Robert Stephens is founder and "chief inspector" of the Geek Squad.
Photo: Christopher Pledger/The Daily Telegraph
Geek Squad founder to speak March 6
Geek Squad founder and "chief inspector" Robert Stephens will be the guest speaker in the St. Thomas Alumni Association's First Friday Speaker Series at noon Friday, March 6, The Depot, 225 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis.
A Chicago native, Stephens left a scholarship at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1990 to study computer science at the University of Minnesota. While he was a student he landed a job fixing computers in the university's Human Factors Research Laboratory. Over the next three years he rose to become the lab's head engineer and began a computer consulting business. In April 1994 he formed Geek Squad with $200.
In 2002, Best Buy Co. Inc. acquired Stephens' company and opened Geek Squad precincts in all of its U.S. and Canadian stores. With more than 18,000 agents and fleets of black-and-white Volkswagons, Geek Squad is now North America's largest technology support company, offering phone, in-store and in-home support. It also has operations in Shanghai, the United Kingdom and Mexico.
On first Fridays of each month during the academic year, the St. Thomas Alumni Association's First Friday Speaker Series offers lunch and a speaker of current interest. St. Thomas alumni and friends, along with the general public, are invited. Cost of each luncheon and presentation is $25. A limited number of $10 tickets are available to UST students at the St. Thomas Box Office.
Reservations for the March 6 luncheon are due Friday, Feb. 27. Early reservations are recommended as these events fill quickly. For reservations and more information, call the St. Thomas Alumni Association, (651) 962-6430, or register online at the association’s Web site, www.stthomas.edu/alumni.
