For three Craig School of Business alumni, giving back to Fresno State means more than making a financial contribution. It means mentoring students, sharing decades of professional experience, serving in advisory roles and helping prepare the next generation of Bulldogs for their careers.
Here’s why they continue to invest in their alma mater years after graduation.
Chris Morse: Investing in the Fresno economy
Chris Morse, a managing partner at the Fresno branch of Baker Tilly, is a Bulldog’s Bulldog. Morse offers a simple reason why local business should support Fresno State — the university is the top source of trained professionals for the Central Valley.
“We’ve been able to attract a lot of great people, and most of the people we get are from Fresno State,” Morse said. “Hiring Fresno State graduates has made our firm more viable, more productive and more able to give back to the community. We wouldn’t be as big as we are now without Fresno State. And it’s not just us. Law firms, engineering firms and construction companies wouldn’t be nearly as good without the university.”
A 1988 graduate, he has served on the Fresno State Foundation Board of Governors since 2016 and was recently named chair of the board. He was named a 2018 Top Dog Outstanding Alumnus from the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management.
Morse has also been a major supporter of Fresno State athletics and the Craig School, mentoring students and providing funding for a pilot career readiness training program.
“Fresno State is a huge driver of the regional economy,” Morse said. “The direct and indirect economic footprint of Fresno State is staggering. If students can go one or two rungs up the economic ladder, it helps them and their family. They can give back and their kids can further their own education and get more opportunities.”
Morse sees supporting education as a commitment to the future that will benefit employers and the business community.
“I always use the word ‘invest,’ because it’s not just giving money,” Morse said. “I think you should invest in the future of our students, our community and your own business. Students from Fresno State stay in our community and become the future leaders of your business. Look at your boardroom and C-suite. A lot of the people who do great things here are Fresno State graduates. If you’re the beneficiary of how much Fresno State contributes to our region, it’s incumbent on you to give back and invest in future leaders.”
Don Robertson: Launching global careers
Don Robertson said he brought Fresno values to a career that has taken him all over the world. After graduating from Fresno State, he worked for companies like Deloitte, GE Capital, Stanford Research Institute, Hewlett-Packard and Northwestern Mutual, where he served as chief human resources officer.
“I have a chip on my shoulder from when I first got out of college and people assumed that if you went to Fresno State, there must have been something wrong with you,” Robertson said. “After a year of working, I got a reputation as the person you wanted on your project, because I would do whatever it took to make you successful. I think there’s a lot of positivity in that [Fresno State] grittiness that will play anybody, anywhere, Bulldog born and bred.”
After training as an accountant and working for decades in finance, management, sales and operations, Robertson made a mid-career pivot to HR roles, where he became convinced that diversity is a business asset.
“Having multiple perspectives is always more powerful than a single perspective,” Robertson said. “If you’re sitting at a table with six people that look like you, think like you and come from your background, you’re going to get one perspective. If you have six people who don’t have your background, you’re going to get a broader set of perspectives and a better chance to get the right outcome.”
Robertson believes Fresno State graduates are as capable as any professionals, and he points to his own career as proof. With experience working worldwide, from San Francisco and Milwaukee to Europe and Singapore, he encourages students to consider careers outside the Central Valley.
“Nobody says you can’t come back to Fresno,” Robertson said. “But if you really want to see what you’re capable of, take advantage of your opportunities to do bigger things. You can offer Fresno more if you have skills that are broader than just what Fresno can give you.
Robertson has served for 12 years on the Craig School Advisory Board, and he has advised Fresno State MBA students on presentation skills and provided mentorship through the Craig School’s Gender and Leadership program.
Robertson also counsels students that cultivating uniquely human skills gives workers an edge in the AI age.
“Things are evolving at a crazy pace,” Robertson said. “There’s no question that AI is going to eliminate tasks that are more routine and automatable. Students should focus on skills that require human capability and are not easily replicated — critical thinking, logic and experience.”
Tim Dilley: The value of commitment
Tim Dilley leveraged programming classes at Fresno State in launching a 45-year career as an industrial technology consultant and entrepreneur. He has supported the Craig School career readiness fund, given presentations on startups to entrepreneurship classes and recently joined the Craig School Advisory Board.
Dilley has worked closely with Fresno State business students on career readiness skills, conducting resume reviews and mock interviews.
“I feel an ambition from Fresno State students,” Dilley said. “They have a real openness to learning, and they work hard, especially if they’re the first member of their family to go to college.”
Almost 65% of Fresno State students were first-generation as of fall 2025.
Like Robertson, Dilley emphasized Fresno State students can work anywhere in the world and pursue high-flying careers.
“After college, I joined PricewaterhouseCoopers, where I was in a training program with 25 young graduates from around the country,” Dilley said. “There was the USC kid, the Notre Dame kid, the Duke kid. Most of them didn’t know where Fresno State was. But I was able to fit in and perform there, so students should always be expanding their horizons.”
Dilley advises students that the skills they should master are commitment and hard work.
“Fresno State students should view themselves as being able to work anywhere,” Dilley said. “A college degree opens the world to you. But I caution them that they’re going to be an underdog. There’s going to be an expectation that they have to be the harder-working person, and I encourage them to lean into that. You’re going to have to demonstrate commitment, that you’re not going to flake out after a year. That’s going to set you apart from the others.”
