Dennis Punches '58

The name Dennis Punches has a solid presence on the Carroll campus, where Dennis gifted a world-class outdoor track facility in 2008.  His gift, however, did not come without his acknowledgement of his Carroll education which he noted “was instrumental in my development as a successful entrepreneur and business leader.”
 
A 1958 graduate of Carroll with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, Dennis entered the business world on a bit of a fluke.  A 1995 article in the Milwaukee Sentinel tells the story of Dennis, then 21, overhearing a fellow student turn down a job over the phone.  He would go on to land that job as a salesman at Professional Service Bureau, a Waukesha collection agency with 10 employees. In 1962, Dennis borrowed $20,000, bought the company that would become Payco American Corporation Inc. and turned it into a global presence, building partnerships in Mexico, Japan and beyond. 
 
Dennis became one of the first entrepreneurs in the United States to grasp the importance of a need for a nation-wide financial teleservices company devoted to the collection of delinquent and defaulted consumer and commercial debts in the 1960s. 
 
Payco American Corporation Inc. earned recognition as the largest receivables management corporation in the United States.  He served as President of Payco for 26 years and Chairman for 11 years.
 
In 1993, Dennis established the United States/Japan collection operation for American Express.  Currently, he is Co-chairman of the International Collectors’ Group organization.
 
Dennis also currently serves as the President of Payback L.P., a real estate management company and as Director of Collection House Ltd, PTY, a receivables management company based in Brisbane, Australia.
 
He has also served as Director for Intrum Justia, a receivables management firm based in Stockholm, Sweden; Director of Tejas Incorporated (formerly Westech Capital Corp.); Director for Novo 1, a Waukesha, Wisconsin-based marketing company; Chairman of Attention LLC USA; Director of Call Solutions Inc., USA; and Director of Analysis & Technology, Inc.
 
He was elected to the Carroll Board of Trustees in 1985 and has served on the Investments subcommittee.  Dennis served on the Alumni Council from 1968 through 1970 and the President’s Advisory Council from 2008 to 2009.  He was inducted into the Carroll University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009 for his efforts on the football, basketball and track & field teams.