Jason Jercinovic

During the time I was at Whitman, I appreciated the concept of a broad liberal arts education. Now I look back at it as also a valuable tool-building asset. The diversity of knowledge and the many opportunities across the disciplines helped me learn to focus on getting things done rather than on the process.

I began as a physics 3-2 major with professors like Craig Gunsul and Jim Pengra, who were rigorous in their teaching and encouraged discipline and logic. As I switched to philosophy, my professors, including Tom Davis, taught a high-level approach to solving problems.1 What I got out of this combination has translated to meeting business goals. You use the same methods, and you concentrate on just getting the job done.

At Whitman I not only had opportunities for a variety of experiences (I was in jazz band and music ensembles), I had new kinds of challenges. When I wanted to create a student film-production group, I had to figure out a way to get it done — who I should talk to, where I could get money for cameras, and so on. These are essentially the same skills I use today.

In all, the range of curriculum offerings, the rigorous approach, and the opportunities that came out of my campus experience have served me well.

Jason Jercinovic, '91

Iguana Studios

Jason Jercinovic, '91, is co-founder and CEO of Iguana Studios, a New York-based web design and development shop. The company received a number of awards last year for its original design work on websites ranging from zagat.com to Lehman Brothers.

Before launching Iguana in 1998, Jercinovic was a founding partner in 5 Flights Up Productions, a design and business solutions firm based in New York. He previously worked at Bates Advertising and in Andersen Consulting's strategic services division. He has attended New York University's information technology program.

Iguana Studios began in New York's Silicon Alley with projects for a number of clients in the entertainment, financial services, luxury services, and youth marketing areas. The company is “distinguished in the interactive space by its commitment to information architecture and the priority it places on developing good user experiences,” said Jercinovic. Iguana has done ground-breaking work in scalable vector graphics (SVG) and has developed an XML-based content publishing solution, Burlap. Current clients include Primedia, Adobe Systems, and the Hearst Publishing Group.