Q+A | William Utt

Q: How do you spend your weekend with your busy schedule?

A: I spend my weekend catching up on my rest, working out or playing tennis for exercise, as well as reading.

What was your first job?

My first job out of engineering school was to run an engineering drafting room consisting of 14 draftsmen and designers as well as to write engineering design programs using "BASIC" computer code.

Most of my early computer programming was done at nights and on weekends as the management of the drafting room took most of my time during the day.

What are your interests and hobbies?

My hobbies are tennis and reading. I play mostly doubles now. I like the strategic aspects of the game of doubles without the physical rigor required to play singles.

With my job and its travel and other requirements, I am not able to maintain the level of physical fitness I need to play singles.

When possible, at the office or on the road, I can frequently be found in a gym working out. I try to keep my body in shape for the rigors of my job.

I am pleased to say that I am generally able to exercise about 60 percent of the days in a year.

What is your philosophy and why? What experiences have shaped your philosophy the most?

I guess you could say my philosophy is "Do the right thing every time". What I mean by "right" in my statement is "Do things consistently in a proper, moral, ethical and fair way every time".

I oftentimes feel the best way to live this philosophy is to think "If each decision I make is broadcast on TV or the Internet, would people generally agree with the appropriateness, morality, ethics and fairness of my action or decision?"

Who is your icon?

I do not believe that I have a particular icon, but rather I look for iconic characteristics in people.

From my perspective, I find iconic those individuals who have made the most of their lives given the circumstances and resources available to them at birth or obstacles they overcame along the way.

For example, I find a man or woman who was raised in a very plain or austere situation who is now a shopkeeper to be more iconic to me than an individual who has coasted through life based on the means provided to them by others.

I think this is a great characteristic of the United States where the upward mobility of our society permits anyone who works hard to enjoy the fruits of their labor.