Albert Corrado '55, '01 Hon

Albert Corrado grew up in downtown Portland — in a blue-collar neighborhood, surrounded by a diverse population with many different native languages. His parents emigrated from northern Italy, and his father ran a grocery store and a tavern. As a youngster, he dreamed of following in his dad’s footsteps. “To own your own grocery store, now there’s rich and famous,” he once said. When Corrado graduated from high school, he got the “crazy idea” of going to the University of Portland. “College was for rich kids and geniuses, and I was neither brilliant nor rich.” He ended up enrolling, commuting from off campus, working odd jobs, and eventually graduating; however, it was not until serving in the United States Air Force that he realized he was adept in the world of finance. After the military, he returned home to Portland and started an investment, which eventually merged with another to become Columbia Management Company, where Corrado was a partner with two others for more than 40 years.  
A past chairman of the University’s Board of Regents for seven years, he and his wife Suzanne have given generously to his alma mater. Their gifts have helped build Corrado Hall, a residence hall on campus, and provide for student scholarships. In a 2001 commencement address, Corrado noted, “The University of Portland at its best is a seed, a kernel, a nugget inside you, that stays with you, that will grow and grow and grow over the years.” His advice to graduates that day: “Let it grow.”