EDUCATION:

Susan Perkins Stark works for Provident Investment Counsel as a financial analyst in the healthcare sector.  Her job requires an intellectual understanding of the pharmaceutical, biotech, device and healthcare service industries.  This entails attending medical conferences, knowing about available drugs as well as drugs-in-development, doing research to determine if a new drug is promising or not promising, and then using the preceding information to determine if the drug will affect the ability of the pharmaceutical company to grow.  If Ms. Stark determines that the drug will have a positive impact on the company, it is then her job to recommend that the company's stock be bought and sold through Provident.

While her career sounds fascinating, what makes it even more interesting is how she wound up in the healthcare sector.  Ms. Stark graduated from UVM in 1978 with a B.S. in Business and a concentration in finance.  As a student, she was editor-in-chief of the Vermont Cynic, and, with this experience, she left UVM hoping to launch a career in Financial Journalism.  She started out doing conference planning in New York City for an investor magazine and then, realizing she enjoyed institutional investment, returned to school to pursue an MBA.  She joined E.F. Hutton as an institutional equity broker after graduating and then moved to a start-up company, Altman, Brenner & Wasserman, feeling that they had better accounts and that she would have more of an opportunity to advance.  In 1990 she moved to Raymond James, a broker-dealer in St. Petersburg, FL.  It was here that she made the switch from institutional sales to financial analysis.  She had gained a lot of experience in modeling companies, forecast prognosis, and computer technologies and wanted to be able to apply her knowledge in the analysis field.  In 1992 she moved to LA and began specializing in healthcare at Arco Investment Management, where she managed a $300mm diversified equity portfolio.  Three years ago, she joined Provident, where she now focuses solely on healthcare.

Ms. Stark works hard in her field, but there is another side to her life.  While she was in NYC, she began pursuing skydiving as a hobby.  She joined the women's skydiving team, the Misty Blues, in 1988.  This hobby led her and a friend to buy an airplane, and, from there, they established Freefall Express, which is the largest purveyor of aircraft for skydiving businesses.  She and her business partner also opened a parachute center, Skydive City, in Florida.  While she hasn't taken a dive in many years, she still is part-owner of the two companies.

Ms. Stark is married with two children.  She divides her time between her career and her family, and she enjoys both tremendously.  She emphasizes that the single most important skill that an individual can have is that of being able to relate to another human being.  Never mind accounting skills, finance skills, management skills, etc.---having good personal relationship skills, and acknowledging that everyone needs to be treated kindly, are what will carry you the farthest.