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- May 2, 2007
Iowa State alum designates $200,000 for hobby, not career field
It may be difficult to believe that Doug Troxel, founder of the highly
successful SERENA software Company, would choose to designate a gift to
his alma mater's physics and astronomy department over his career field
of computer science.
But that's what he did. His recent unrestricted gift of $200,000 was allotted
to the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences, an area related more to his hobby than his career.
"Ever since I was a kid, I've had this fascination with physics and
astronomy," says Troxel, Iowa State alumnus and past CEO/chairman of
SERENA, Software, Inc. "That's always been my real love."
In the beginning, Troxel's relationship with Iowa State was bittersweet.
In fact, the well-known software entrepreneur really didn't want to go to
college in the first place. Growing up on a farm in the small town of Yetter,
Iowa, he didn't know what he wanted to do after high school, but he was
certain he didn't want to be a farmer.
"I wasn't too keen about college. But my father insisted I go, so I
enrolled at Iowa State," he said. "I knew more about what I didn't
want to do than what I wanted to do. I knew I was good in math and science,
but that was about it."
It wasn't until his senior year that Troxel stumbled upon a new course offering.
It was called FOR-TRAN, short for formula translation, and was offered in
the College of Engineering. It was unique, technical and after the first
class, he was hooked.
"It was a new engineering language. It was so new that the teachers
were learning about it as they taught us; we were all learning together,"
Troxel said. "I ate it up. I instantly knew that this is what I wanted
to do."
The timing was perfect. Just as he graduated with a bachelor's degree in
mathematics in 1967, Troxel found a surge of businesses recruiting fresh
graduates for computer programming careers. With diploma in hand, he went
to Jackson, Mich., and took his first job with Consumer's Power Company.
There, he was able to dive into his new career writing computer software.
He became fluent with complicated, but commonly used computer languages
like COBOL and Assembler, but was eager to learn more.
"During my second year with the company, I didn't have enough seniority
to be trained for a new up-and-coming IBM product Customer Information Control
System or CICS," he said. "So at night, I would dig through waste
baskets for compiled listings and study it on my own. It wasn't long after
that I helped the team solve a problem and I became the resident expert
in CICS and Assembler. Problem solving is what I'm really good at."
His career kept him moving and was filled with new opportunities. Troxel's
intuitive understanding, expertise and vision in the industry made him a
leader in his field which quickly led him to Silicon Valley. In 1980, he
founded SERENA Software Inc., where he created a product that assisted large
corporations struggling to keep up with the changing technology.
"When I worked for a large bank, every time they updated one software
application, it would blow up another application because of invalid data
passed to it. These programs tracked important information link bank and
trust accounts, so this was a big problem for them," Troxel said. "I
wrote a produced call Comparax that ran tests on computers with new software
to identify and eliminate possible software malfunctions."
The product's success was a launching pad for Troxel and SERENA Software
Company, Inc. SERENA is now recognized as the world's largest company solely
focused on managing change in the IT environment. "It was a way for
me to do something larger and I knew I could make an impact," he said.
With many successful years under his belt, Troxel now splits his time between
the SERENA headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., and his home in Kaon,
Hawaii. He recently reconnected with his alma mater and often his more time
to spend exploring his interests in physics and astronomy.
"I've always been very interested in science related to the cosmos,
black holes and all of that. I read magazines, books, watch TV shows on
the subject as much as I can," he explained. "I can't get enough
of it and I'd study that all of the time if I could. That's where my passion
is."
When Troxel thought about making a gift to his alma mater, he immediately
thought about a contribution to the physics and astronomy department. He
left his $200,00 gift unrestricted to provide maximum flexibility.
"We are deeply indebted to Mr. Troxel. We plan to use a large fraction
of the gift for research equipment enabling the faculty to move quickly
on research programs and exposing our students to the latest techniques,"
said Eli Rosenberg, professor and chair of the Department of Physics and
Astronomy. "To launch new projects and keep our teaching labs up to
date, we need additional resources of funds that only private donors can
provide."
"I'm not an educator," Troxel adds. "I want them to know
that I appreciate what they're doing and I want them to decide the best
way to use the funds. I was very happy to make the gift to Iowa State. I
will always have a sympathetic feeling about my alma mater." 
Doug Troxel
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