Madison, WI – June 6, 2013. The Madison Mallards will induct Madison baseball legend Steve Bennett into their Wall-of-Fame tomorrow, June 7th during a pre-game ceremony.
Bennett, a Madison native, excelled as a three-sport standout in high school and elevated his playing level as a leader on the collegiate baseball diamond. His athletic success and leadership could be seen on the playing field, in the record books, and now in the business arena.
During his time at Madison West, Steve collected All-City accolades in each sport he played, which included being named Big 8 Conference Player of the Year in baseball during his senior year. Steve earned two (2) letters in football, two (2) letters in three years of basketball and three (3) letters in three years on the diamond.
Post high school, Steve brought his skills to the college level, competing and excelling in baseball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During his Badger playing days, Steve led the team in the stats book as well as in the clubhouse.
As a freshman, he hit .289 and led the team in doubles and RBIs. Steve had a breakout sophomore season by leading the Badgers in batting average, hits, doubles and RBIs. He also finished 2nd in the Big Ten in hitting with a .458 average and led the nation in doubles per game.
Steve was a member of the elite UW’s .400 Hitters Club next to other UW greats Rick Reichardt and Tom Shipley. Nationally, he was recognized for this performance as an American Associate of College Baseball Coaches All-American District 8 award winner and Third-Team National All-American. As a junior, Steve continued his success by hitting .357 and again led the Badgers in doubles and RBIs. As a result, he was again nationally recognized as the AACBC All-American District 8 award winner. Following his senior season in 1976, Steve had the talent and passion to play professional ball. Looking back, he explains, “I had friends in the big leagues, but I decided that by 30 I’d be better off in business than in baseball.”
After graduating from Madison, Steve spent 23 years with General Electric Co., finishing his career as Executive Vice President of GE Capital and a member of the GE Capital Board. Shortly after GE, Steve joined Inuit as President and CEO. Steve raised Intuit’s business from less than $1 billion in fiscal 2000 to $2.7 billion in fiscal 2007. Currently, Steve is the CEO of Symantec and just posted quarter over quarter growth in his first two quarters of leadership. Below are a list of Steve’s athletic accomplishments.
High School
Collected Seven (7) varsity letters
- Football: (2) Captain
- Basketball: (2)
- Baseball: (3) Captain
Named “All-City” and “All-Conference” in Football, Basketball, Baseball
1972 Big 8 Conference Player of the Year (Baseball)
College
Collected four (4) varsity letters
o Freshman (1973)
§ Hit .289
§ Led the team in doubles
§ Led the team in RBIs
o Sophomore (1974)
§ Hit .379
§ Hit .458 in Big Ten play
§ UW .400 Hitters Club
§ Led the team in batting avg.
§ Led the team in hits
§ Led the team in doubles
§ Led the team in RBIs
§ Second in the Big Ten in hitting (.458)
§ Led the Big Ten in doubles
§ Led the nation in doubles per game
o Junior (1975)
§ Hit .357
§ Led the team in doubles
§ Led the team in RBIs
o Senior (1976)
§ Captain
· Career Records (1973-1976)
o Wisconsin leader in hits
o Wisconsin leader in doubles
o Wisconsin leader in RBIs
Professional
· CEO, Symantec
· UW Distinguished Alumni
· Chairman, Dean’s Advisory Board
· Board, American Airlines
· Board, Qualcomm
· Board, Symantec
· Board, Sojern
· Board, Nemean Networks
· CEO Intuit
· Bay Area Distinguished Alumni
· Significant Sig (Sigma Chi Fraternity)
· “Hottest CEO in Technology” (CNN)
