College of Business

When a predictable career
in accounting at Deloitte & Touche took a sharp turn toward operations and business development in the forest, paper and wood products industry, Don Atkinson (’89) found his true passion.

After graduating from the College of Business at Oregon State University with a concentration in accounting, Atkinson sought a career with (what was at the time) one of the Big 8 accounting firms. He was hired at Deloitte & Touche, and was on the partner track just as he had planned.

“I was so set on finance and public accounting—even up until my eighth year when I was a manager on that partner track—I thought that is where I was going to go,” said Atkinson.

Plans shifted slightly when he was recruited as Corporate Controller for Willamette Industries, a forest products company, and started down a path to replace the vice president of finance when he retired.

When the vice president of finance decided to retire early and Atkinson was told he didn’t yet have the operations experience needed to take on the

role, new career opportunities opened. After taking a lateral position on the paper operations side with the sole purpose of gaining operations experience to further advance his finance career, he started to see a different side of business.

“Yes, I was still responsible for accounting and finance, but I was supporting the operations, also including sales, special projects, acquisitions, operational initiatives or whatever else was going on,” said Atkinson. “I really enjoyed that and it gave me a new idea about what I thought I wanted to do.”

When Willamette Industries was acquired by Weyerhaeuser, Atkinson made it known that he had an interest in operations. As a member of the management team with exceptional leadership skills, Atkinson was
asked to lead Weyerhaeuser growth divisions.

“I loved it, and got to do everything from overseeing sales to operations to finance—it was the whole gamut,” Atkinson recalled. “It was really like being the CEO of my own business.

“We launched 40 products in
four and a half years. We launched two new businesses, one in a foreign country that included building a new plant that I was responsible for, and another one just last September in the U.S.,” said Atkinson.

About the change in direction of his career from finance to operations, Atkinson said, “I would have never imagined that I’d be doing what I’ve done the last 10 years.”

However, he is quick to point out that his accounting background has been critical to his success and making the transition between finance and operations, and the finance experience gave him a “critical base,” allowing him to bring an analytical side that aided in making smart operational decisions.

With mentors that recognized his leadership skills and willingness to learn, Atkinson was given opportunities that continued to result in a great range of experiences, from general management, sales and marketing, business development, research and development and finance. Atkinson reflected, “I really fell in love with running a business and doing stuff more on the operations side.”

The seasoned executive is happy to be living in the North- west where he sees endless opportunity in his professional endeavors. Also active in giving back to the community, Atkinson and his wife support several organizations including Mary Bridge’s Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Wash.

Most recently, Atkinson has found a new area of success in the consulting work that he is doing. Also, focusing on launching a start-up, his background in a structured culture that allowed opportunity and room for growth is sure to be applied in the next chapter of his career.