Richard Wackenhut may not have been the obvious candidate for The Citadel. He attended a public high school and had no military background at all. But he recognized that he needed discipline, and with his father’s encouragement, he agreed to attend the military college where he received a bachelor’s in political science. He also left the college armed with many skills that have been vital in his business career. He now offers a wealth of knowledge to the business school through his seat on The Citadel School of Business Administration’s Advisory Board.
“I grew through The Citadel as a person,” Wackenhut said. “What I think The Citadel taught me the most was to operate well under pressure.”
After graduating, Wackenhut spent three-and-a-half years in the Air Force where he worked in the Office of Special Investigations and then in the Defense Investigative Service. While in the service, he gained investigative training that he could use while working for his father’s company, Wackenhut Corporation, a worldwide security and investigative company. He then began working for the corporation, starting his career in mid-level positions and working his way up through the ranks in order to gain the experience needed to one day become chief executive officer. During the process of being elected president of the company, Wackenhut Corporation’s Board of Directors suggested that, to round out his education, he attend the advanced management program at Harvard. He graduated from the accelerated graduate program with a wealth of knowledge and a network of international friends and connections.
In 2000, Wackenhut was named vice chairman of the board and CEO of Wackenhut Corporation. The company had grown to become the largest U.S.-based security company and was recognized that year by inclusion in Fortune Magazine's list of “America’s Most Admired Companies.” In May 2002, he stepped down from his position as CEO when the company was sold to Group 4 Falck, a security company based in Denmark with operations in Europe, Asia and Africa, which closely paralleled the Wackenhut operations in the Americas.
Wackenhut didn’t maintain an active role in The Citadel after graduation, but returned considerably later as a member of the Advisory Council. He was then asked to join the The Citadel School of Business Administration’s Advisory Board by Dean Earl Walker. He agreed, bringing with him over 30 years of senior management experience. More uniquely, Wackenhut brings much of this experience from the service industry, he said, which is, “from a profit making standpoint, much more difficult than other types of industries because service industries generally have very low profit margins."
“If you have a low profit margin business, managing those dollars on a daily basis, and a weekly and monthly basis, and with having to manage your overhead and manage your cash flow, is very, very difficult to do in an international environment,” he said. “That type of expertise, I felt, I could lend to the school, and I think I have contributed in that regard.”
Wackenhut noted the immense amount of talent on the business school’s Advisory Board, the group that works with Dean Walker to steer the school to success. “You’ve got people from service industries, you’ve got people from manufacturing, you’ve got people from many different areas and disciplines,” he said. “I just think that I fill one particular niche that could help the school.”
