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Tao Huang,
Grad ’91
 Tao Huang, a computer programmer in China, didn’t know
how to speak English when he won an award to study for one year
in the United States. So he chose a school at which he’d
be forced to learn the language: St. Norbert College in De Pere,
Wis., where he was the only Chinese student out of 1,700.
After
getting a master’s in computer science at Marquette, Tao
answered a newspaper ad for Morningstar Inc. and joined the fledgling
company as a software developer.
By
1998, Tao was named Morningstar’s president of international
operations, responsible for opening offices around the world.
At the same time, he began working on his M.B.A.
In
2000, he became chief operating officer at Morningstar, managing
day-to-day operations. “We strongly believe our mission
of ‘helping individual investors make better investment
decisions,’” says Tao. “As an individual investor
myself, I get lots of satisfaction from creating new products
and services knowing people like me will be better off.”
In
2003, Tao was selected as a “Business Leader of Color” by
Chicago United; he received the 2004 Distinguished Young Alumnus
Award from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business,
and has been one of Chicago’s 40 under 40. He currently
serves as a board member for Asian Human Services, a non-profit
organization that provides services for immigrants.
“My
personal formula for success,” says Tao, “is giving
120 percent of my efforts to my work and always looking for
new learning opportunities. Although I have worked for the
same company the last 15 years, I have had many different jobs,
which gives me a better understanding of our business and helps
me to be more effective.”
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