Leading the Life of Aspbury
Barbara K. Clement

If you think that Herbert (Herb) F. Aspbury ‘67 is leading the life he had always planned, you’d be right. "It has happened throughout my career. I had certain things I wanted to do... some that seemed a little bit impossible, even fantasy. One was to work in Europe. I had reached a point in my career and age when it looked less and less likely. Generally, banks send executives overseas when they’re in their thirties. I was forty-six before the opportunity came up and it wasn’t at a time when there was a lot of positive things happening at the bank. We were in a bad situation and I really thought we might close down. Then, all of a sudden we merged and the outcome became very positive.

"The other thing I always wanted to do was retire at fifty-five, " Aspbury continued. "When we went to Europe the second time, I thought well, I have a window. I guess I was about fifty-one at the time. I spent the next four years, the rest of my career in London which was fine with me. I retired at fifty-five just as I wanted to do. Then came the decision of what to do with the rest of my life. I thought about Villanova and suddenly the opportunity to become a member of the Board of Trustees came up and to head of the Finance committee. I knew it was something I wanted to do. It’s fun being involved with the University and using my banking background to help in the decision making process."

Alumni service is high on Aspbury’s priority list of "things to get accomplished" during his two year term as Alumni Association president which began in June. "In October , for the first time, the Villanova Alumni Association will sponsor a national week of service where Villanova alumni from everywhere will join together to participate in community service. It’s something we used to do at Chase Manhattan around the world one weekend in October. Whether it was in London or Buenos Aires or Tokyo, the local office got involved with a community project. In London, we worked to restore the Red Cross facility in a very poor section of the city. Having alumni from all over the world participate in a project like this will have a tremendous impact on awareness of how important service is to the Villanova mission."

As president of the Villanova Alumni Association, Aspbury will head an organization comprised of 57 chapters worldwide representing over 80,000 Villanova alumni. The Association’s 15 member Board of Directors, which Aspbury chairs, provides the leadership and vision shaping the Association’s strategic direction. Aspbury works closely with Association executive director Gary Olsen ’74 and the staff of the University Alumni Office in planning and managing a variety of programs and services for alumni.

Aspbury is a man of finance and he understands that the issue of raising money cannot be ignored."I don’t think people appreciate how difficult it is to run a university this size. To recruit the best students you possibly can... to compete with peer schools. The good news is that we are competing against a very prestigious group of peer institutions: Boston College, Georgetown, Notre Dame. They’re all quality schools. When you go after the same pool of students and you don’t have the same capital, it’s a struggle. While nobody likes to be asked for money, it’s something they have to consider contributing if they really care about Villanova and its future."

Aspbury praises University president, the Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin, O.S.A. for his vision, leadership and management style. "He thinks like a chief executive," Aspbury said. "He’s really done a tremendous job during his term in office."

Bringing more women into active alumni leadership is also on Aspbury’s agenda. We have to encourage them to take part. "I know that both the Board of Trustees and the Alumni Association Board are eager to have more talented women participate. We also want to make certain we have good alumni representation from across the country. We have a huge contingent of alumni in the Chicago area, for example. We want to get more of them involved with the Alumni Association."

There are some events in life that one never forgets; they become so deeply etched in our consciousness we use them as an impetus for change long after they have occurred. "I was always very proud to have graduated from Villanova, " Aspbury recalled, "... and it’s funny because when I first started working in New York, it was a place that some people had heard of... but it wasn’t on everybody’s list of well know educational institutions. I remember being in a meeting at the beginning of my career at Manufacturers Hanover with a bunch of other trainees, most of them from Ivy League schools. The guy running the training program was going around the table asking ‘Where did you go to school?’ and talking to each one of them about who they knew and which professor they had and finally he came to me and asked ‘where did you go?’ Villanova, I said. He moved right on past me without saying a word . I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder at that— which I suppose is why I always wanted to see Villanova recognized for the high quality of education it provides."

Thirty fours later, Herb Aspbury sees this vision of Villanova on everyone’s list of top universities as a reality.

"Just look at the statistics that Steve Merritt quoted to the Board of Trustees the other day. We are getting some extremely talented candidates applying. We have Fulbright scholars, Goldwater scholars. Our student body is very impressive.

"I have two golfing partners, one is a Dartmouth graduate and the other is from Harvard and when they hear me talk about Villanova, they now have started to understand the University is not just a small Catholic institution on the outskirts of Philadelphia. Villanova is something special in terms of the quality of education we provide, our service ethic and our extraordinary student body."