Finding Love at Seattle U

One day in the early 1990s, Janet Isaacson (nee Levien), ’92, walked into her office breakroom at Security Pacific Bank and was surprised to see her own face on a poster advertising Seattle University’s Master’s in Finance program. It featured a photo of Janet and another student, taking notes and listening attentively to a lecture.

Little did she know at the time, but Janet would also end up falling in love with—and marrying—that man in the photo.

Janet had enrolled in the part-time MBA program at Albers while working full-time in the banking industry.

“At the time, SU had the only night program available for an MBA,” she says. Plus, it had a good reputation and was close to downtown Seattle. Her company even offered to pay her tuition.

Janet remembers vividly the day the photo was taken. A photographer from the university’s marketing team came into her Operations Management class, taught by Professor Diane Lockwood. Janet had been sitting next to Bob Isaacson, the other student in the photo, because they were randomly assigned to a group project.

“My first impression was that he had a lot of dog hair on him … and was good looking!” she says with a laugh.

Janet, Bob and another student, Tim Callahan, were tasked with developing a new idea or enhancement for a company’s operations management system. The trio spent a great deal of time together working on the project and became good friends. When asked about her favorite SU memory, Janet immediately responds: “Meeting Mr. Right!”

When they met, Janet and Bob both had significant others. But as they spent increasingly more time together for their SU coursework, bonding over music and sports, they couldn’t help but fall in love. They graduated in June 1992 and were engaged within a year. Both avid boaters, they were married on October 1, 1993, in a ceremony on a yacht off the Kirkland waterfront.

Now married for nearly 30 years, Janet jokes that Operations Management ended up being “a very profitable class!” Incidentally, Tim, their project partner, met Janet’s friend at a party she hosted. Tim and that friend, Dulcie Claasen, eventually married and all four remain close.

Janet now works for US Bank as a Treasury Management Consultant. She remains close to her alma mater and serves as “SU’s banker,” ensuring the university’s finance platforms operate efficiently. Bob works as a senior manager in financial planning & analysis at Boeing. The couple has three children and reside in Kirkland.

And yes, Janet kept a copy of the promotional poster all these years, with its rare documentary evidence of a couple pre-romance.

DID YOU KNOW? There are more than 5,000 SU alumni who are currently married or partnered to other alums. This seems like a sweet place to meet the love of your life!

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Have your own SU “meet-cute” love story? We’d love to hear about it! Email us at alumni@seattleu.edu.