Richard Stuart Lannamann – 50th Reunion Essay

Richard Stuart Lannamann

119 Osprey Point Drive

Osprey, FL 34229-9248

rlannamann@gmail.com

203-219-4962

Spouse(s): Katharine (Kate) Scheffler Lannamann (1998-); Margaret Payne Mahoney (1969-93)

Child(ren): Thomas Cleveland (1975), Edward Payne (1977), John Stewart (1979)

Grandchild(ren): Juliet Lannamann (2007), Bradley Lannamann (2014), Benjamin Lannamann (2016)

Education: Harvard Business School MBA 1973

Career: Investment Analyst, US Trust, 1969–71; VP Research, Smith Barney, 1973–78: Managing Director, Russell Reynolds Associates, 1978-2002; Vice Chairman, Spencer Stuart, 2002-2014

Avocations: Boards: The Jackson Laboratory; Foreign Policy Association; Sarasota Orchestra; Yale Club of the Suncoast; Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (former chair); Yale Alumni Association of Greenwich (CT) (former president). Principal activities: tennis, piano, travel, grandkids

College: Ezra Stiles

I am grateful to be looking back after 50 years, having never expected to get close to reaching this milestone. I was diagnosed with Type I (insulin dependent) diabetes in 1968 and was told by one of the physicians at Yale New Haven that I could probably expect to live to my mid-50s. Although no “cure” has ever been realized, medicine has definitely made great strides, and the accommodations have not really been a problem. Here I am in excellent health playing tennis three or four times a week. But I certainly felt the urgency at graduation to get going with my life.

After Harvard Business School and seven years in the investment business as a security analyst, the securities markets were in the tank and I got recruited into the relatively new business of executive search. I quickly developed a specialty, recruiting senior investment people. Although I did my share of analysts and portfolio managers, I also recruited CEOs and board directors. My real distinction was recruiting chief investment officers for endowments (Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, MIT and dozens of others), foundations (Rockefeller, Ford, MacArthur), pension funds, mutual funds, family offices, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds.

Every new assignment gave me an insight into another organization, brought me in contact with some really interesting people and an excuse to talk to almost anyone for advice or recommendations. Clients or members of selection juries ranged from Warren Buffett, George Soros, Alan Greenspan and David Rockefeller, to the prince of Liechtenstein and the prime minister of Singapore.

I retired in 2014 and we now spend seven months of the year in Sarasota, a surprisingly vibrant and cultured place. The rest of the year we are in Connecticut or travelling. For stimulation, I serve on a number of boards quite different from each other in subject matter (genetic research, foreign policy, music), play a lot of tennis, and take piano lessons so I can keep challenging myself to get better and learn new repertoire.

I’ve been married to Kate the last 20 years, an extraordinary person who is always cheerful, positive, energetic and caring. She makes life pretty wonderful. I am proud of my three sons, who have all become strong, self-confident individuals and established interesting lives. Importantly, they have brought me three terrific grandchildren. And I’m lucky to have half a dozen or so good, very long-term friends, a couple from Yale, who mean a lot at this stage of life. We are very grateful for our good fortune and interesting lives.