Pat and Nancy Artis worked their way through school; now they become major benefactors of Virginia Tech
When Pat Artis was a young boy, he built a rocket, launched it, and promptly blew a hole in the family's truck window. His unlikely cohort in the crime - his father - shielded him by telling Pat's mother that a rock hit the vehicle. Pat continued tinkering with rockets and eventually won a research and development award from the National Association of Rocketry. He was still a teenager.
Today, his rockets are more sophisticated. But his new playground is usually a remote desert location where he can launch objects some 100,000 feet into the atmosphere, with clearance from the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). His mother would be proud.
"Really, I am just playing with much bigger rockets as a much bigger boy," Artis jokes.
Rocketry remains his favorite pastime, but the graduate of Virginia Tech's Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics (Class of 1972, ESM) is a designer in other ways that are more lucrative. He and his wife started their own company, Performance Associates, Inc. (PAI) in Pagosa Springs, Colo., in 1986, that covers a huge niche in the complex world of information technology. In the past 18 years, they have grown their company to include a number of Fortune 500 clients and they offer consulting and seminars on a regular basis. They travel internationally to places including Japan, Australia, South Africa and Europe.
As their company grew, so did their philanthropy. For the last decade, PAI has offered a self-reliance college scholarship to a high school graduate from their community. Part of their estate will go to Soroptimist International, an organization dedicated to making a difference for women. Soroptimist projects include providing minority women with routine medical care, funding domestic violence shelters, and sponsoring career development programs for teen mothers. Most recently the couple, still in their early 50s, has made a bequest of more than $5.5 million to the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Virginia Tech.
"The generosity of Pat and Nancy Artis is overwhelming," says Hassan Aref, dean of the College of Engineering, and a member of the ESM faculty. "In the future, this bequest will assist the ESM department in funding scholarships and fellowships, and provide it with opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable."
The dynamic couple heard about each other through a mutual friend. Nancy was a Radford College student, majoring in biology. They spoke on the phone for a week before they actually met. Her first impression was Pat was extremely intelligent. He conversed about engineering and flying airplanes. When they finally laid eyes on each other, his first words were: "You are too short." Today, they both laugh about the memory.
As their relationship matured, they discovered they had a lot in common. They both financed their own education. Pat was a co-op with Ashland Oil, and later worked for Robert Heterick of Virginia Tech's Computing Center. "I was the first student to be employed by Virginia Tech as a co-op," he recalls. Nancy worked as a stenographer for the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) office and for the Federal Housing Authority (FHA). Both knew how to pinch pennies.
They married in December of 1972, and Pat went to work while Nancy returned to school for one more semester. Pat took his first job with New England Telephone and subsequently sent Nancy $100 with the provision that she spend the entire amount on herself, and the purchases could not be practical. At the time, Nancy says that spending the money was about the most extravagant thing she had ever done.
When they were able to live together, Pat had moved on to Bell Laboratories in Piscataway, N.J. So Nancy took a position as a high school science teacher for seven years. In their spare time, Pat obtained his master's and doctorate, and Nancy kept up her proficiency in computer programming, a course she originally took to learn more about Pat's work.
They both changed jobs in 1981 when Pat went to work for Morino Associates, a startup software company in northern Virginia. Nancy became a software sales representative for Metier Systems and later moved to Oracle. Five years later Nancy was making a six-figure salary as she and Pat started PAI. Pat was able to concentrate on developing his business while Nancy provided for their daily needs.
Eventually Nancy quit her job to go full time with PAI working with customer support and account management. Together they have grown the company. PAI focuses on software products, education, and consulting related to the performance, sizing, and management of rotating magnetic storage. "We effectively perform a tune-up on mainframe computing systems, similar to servicing your car. We help our clients maximize the performance of their existing information systems investments and select technology to meet their future requirements" Pat says.
PAI has developed a family of tools called the PAI/O Driver that hardware manufacturers and large enterprises employ to evaluate the performance and functionality of storage subsystems. It helps companies decide which technologies best meet their needs. PAI assists its clients in both tactical and strategic planning for their enterprise information systems.
The overachieving couple has streamlined their work where they are no longer putting in 100-hour workweeks. "When a doorman in Australia knew me by name, I knew I was traveling too much, " Pat smiles. Over the past few years, they have focused more time on their shared interests of flying, wildlife photography, and travel. In addition, they have moved from the congestion of southern California to the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado.
As they enjoy life more, they are able to return to Blacksburg, Va., more often, recently visiting the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. "We were given a chance, and we worked hard. We still have may close friends in the College of Engineering and our gift embodies out belief in the value of the education that it provides. Everything else in life is embroidery," Pat explains simply when speaking of their generosity.
