Cathy Harms ’85

After graduating from Gustavus in '85, I spent 15 years at First Bank now US Bank.  The first position was Commercial Lending and after my MBA was completed I was promoted into Product Management where I helped with 24 acquisition transitions.  Then I started the St. Paul Capital Fund a venture fund that invested in businesses within the city limits of St. Paul.  After reviewing 500 business plans, the fund invested in 7 companies.  Once the fund was fully funded, I started working at Tecmark, a loyalty marketing company.  Helped build new products, open new markets, develop new strategies and was promoted to VP of Sales and Marketing. 

Since my graduation, I have been an active volunteer at Gustavus.  Class Officer, Alumni Board Member, Mentor, Greater Gustavus Fund, Gustavus Women in Leadership and many other activities.  Due to these connections, I was approached to apply to teach Marketing at Gustavus for one year.  I made the significant change and have found that I truly love teaching.  My passion is experiential learning so all of my courses have real-life projects for alumni connected organizations with marketing strategies and research.  

Courses Taught