Profiles: Don Klotter ’86

Don Klotter '86 is a Vice President of Marketing & Client Services at Mazama Capital Management LLC in Portland. While at the University of Oregon, he double majored in German Literature and Political Science. As a student at the Clark Honors College, he spent his junior year in Southern Germany and wrote his senior thesis paper on the Political Model of West Germany.

Don has been on the UOAA Board of Directors since the beginning of fall term '05. He also is a member of the Clark Honors College External Advisory Council for External Relations. His commitment to the University of Oregon and his roots (he was raised in Eugene), bring him back to the area and the university often.

What is your current profession?

I work for Mazama Capital Management in Portland. Our company is in money management, an investment advisory firm. We manage pension plans and specialize in growth equities.

As an active UOAA Board Member, why is important that you maintain your connection to the UO?

I went to the Honors College, and that is certainly a starting point – the community within the Honors College.

On a larger scale, I am proud or where I came from. I work with people all over the country. It is nice to say that I come from Oregon, that I have a good education and I am very proud of that.

I went to Columbia for grad school – which was a great school for education but it also made me feel more connected to UO. I realized that a school can just be a school – it is whatever you want to make out of it. I grew up in Oregon and have a much better/bigger connection than I ever will with Columbia.

What is your biggest accomplishment since college?

One thing that I am very proud of professionally is that I was able to live and work in Munich Germany in four years and do a pretty good job in a very strict and personal environment.

I was able to do business all throughout Europe. It is something that you never really think you would have the opportunity to do until you do it. Looking back on it now, I am very proud to have worked there and had been successful. The period in Germany was extremely challenging professionally.

After that time I was able to focus more on my family. My wife, Kristin, is also a UO alum (Class of 1987) and we have two kids – Chase, who is eight and Annika, who is six.

How has the UO had an impact on your life?

Again, I would have to say the Honors College and the community and intimate experience it creates within the larger university was very beneficial for me. The strong emphasis in writing and the benefits of the interactions within the school, have been things that I have used from day one – from my grad school days at Columbia and through my professional career.

Did you/do you have a mentor – someone that has helped you in your career or made a significant impact in the early years of your career?

Definitely. One of my professors from the Honors College, Francis Cogan M.A. '70 Ph.D. '81. I was in my first or second year when she started. She was just wonderful - we have stayed in touch and she definitely was a mentor in the earlier years.

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

I think the main thing is, I would love to have the freedom to be more involved in my family, with my kids and more community time. I would like to spend more time doing things for the university and for Portland area education.

We also like to travel a lot and hope to continue that in the coming years!

If you could be any color crayon (think box of 64, not just the 8 primary colors), what color would you be and why?

If you talked to my kids, they would both say ‘Green’ because it is my favorite color – I don’t even know how that came to be, probably from growing up in Eugene for so long. It is generally an Oregon theme.