Q: Describe the fraternity as you remember it in your time frame.
A: The fraternity was fairly small in terms of members, 35 or so I think, however we had a lot of fun.
Q: What are you fondest memories of being a Delta Chi at Michigan?
A: One of my fondest memories was driving down to Spring Break in Florida in Joe Burak ’98’s old car with a broken front seat, which you needed to prop up with a basketball in order to get it to stay upright. There were four of us: Joe Burak, Denny Powell ’98, Ted Brindle ’98 and myself. It was a really fun time and the coolest thing is that these weren’t the kind of guys I would usually hang out with. I was more of the quiet studious type and these guys were more fun-loving and adventurous, but Delta Chi had a great way of putting different people together, which helped me learn a lot about different kinds of people.
Q: Did you live in the house?
A: Yes, for three years. The house was old, but it had a lot of character, with every room having a unique name. In my sophomore year I lived in a room called “Middle-Earth”, named this way because it was at the top of the main stairs in the middle of everything. The next year I lived in a room called “Dudley’s Garage.”
I thought the fraternity house was a great place to live, and the fraternity experience would not be complete without living in the house. It was fun to share the space with my friends and brothers, learn more about them and have interesting experiences. They recently demolished the house and are re-building a new house. The pictures of the progress look good!
Q: Who were your roommates?
A: My first roommate was Joe Penzien ’98, a unique guy who I still keep in touch with. Then, I lived with Will Gorton ’99, a super-smart engineering / music double major.
Q: Did you have a nickname and if so, how did you get it?
A: Some people called me “Naz”, which is a nickname I kind of made up myself. It is short for my last name. I remember another brother in my class, Joe Magro ’96, used to call me “Dr. K”. I was notoriously cheap back then and I used to always buy the Kroger-brand knockoff sodas instead of Coke or Pepsi. They had a Dr. Pepper equivalent called “Dr. K” and I guess Joe thought the “K” could be a funny knockoff initial of my first name— “Kraig” instead of “Craig”. Nicknames are always fun.
Q: What about your membership in Delta Chi makes you the most proud?
A: I think Delta Chi opened me up more to the world. I became friends with a lot of different people from different backgrounds that I would have never otherwise met. I grew up in the suburbs and my high school was actually very racially diverse, but Delta Chi was diverse in a different way. Different economic backgrounds, family backgrounds, regional backgrounds, interests, personalities and lifestyles.
Q: Do you stay in touch with any of your Delta Chi brothers? Who?
A: Definitely. After University of Michigan, I moved to Silicon Valley and my roommate was Jauder Ho ’96, who was one year senior to me at Delta Chi. We still see each other from time to time. When I come back to Michigan I usually see Joe Penzien, Bryan Cole ’97 and Scott Waclawik ’96. I’ve met up with Scott Hillen ’97, our house historian who compiled a history of the Michigan Chapter. Several years ago I remember walking down the street visiting Washington D.C. and seeing Joe Burak randomly driving by— what a small world! I’m in touch with Joe Magro from time to time and others too.
Q: What was your undergraduate degree?? What was the first job you took after college ?
A: Computer Engineering. My first job was at Intel in Santa Clara, CA. I worked there for about six years in different engineering roles and then I came back to Michigan for business school. I had no obligation to come back to Intel after my MBA, but I got a unique opportunity to come to Asia. Many people prepare extensively for an international career: they learn a language, study international relations, etc. I hadn’t done any of that, I just had the luck of this opportunity falling into my lap, so I took it, and it was one of the greatest decisions I’ve made.
I’ve worked here for Intel in Hong Kong for 11 years now. I’ve had a great career spanning several different disciplines (operations, management and marketing), been to countless countries and cities in Asia, met my wonderful wife and had two great kids. I even helped my younger brother come to Hong Kong as well where he found a new job and his career has rocketed past where he was in the U.S.
Q: Did you go to graduate school? Additional degrees? What schools?
A: MBA, University of Michigan
Q: Who have you worked for and for how many years?
A: I’ve worked at Intel since I graduated from undergrad in 1997. I guess I’m sort of a dinosaur…not many people work for one employer for so long nowadays. But, I’ve moved around a lot to different roles that keep it fresh; IT, hardware engineering, software engineering, computer performance, business operations, revenue and demand forecasting, management and, now, consumer marketing focusing on PC gaming.
Q: Where have you lived?
A: Grew up in Michigan (Suburban Detroit). After college I went to SF Bay area (Santa Clara, Fremont, Mountain View, Belmont, San Francisco, Palo Alto), then to Hong Kong (Mid-Levels area). When I lived in the bay area, I helped with the re-colonization of the UC Berkeley chapter of Delta Chi, serving as their ABT president for a short while.
Q: Tell us about your family and interests.
A: In 2009 I met my future wife, Jane Or, randomly at a UCLA party at a bar we both crashed. Neither of us went to UCLA! We got married in 2012. Jane is of Chinese background but grew up in the Philippines and speaks six languages, which keeps me humble. She works in Private Banking at BNP Paribas. We have two young children: Emma (2 yrs) and Flint (10 months).
Q: Hobbies you have?
A: Raising young kids makes having hobbies hard! I used to like long-distance running a lot. I ran a marathon a few years ago, but that takes a lot out of you, so I decided to hang up my running shoes for a while. Now, I play squash every week. I never played that until I got to Hong Kong and I’m not really very good at it, but I really enjoy it.
Q: Volunteer work?
A: I volunteer with an organization called “Enrich” that teaches financial skills to foreign domestic helpers. People in Hong Kong are privileged to be able to hire domestic help at very reasonable prices from foreign countries, mostly Philippines and Indonesia. We have a full-time helper at home who serves as nanny, cleaner, cook and many other roles, allowing both my wife and I to work without having to resort to a day-care center. These migrant workers often fall victim to scams and need to know basic financial skills on how to keep and grow their money.
Q: What would you say are your life’s biggest successes?
A: My wife and kids. Nothing comes close. Career, financial success, friendships and experiences are all good, but having a partner to hold for the rest of your life and kids to love and cherish forever are the best rewards possible in life.
Q: On the contrary, what would you say are your biggest failures or regrets? What did you learn from it?
A: I’ve tried to live a “no-regrets” life and it’s worked pretty well. There are some successes in life that I’ve had as a result of long preparation and hard work: e.g. I’ve built a good career because of good education, studying and work ethic, and I’ve built financial success by learning and investing in stocks and real-estate over the long term. However, some successes have come by grabbing unexpected opportunities. Coming to Hong Kong was one of them. Meeting my wife randomly at a bar was another. Another one was joining Delta Chi. My uncle was an alumnus at another fraternity at University of Michigan, which he really steered me towards. I had never heard of Delta Chi but I met some brothers and it seemed right so I just went ahead with it. It turned out to be a fantastic decision!
Q: What advice would you give the younger Delta Chi members?
A: For my experiences in the paragraph above, I would say that I feel I have achieved success through two paths: 1) preparation and hard work and 2) seizing opportunities. You can’t really rely on either of those alone to guarantee success, but combined they can be quite powerful.
Q: What do you want people to remember about you 50 years from now?
A: That I am a good father and teacher.
Brothers may reach out to Craig at 852-9012-6139 or [email protected].
