Paul Purcell is chairman, president and CEO of Robert W. Baird & Co. Before joining Baird in 1994, Paul spent 22 years with Kidder, Peabody & Co., where he was a managing director and head of the Midwest Investment Banking Group. Paul graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He received the University of Chicago Booth School of Business 2009 Distinguished Corporate Alumni Award. Paul is involved with the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School of Chicago and is a member of the board of directors of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. He is on the Alverno College board of trustees, the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Wisconsin School of Business, and the advisory councils of the U. of Wisconsin, U. of Notre Dame Mendoza School of Business, and the U. of Chicago Booth School. He is on the board of directors of RC2 Corporation and the Greater Milwaukee Committee board and executive committee. Paul is a third-generation Irish American with roots in Co. Cork. He and his wife Patti have four children.