BAIRD NAMES RODNEY TYSON DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Baird, an international employee-owned financial services firm and one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For®, announced today that Rodney Tyson has been named Director of Business Development. In this role, Tyson, 38, will work with senior management throughout Baird to identify and pursue new business opportunities. Tyson will have offices in both Milwaukee and Chicago.

“Rodney’s tremendous expertise in helping our investment banking clients build their businesses makes him a natural fit for this position,” said Baird Chairman, President & CEO Paul E. Purcell, to whom Tyson now reports. “Baird is extremely well-positioned, and I am thrilled that Rodney will be focusing his considerable talents on helping us grow strategically, in a way that is in line with our culture and is right for our clients, associates and business as a whole.”

“I look forward to the opportunity to help Baird’s executive management team execute on its vision to make Baird the best middle-market financial services firm in the world,” said Tyson.

Tyson was most recently a director in the firm’s investment banking group, and focused on identifying and sourcing potential acquisition candidates for Baird’s corporate and financial sponsor clients. He joined Baird in 1998 and has participated in a number of M&A and equity financing transactions. From 2002-2004, Tyson completed a two-year assignment in Baird’s London office, where he was primarily focused on developing Baird’s transatlantic mergers and acquisitions practice.

Tyson also serves as Co-Chair of Baird’s Business Diversity Council, where he has been responsible for the development and implementation of a long-term diversity strategic plan for the company. Tyson is a past recipient of the Robert A. Toigo Fellowship, and continues to be involved with the organization as a mentor to recent Toigo Fellows. He is also an alum of the INROADS internship program.

“INROADS and the Toigo Foundation forever changed my life,” said Tyson. “Before my first INROADS internship experience, I wasn’t aware that a successful career in financial services was a possibility for me. The Toigo Foundation provided me with funding for business school and an amazing mentor, Timothy Legesse, who believed in me and continues to give me valuable career advice to this day.”

Tyson received his MBA degree from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a BS degree in Finance from the University of Maryland.

About Baird
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,200 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of nearly $73 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird was recognized as one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s Web site at www.rwbaird.com.