Joel Reed

In a nutshell, my job entails helping companies design, market, and sell solutions in the market to get a greater share of the market.

Right after I graduated, I worked as an engineer at GTE Products (now Philips) in Towanda, Pennsylvania, working on introducing new products into a manufacturing environment.

My Penn State degree has helped me successfully lead organizations of significant size and scale, be able to live in a beautiful mountain town, be married thirty-two years and raise two wonderful sons (so very proud of them), and be able with my wife to give back to the organizations important to us.

In my career, I never expected that I would take so many different and unrelated paths. I was an engineer and senior engineer working in materials, then ran supply chain operations for a high-tech company, worked for a $350 million manufacturing company, then a $6 billion planning organization, a software development organization, a sales and marketing teams, and now consulting. I sold five businesses and bought two. Who knew??

You can tell I bleed blue and white because I am president of the Graduates of Earth and Mineral Sciences Alumni Board and am active in working with the materials science and engineering department. I was honored to have the opportunity to name a new lab in my father's honor in the newly renovated Steidle Building (which is beautiful). Also I have been on the board for the MATSE 492 class as one of the people students present to.

The bands I couldn't live without are Collective Soul and Rush.

You might be surprised to know that I'm actually somewhat introverted despite the fact that I have led organizations of hundreds of professionals and spoken frequently to groups of well over 1,000 people.

To students who are graduating, I would say: Take a chance. Be the person who steps up when someone says, 'I am looking for a volunteer.' That approach led to my entire career.