotherapist and Pat
is developing new skills and interest
in cooking.
As Pat reflects on the past, he marvels
that someone like himself could go from
Akron to Silicon Valley with many other
frequent U.S. and international stops along
the way. From entering college using a slide
rule and a No. 2 pencil, to working in the
most highly technical and complex sector
imaginable is, indeed, a far journey to have
traveled. Preparation was the key —
preparation that began at St. Mary High
School with a great education, great
training in work habits, discipline, and
ethics, and diverse extracurricular activities.
Pat is grateful and thankful to St. Mary
High School and the dedicated faculty,
priests, and nuns.
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