Hello, 

My name is Ryan Spaeth. I am the current president of the Delta Chapter of the PGN Professional Development Organization at the University of Iowa. I’m a sophomore studying Finance and Business Analytics and actively pursuing a career in investment banking. I welcome you to our website and hope you enjoy discovering what PGN has to offer.

For some background, PGN was originally founded by six women at Northwestern University in 1924. Since then, our organization has evolved into a co-ed structure with 20 active chapters across the country. The 3 pillars that prop up our organization and guide our endeavors are: professional, social, and philanthropy. We provide a wide range of opportunities to get involved in events related to the pillars.

As a professional development group, at the forefront of our focus is professionalism. PGN’s motto is “Creating Leaders of Tomorrow”, which is exactly what we strive to do. We want our members to go above and beyond and not just be prepared to enter the workforce, but to be the top of their class in whatever they might pursue. We provide numerous workshops for resumes, cover letters, networking, and more.

However, we understand that approaching professional learning like this alone can be daunting or even confusing, which is where the social aspect comes in. When you go through the weeds with people who are in the same shoes as you, you can share the load with your friends which not only makes it easier to learn, but bonds you for life with your class. Last but not least, we love to give back. We make a concerted effort to be actively involved in giving back to our community, whether that’s through donations, volunteering, or raising awareness for causes.

Although we are considered a business fraternity, we are actually open to all majors and our chapter hosts a variety of guest speakers to speak about both professional and personal experiences to our members. We take pride in giving people the opportunity to develop professional skills even without being in the school of business.

We are small but mighty. Other business frats on our campus may have more members, but we do not sacrifice the quality of our connections and community by any means by being smaller. We offer members the opportunity to develop long-lasting relationships through our chapter family program as well as our social events and we take pride in our tight-knit community that will only continue to grow.

PGN has personally been invaluable to my professional development. When I first joined, the upperclassmen helped me more than in any other group I was in. They guided me not only as mentors professionally in and out of classes, but as friends. I have made so many friends even outside of the Tippie College of Business that I otherwise would have never met.

There is so much to be gained from being a part of a growing and developing community, especially one that is so focused on the prosperity of its members. This is a unique time where you could be a part of something big, and be a part of the process of creating something, not just reaping the benefits of another’s product. There truly is no other place at Iowa where this opportunity to be a part of a growing, learning, thriving community exists.

If you consider yourself a leader, ambitious, entrepreneurial, scholarly, philanthropic, or just want a place where you can learn to develop these traits, PGN welcomes you wholeheartedly. I highly encourage you to attend our upcoming recruitment events to meet some of our members and hear more about what we have to offer.

Don’t hesitate to say hello if you see me or to reach out at my email or LinkedIn with any questions or even just to chat.

Thank you,

Ryan Spaeth

Ryan-Spaeth@uiowa.edu