JMUWorks: A series about workplaces and fun places people by JMU alumni

It might seem obvious that there would be a JMU connection at American Management Systems in Fairfax. Seventeen of AMS' senior principals are JMU alumni. However, AMS doesn't hire people to work for their company just because they share the same college fight song. JMU grads simply tend to do well at AMS.

Of 8,700 employees, more than 200 are James Madison alumni. About 170 of those employees work in the D.C.-Metro area, where AMS is about 4,000 strong. Head-quarters are in Fairfax, and there are offices throughout Northern Virginia and in Tidewater and Norfolk. There is also a small office in Richmond, and there are 57 offices worldwide.

AMS was founded in 1970 as a consulting firm and today continues to do consulting work for three main industry groups - new media and communications, which includes telecommunications and everything from movie companies to cable corporations; financial services, which includes banks and insurance companies; and government agencies.

David A. Meredith ('93) is senior principal of new media and communications for AMS. He and Susie Rowlands Bonvouloir ('83) approached the company's human resources department for a list of JMU alumni and conducted a survey to see if AMS employees wanted to form an AMS alumni group. Meredith uses a spreadsheet to track information on this group, information such as college majors and work locations.

"I've done some recruiting a couple of times a year at JMU through job fairs, and there just seems to be a cultural fit among JMU grads and AMS," says Bonvouloir. "They tend to do well here."

AMS is a largely "untitled" company with the exception of the senior staff. Forty-seven of the principals at AMS are JMU graduates. The top 5 percent of the company comprises senior principals, and 17 of these senior principals are JMU alumni. The top 2 percent of the company are vice presidents (the equivalent to a partner elsewhere). There is one vice president who is a JMU alumnus.

"Even among the senior people who didn't go to Madison, there is a general positive buzz about JMU grads," Bonvouloir says.

The AMS-JMU alumni group held its first kickoff event in the summer of 1998 - a happy hour that drew 87 alumni. They also met with the dean and faculty members of the College of Business, held a fund-raiser for JMU and created an e-mail newsletter to keep alumni updated on events.

Many JMU alumni have worked together at AMS locations all over the world. Bon-vouloir has worked with JMU grads across the United States and in Australia. "We travel a lot, and a lot of the work is self-directed, so the cultural fit is really important," she says. "You have to be self-motivated and know how to work in teams because everything is collaborative. JMU people tend to be go-getters who are pragmatic and work well in groups. They are sharp, but the balance is that the JMU culture is also a young, laid-back culture."

E-mail montpelier@jmu.edu and let the magazine know if your workplace is peopled with JMU alumni. JMU parents count too.

Story Sande Snead Fulk ('82)