Charles and Kathy Warden

Kathy and her husband, Eric (’93), started a scholarship movement to support students who need financial assistance in order to make their Madison dream a reality.

Kathy and Eric’s professional journeys have taken them to the top of the corporate ladder, their shared story started on JMU’s campus.The two met when one of Eric’s high school friends organized a get-together with other freshmen. Kathy joined the group with two suitemates who happened to go to the same high school as Eric, so she attended the party with them. The chance meeting between two ambitious students—who also happened to share the same birthday and a keen interest in business and leadership—ended up creating the power duo of today. The Wardens remember getting to know each other during those early years by going to the movies on campus and to local restaurants, including The Boston Beanery, which was located on East Market Street for more than two decades, and Tully’s, a local favorite in the ’90s. “There’s also a lot of good memories of just spending time together out on the Quad, especially in the springtime, when the weather’s starting to get nice again,” Eric remembered. They would spend the rest of their undergraduate years together, both pursuing business degrees in computer information systems. When Kathy graduated, she took a position at General Electric, while Eric started his 25-year career at Accenture, formerly Andersen Consulting. Eric recently left his final position at Accenture as president of ASM Research, an Accenture Federal Services subsidiary, to support Kathy in her top-level role at Northrop Grumman and spend more time with their family.