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It was the early 1970s. A turbulent decade had come to a close, a divisive war was spiraling toward a controversial end, and Robert (Bob) Spears, one year removed from his undergraduate studies at Stanford and with an eye on an MBA, was ready to trade his laid-back, West Coast surroundings for the steely self-reliance of New England.

So with a strong liberal arts education as his foundation, a Stanford interdepartmental degree in art history and English in hand, and an honors thesis on Neoplatonism embodied in Florence's Medici Chapel under his belt, Spears enrolled at Tuck. One thing, he says, quickly became clear: "I had a lot of studying to do."

Spears' goal when he arrived in Hanover was simple: in 10 years he wanted to be in business for himself. Tuck's job was to give him the tools to make that happen. "Tuck structured me," he recalls. "I came in as a green 24-year-old, and Tuck polished me and spiffed me up. It taught me the thought processes of corporate America. Then everything snowballed from there."

He graduated from Tuck with a half-dozen or more job offers from leading businesses in professions as varied as brand management, commercial banking, management consulting and commodities trading. The range of offers provided him with what every graduate wants: choice. He started out in brand management with General Mills and later went to Clorox. In 1980, he met his goal of running his own business when he and four partners started the RAM Group, a national consumer-packaged goods marketing and sales service firm. Then four years ago, Spears and two others started Shoreline Venture Management, a San Francisco Bay Area venture capital firm specializing in early-stage business investing.

Spears credits Tuck with helping him succeed at every step of his career. Tuck helped him adapt to a culture built around personal relationships at General Mills and to a more structured, analytical environment at Clorox. The school's emphasis on group learning gave him people skills that made him a better manager. "Tuck stresses camaraderie and team spirit," he says. "It leaves you well-grounded and confident, but not overbearing. And it gives you an uncanny ability to work within an organization."

In addition to running Shoreline, today Spears is a trustee at his elder son's high school, where he co-chairs its annual fund and development committee. He's also helping with a capital campaign at the school where his younger son is a sixth grader. He's involved in fund raising for Stanford. He has contributed to Tuck Annual Giving each of the 28 years since he graduated. To help students who have difficulty paying for a Tuck education, he recently endowed the Bertha Spears Scholarship Fund, in honor of his mother, who inspired his charitable work by raising four kids, holding a full-time job, and still managing to immerse herself in all manner of causes and volunteer activities that needed her support.

There's a clear pattern here, and Spears is very direct about the reasons behind it. "I think everyone should give something back to society," he says. "There are a lot of choices for how to do that, and I don't like to dictate what's best for someone else. But in my book, it all starts with education. It's the great equalizer. We are only as good as the teachers we learn from and the schools we attend. What better way to give back than to support the schools that helped you prosper? Give to whatever causes you like, but leave something carved out for the institutions that got you where you are today."