Alumni profile: Andy Rogers B.A. Biology '04

Andy Rogers has been called stubborn. If by stubborn they mean fiercely driven to accomplish whatever he sets his mind to - then they are right.

Andy moves through life with a steely resolve to do what he thinks he should do. As founder and CEO of PangoMedia, he's never had a job interview or submitted a job application. And he was recently named as one of Alaska's Top Forty under 40 for 2010, a program created by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce and Alaska Journal of Commerce to recognize the state's top professionals, younger than age 40, who have demonstrated professional excellence and a commitment to their community.

Andy grew up in Palmer, Alaska, and worked on a farm. He thought he'd never really leave. He thought he would be the first of his siblings to marry, have kids, settle down and always work on a farm. UAA's current Director of Student Life and Leadership Annie Route was working with Admissions in 1989 and went to Palmer High School to talk to the students about going to college. Andy attended the talk just to get out of class, since he really had no intention of going to college. Annie saw his transcripts and encouraged him to apply for scholarships. He did and received the Chancellor's Scholarship. It was largely a feeling of obligation that brought him to campus for that first year.

As a strongly self-willed young man, Andy decided after his third semester at UAA to take a break. Not one to sit around doing nothing, he decided on another path. His friends liked to play around with instruments and singing and tried to fit Andy into their hobby group. He grew tired of always being the "weakest link" musically of his group of buddies. So he packed up his belongings and moved to Los Angeles to get a degree in performance at the Musician's Institute.

"I kind of get focused on something and run with it," he says.

Andy showed up at the Musician's Institute in a wool sweater with caribou horn buttons made by his mother from a caribou his father harvested. He enjoyed his time at school, but realized Los Angeles wasn't the right place for him. Years later a friend told Andy how noticeable it is that he is a different, happier person when he is at home in Alaska.

"Everything I value is here. My family, my friends, my company and all my life experiences are Alaskan. It's just an enormous part of who and what I am," says Andy.

So how did he go from music performance to starting a software engineering company? When he returned to Alaska he eventually came back to UAA and finished, largely at the strong encouragement of Zuzana Razusova, who would later become his wife. Zuzana was an exceptional alpine skier for the Seawolves, who won Athlete of the Year in 1998 and graduated with a degree in Natural Science. Also a big part of why he persevered in his college degree is the inspiration he found in a couple of professors including Dr. Tom Buller in the philosophy department. Andy says, "Without that caliber of professor I would not have finished."

While paying for his school by playing with bands and working construction for Anchorage Sand & Gravel, Andy also continued a hobby he started in high school: designing album covers. At UAA he helped with the Web cast of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. He and some friends who were all independently doing different computer work tossed around the idea of forming a company of their own to "take over the world."

Ultimately, it was just Andy and one other who started a custom application business called Alaska Net Technologies. They bought a couple other companies and over time his partner left. As the company evolved, it took a new name. Because of the great surge by so many others to get a dotcom name, Andy looked outside the English language for something unique to stand out in the growing computer technology business world. He settled on pango, which is a Latin verb meaning to build or to hammer.

On its website, PangoMedia is self described as a company within a community. Team members serve on several boards, are founders of Software Professionals of Alaska, work with UAA to provide guest speakers and paid internships for UAA students and are active in many local business organizations including Commonwealth North, the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, the Resource Development Council and the Anchorage Downtown Rotary Club.

He says that many of his staff "rock stars" are alumni of UAA. Although they work hard for Andy, there is also the upstairs conference room which doubles as a social gathering place to celebrate birthdays and other festive occasions. Employees sometimes bring their kids and these make some of Andy's favorite memories with the company - those touching moments with the Pango family either at work or elsewhere when true joy and unique connection occurs.

Elegantly taking up a large space in Andy's office are several musical instruments, including Vera, his upright bass. For those who aren't familiar with an upright bass, Andy describes it as a "cello all hopped up on drugs." He played it with the local ska band Nervous Rex for several years and now is too busy with work and family to do it regularly but will sit in with them occasionally. Recently he decided to focus on singing and as is his MO, he made it happen. You might see him at a public or private function singing solo with a piano accompanist.

Andy and Zuzana, who works as a physical therapist, have a four-year-old boy, Lucas, and a one-year-old girl, Eva. Andy says, "Being a parent is everything I expected and more."

What advice does this tenacious entrepreneur have for current students? "If I had to do it over, I would have gotten a dual degree like pairing math with history or perhaps physics with philosophy to get the broadest understanding of the world around us. It more important to go after what is important to you and finish what you start than focusing on getting all A's or rushing through school."