Former Penn State football star and real estate financer Donald Abbey held an intimate chat session this past Friday with honor students from the College of Business that was organized with the help of the Executive Director of Leadership Gifts, Eloise Stuhr. Abbey shared his financial expertise and advice with the aspiring business students while mixing in some humor and sports metaphors in an hour-long session in Atherton Hall.

Abbey is the President and CEO of The Abbey Company, a commercial real-estate company that is based in California. He started the company with $30,000 in 1990, and now it is worth, including its portfoilio of office, industrial, and retail properties, over $400 million. The 1970 graduate of Penn State earned his degree from the College of Liberal Arts. Upon graduating, the Dallas Cowboys drafted him, however, financial disagreements led to him turning down the offer. So, Abbey decided to join the military, and ultimately became a Navy SEAL. After an injury forced him out of the service, he went back to school. He attended classes in California, where he began to focus on real estate.

In his younger days, Abbey was a regular football blue-chipper from Massachusetts who had his choice of 150 different football scholarships. Rip Engle, a former Penn State coach and family friend of the Abbeys, was able to convince Abbey to turn down Princeton Univesity and other Ivy league schools in favor of the blue and white of Penn State in 1967.

"I was in class No. 1 for [Penn State football] Coach [Joe] Paterno," Abbey said.

The hulking 250-pound running back played on two of Paterno's unbeaten squads in 1968 and 1969, both of which brought Orange Bowl victories to the Lions.

Throughout the discussion, he referred back to Paterno and his years as a football player to help discuss his current, and very successful, business practices.

"I do the same steps over and over again, kind of like a Coach Paterno practice," Abbey joked when asked about his of business transactions.

Abbey stressed the importance of learning about business and the way in which the profession works.

"I always wanted to learn as much as I could," Abbey said. "I figured if I could pick up one piece of information, then that was one more piece of information that I had, and my competition didn't."

However, he also stressed that life is worth living and money should not be the focal point of a business student. He went as far as to discount money as a goal of business entrepreneurs.

"Money is the by-product of a job well done," Abbey said.

The sports metaphors and examples which peppered the presentation did not go unappreciated by the students in attendance.

"I thought his comparisons to sports were pretty effective and also helped us understand a little better what he does and how he works," David Groff (junior-business logistics) said.

"He has been down there on the practice field with Joe [Paterno]," said David Horowitz (junior-finance) said. "And he has been in the real field with his business."

Jeffrey Egee (junior-finance), who helped set up this meeting, concurred.

"I definitely think sports and business are interchangeable," Egee said. "I think sports give you a good base for being a leader in the business world."

Abbey's success, on and off the field, certainly does serve as inspiration to all the students of Penn State.