By the Numbers

“San Diego State helped me grow a group of friends I am still in contact with today. It helped me meet my wife and now I have my kids, so SDSU has given me everything.”

There’s a good chance thousands of Aztec alumni have already spoken with new San Diego State University Alumni Board of Advisors president Aron Getty (’95)—but they might not recall the conversation. As a student, Getty was a phone solicitor for SDSU’s Annual Fund, making calls to alumni and requesting donations.

Although his requests weren’t always successful and hang-ups were frequent, Getty describes the job as “a great learning experience.” He enjoyed listening to alumni share stories from their days on campus, which he knew would make them smile.

“It sounds funny, but you can actually hear somebody smiling on the phone,” he said. “If you get them to that point, the rest of the conversation becomes a lot easier.”

Through that role, Getty made connections which would eventually help him land his first professional position. Ever since, he has been devoted to expanding his Aztec network.

Passing the gavel

In a June ceremony during the SDSU Alumni Board of Advisors meeting, Getty was symbolically handed the president’s gavel by Leo Morales (’09), the board’s immediate past president. Additionally, Wade Aschbrenner (’91), Hassan Ibrahim (’09), and Brian Slye (’12) were elected as new board members who, like Getty, began their terms July 1.

A partner with the accounting firm Considine & Considine, Getty has served on the board for the past six years. He and his wife, Secorra (’94), are SDSU Alumni lifetime members.

The couple met when both were students. They have two daughters, Isabella and Madelyn, who enjoy attending SDSU athletics events with their parents.

Getty said SDSU helped him learn to be responsible and taught him invaluable career skills, which is part of the reason why he remains actively involved with the university.

“I grew up here and I learned so much,” he explained. “San Diego State helped me grow a group of friends I am still in contact with today. It helped me meet my wife and now I have my kids, so SDSU has given me everything.”

Silent leader

The new SDSU Alumni president describes himself as a “silent leader” who prefers coalition-building to spotlight-grabbing.

“I have an idea what I want to do and I will be very collaborative working with the people around me to make sure we are all on the same page,” he said.

That is in keeping with Getty’s analytical, CPA-style approach to challenges. He says he first suspected he had a true gift for numbers in a high school bookkeeping class in which the teacher assigned a project intended to last a couple of months. He completed it in a couple of days.

“I understood it intuitively,” Getty recalled. “The numbers aspect of it kind of spoke to me as a language.”

But the real joy he derives from his career is helping and getting to know his clients—the same thing he likes about working with the SDSU Alumni Board and serving the university. Getty said his goals for the coming year include adopting “something from a career services standpoint for alumni” and working toward helping alumni better understand SDSU Mission Valley.

“I think the university is probably in the best position it has been in since I have been around it,” said Getty. “It continues to grow, it’s recognized more from a national perspective, it’s tougher to get in and just keeps getting better. When people see the numbers, there’s more pride in being an Aztec which, I think, makes it easier for us to reach out to our alumni and interest them in having that conversation with us.

“As a student (Annual Fund caller) I did have a lot of hang-ups, but they’re not hanging up on us so much anymore.”