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The education and life experiences attained at Kansas State University were instrumental in shaping the family life and professional career success of Mike Traeger. Indebted as he is to those experiences, Traeger freely gives his energy, skill and dedication to Kansas State University and the College of Architecture and Design.

Born in McPherson, Kansas, Traeger grew up in the Wichita area where he developed an interest in gardening while in high school and consequently selected landscape architecture as a career during a visit to K-State. Upon graduating Cum Laude, he continued his education by pursuing a Master of Business Administration at the University of Notre Dame to facilitate the eventual management of a large landscape architectural practice. It was here Traeger determined his ultimate niche would be in banking and finance. While landscape architecture and banking/finance might appear to be unrelated, as a design student he developed skills in creative thinking and problem solving used every day in his banking career. While his classmates design and build landscapes, Traeger builds financial landscapes--balance sheets and capital structures for banks and their clients. Following a ten-year career in banking, in 1990 Traeger formed his own consulting practice, Solution Enterprises, Inc., which provides a wide range of services in the Twin Cities including asset management, credit administration, loan policy and procedure development, loan portfolio examination, expert witness and testimony, and education and training.

Traeger's contributions to the quality of life of Kansas State University students and faculty are most noteworthy. In addition to his generous financial support to the College of Architecture and Design, he serves as Member of the College of Architecture and Design Dean's Advisory Council, and as Member and Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture Alumni Advisory Council where he spearheaded the development of standing committees focusing on curriculum; student, faculty and alumni affairs; communications; and extramural funding. He is a member of the Kansas State University Foundation President's Club, and he has been recognized by the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity as the Top Chapter Alumni in 1992 and with the Chapter's 60th Anniversary Alumni Achievement Award in 1991. Traeger currently serves on the Chapter House Renovation Capital Campaign Committee and as Secretary of the Alpha Lambda Educational Foundation.

Traeger's tireless love of and devotion to Kansas State University, the College of Architecture and Design, and the Department of Landscape Architecture embody the highest values and standards for excellence with which the faculty wishes to equip our students.