College of the Liberal Arts

John Finneran, '72 history, is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Capital One Financial Corporation [NYSE: COF], one of the fastest-growing, most profitable financial services companies in the United States. Capital One, headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, is a leader in the direct marketing of credit cards and other financial services. As of December 31, 2002, Capital One had 47.4 million accounts, one of the world’s largest consumer franchises, and was one of the largest providers of MasterCard and Visa credit cards in the world. Capital One is a Fortune 500 company and its common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “COF”, and is included in the S&P 500 index.

Mr. Finneran has been a key member of Capital One's senior executive team since September 1994. Mr. Finneran leads the company’s legal department, which is responsible for providing legal advice and assistance to enable the company’s domestic and international business strategies, as well as for government and shareholder relations. Mr. Finneran also leads Capital One’s efforts to ensure a customer focus in all of its business lines and plays an important role in expanding the company’s business internationally. He serves as the senior legal advisor to the Board of Directors and the senior management of Capital One.

Previously, Mr. Finneran served in progressively senior legal positions with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [September 1991 until September 1994]. As Acting Deputy General Counsel to the FDIC, he served as the senior legal advisor to the Board of Directors of the FDIC on legislative and bank regulatory matters and on the administrative enforcement of banking laws and regulations applicable to FDIC-insured financial institutions. Prior to becoming Acting Deputy General Counsel in January 1994, Mr. Finneran was Associate General Counsel (Resolutions), responsible for legal advice and assistance in connection with the resolution of failing banks.

Before joining the FDIC in 1991, Mr. Finneran practiced law for ten years in the Washington, D.C. office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. His business-related practice covered a variety of areas, including corporate, securities, mergers and acquisitions, financial institutions, asset-backed structured finance, litigation and litigation management.

Mr. Finneran is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center (Magna Cum Laude) and the Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Finneran, his wife and their two children live in Chevy Chase, Maryland. He is active in school and community activities, and serves as a member of the National Board of Directors of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) (a non-profit organization supporting community development and affordable housing) and serves as the Chairman of the Local Advisory Committee of Richmond LISC.

Owen Landon, '51 arts and letters, is chairman and CEO of Landon Media Group, a family-owned and operated company established over 100 years ago as the Julius Mathews Special Agency, a regional newspaper representative company.

After graduating from Penn State—he was captain of the varsity tennis team and business manager of the Daily Collegian—Owen began his media career as a trainee with Mathews in their Philadelphia office. He transferred to Chicago, then New York, and became president in 1962. He subsequently acquired the agency and reorganized it as Landon Associates in 1976 after acquiring several competitors.

Today, Landon Media Group, with offices in fifteen U.S. cities, is a diverse organization including three national newspaper sales and marketing companies partnering with over 700 daily newspapers to act as their agent to regional and national advertisers. It also includes a national direct marketing company, a college marketing research company, and a newspaper sales and marketing company for recruitment advertising.

A Williamsport, PA, native, Mr. Landon is a past Penn State Alumni Council member and was honored with the Distinguished Alumni award in 1982. Together with his wife, Ginny, Owen has endowed a fund in the humanities and provided additional support to Liberal Arts, Health & Human Development, and Athletics.

Thomas R. Dye '57 arts and letters, '59g political science has been described as one of America’s most provocative educators. President of the Lincoln Center for Public Service, and McKenzie Professor Emeritus of Government at Florida State University, Dye is the author of numerous books and articles on American government and public policy. He authored more than thirty years ago The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics, now in its eleventh edition. In it, Dye and co-author Harmon Zeigler present an unrepentant elitist approach to American democracy, contending that it is the elites, not the masses, which govern our country. He has published a series of books since 1976 examining who and what institutions actually control America called Who’s Running America?, now in its sixth edition. His most recent book is Top Down Policymaking, an examination of the role of foundations, think tanks, campaign contributors, interest groups, and the media in policymaking in Washington. His books have been translated into many languages, including Russian and Chinese, and published abroad.

Tom has served as president of the Southern Political Science Association, president of the Policy Studies Organization, and secretary of the American Political Science Association.

He has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Georgia, and he has served as a visiting scholar at Bar-Ilan University, Israel, and the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

He is a founding member of the James Madison Institute, Tallahassee, Florida, and editor of its quarterly journal The Madison Review. Dye’s pro bono work as president of the Lincoln Center for Public Service focuses on promoting civic and educational service to the citizens of Florida and the United States.

Hellene Runtagh '70 psychology is prominent nationally for corporate re-engineering and business leadership. Her successful career includes twenty-five years at General Electric—including seven as president and CEO of General Electric Information Services—and, until just last month, as executive vice president of Universal Studios in California.

She began her career in the employment relations department at General Electric and rose through the ranks to become manager of production scheduling, then manufacturing, and subsequently to the president and CEO post. By the end of her career with General Electric, she was lauded as expert in the application of technology to facilitate improvements in production and supply operations.

Hired in 1996 to supervise Universal’s corporate re-engineering, Hellene’s duties expanded to eventually include consumer products, interactive games, Internet services, information technology, new media, studio operations, and corporate marketing and sponsorship. On behalf of Universal Studios and its parent company, Seagram, she was responsible for revenue in excess of $600 million, corporate partnerships of more than $300 million, and annual savings in excess of $100 million through sourcing, real estate, and financial shared services.

In addition to her significant professional accomplishments, Hellene is active as a volunteer serving the elderly and the homeless. And, she is an active alumna. In addition to financial support for Liberal Arts, including significant annual gifts, she has returned to campus to participate in career fairs, to talk to undergraduates, and to speak at University functions. In 1993, she was named an Alumni Fellow, and in June she will be honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award.



Neal Stoll '70 history started at Penn State in pre-med because his mother wanted him to be a doctor. Through electives in history, economics, literature, and political science, he eventually changed his major to history. When his adviser convinced him that he would make a great lawyer, his career path was set.

After law school at Fordham University, Neal found a niche in antitrust law at one of the biggest firms in the country, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Now a senior partner, he represents clients in connection with investigations conducted by the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission. He advises corporate clients on antitrust issues stemming from mergers and acquisitions, on consumer protection matters, and on the implementation of proposed business plans. He represented Turner Broadcasting in the mega-merger with Time-Warner, and he has co-authored the source that antitrust lawyers consult, Acquisitions Under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Stoll has lectured for the Practicing Law Institute and the New York State and City Bar Associations.

Neal has come to campus to speak in classes and meet with students interested in law careers, and he and his wife, Linda, have established an undergraduate scholarship in Liberal Arts. Their daughter, Meredith, is a 1999 Penn State graduate.