As a native Vancouverite interested in business and law, UBC was the natural choice for Ron. He completed the seven-year combined Commerce/Law program in 1978 and found the legal education he received at UBC to be indispensable preparation for his employment at Farris & Company. However, his foray into the legal world did not last long. A year after being called to the bar in 1979, Ron decided to enroll in the MBA program at the University of Western Ontario. After completing one semester of the MBA program, it became apparent to Ron that after seven and a half years of university, it was time to get some practical business experience. In January of 1981, Ron moved to Toronto and joined Campeau Corporation, which at the time was a major real estate development company.
Ron worked for Campeau Corporation for nine years. In 1986, Campeau Corporation acquired Allied Stores Corporation in the United States, which resulted in Ron’s relocation to New York. Subsequently, Federated Department Stores was acquired in April of 1988. As a result of his business acumen and strong leadership skills, Ron became President and COO of Campeau Corporation in 1989, at the age of 36. However, in 1990, both Federated and Allied were forced into Chapter 11, which at the time was one of the largest non-financial bankruptcies in U.S. history. Ron was faced with the defining moment of his young career. William Miller, a former Secretary of the Treasury and Campeau Board Member, asked Ron to assume responsibility for negotiating the plan of reorganization for Federated and Allied which, at the time, had over $7 billion of combined indebtedness. The sheer complexity and magnitude of the reorganization coupled with the necessity to resign from Campeau Corporation, with which he was closely aligned, made the decision a difficult one. Ron agreed to do it and he considers this decision a milestone in his business life. As Vice Chairman of both Federated and Allied, Ron successfully negotiated their exit from bankruptcy proceedings in record time and the new company has been extremely successful ever since.
Ron has continued as Vice Chairman of Federated since its emergence from bankruptcy in 1992 and has played a key role in several major acquisitions, most recently being the $17 billion acquisition of May Department Stores Company in August of 2005.
Despite his numerous professional accomplishments, Ron maintains that family is his top priority. He believes that personal success lies in accomplishing the goals that you set for yourself, while remembering that they must be recalibrated throughout life. According to Ron, the key to success can be summed up in one word: balance. His words of advice are to take advantage of the opportunities that you are given and to try to give back in what you do, never letting your perspective become skewed. Ron is involved in numerous community organizations and serves on the board of directors of three major corporations, including Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The balanced perspective with which Ron approaches life is apparent when asked about his experience at UBC. The two highlights he recalled were the impressive quality of the faculty at UBC and acting as a moot judge for the woman who would eventually become his wife.
Ron Tysoe is a role model and an exemplary alumnus whose well-deserved success is a testament to the profound effect of equilibrium and encouragement to us all to live “balanced” lives.