Walter Kissling
Melvin Walter Kissling Gam (April 25, 1931 – January 28, 2002) was a Costa Rican businessman who became one of the first Central Americans to lead a Fortune 500 company. He is also known for having played an important role in the founding of the INCAE Business School campus in Costa Rica, as well as founding the Costa Rican non-profit organization Asociación de Empresarios para el Desarrollo. Early life Walter Kissling was born to Walter Kissling Rickli and Adela Gam Secen in Limón, Costa Rica on April 25, 1931. His father was of Swiss descent, and his mother came from Vienna, Austria. In a newspaper interview in 1998 he mentioned his mother as driving force in his life. “She was a fighting woman. She descended from wealthy family from Vienna, who had lost it all in the First World War. During all of my infancy, one of very limited means, it was through my mother’s efforts that I was able to study and get ahead.” Kissling graduated from Colegio Seminario in San José in 1948. After graduation he worked selling cheese and as a receptionist in the Hotel Europa in downtown San José. During his work at the hotel, he