When Jeff Anderson ’88 headed to Bentley from Glastonbury, Conn., he knew that he wanted to earn a business degree just like his dad, Wayne Anderson ’57. Jeff’s take on it would be gaining a strong computer background, unavailable in his father’s day. He was in the first freshman class to receive Bentley-issued laptops — state-of-the-art for the time and a bear to carry around campus, but a technological marvel at his fingertips.

Jeff remembers Computer Information Systems professor Dr. Les Waguespack’s comment to him after class one day. “He said, ‘You’re very good at this. I know you’ll do really well.’ That meant a lot to me, and made me feel like I made a good choice.”

Thirty years later, Jeff is at the top of his chosen field; he’s currently the senior consulting project manager for MassMutual Financial Group, responsible for migrating billions of dollars in assets and managing the company’s technology strategy program.

“The best thing I can say about Bentley is that it gave me a broad knowledge of how business works,” he says. “I learned enough from every discipline to be able to walk into any situation and dive in right away.” In his first post-Bentley job, Jeff worked for Aetna, which was “looking for folks who knew computers and had a business background. I was definitely prepared.”

Bentley enhanced Jeff’s life not only academically and professionally, but also socially. While in Waltham, he made the best friends of his life, starting in his freshman triple dorm room. Today, he co-chairs Bentley's Hartford Alumni Chapter, organizing events for fellow alumni in the region. Further afield, Jeff sees about 20 of his closest Falcon friends every year, meeting up all over — most recently, at a Red Sox-Yankees game in London. “We’ve been there for each other, especially for the big life moments,” he says. “My dad was lifelong friends with his Bentley roommate, too.”

“My family, my friends, and my career success — it all comes back to Bentley,” Jeff says. For that, he gives back generously and often — and has even included a future gift in his estate plans. “Bentley took a chance on me,” he says. “It should be rewarded.” A former financial aid recipient himself, Jeff plans to establish a scholarship with his future gift for “students out there who can’t get the financial aid they need to succeed. Hopefully, I can make that happen.”