|
Ron with his
wife Terri, and two daughters, Melissa and Amy |
After graduation from
Pomona with my Bachelor of Arts in Physics, I obtained a Masters
of Science in Mathematics at the University of California at Los
Angeles (UCLA). With these academic credentials, I joined the
call to launch our country into space. I worked in California
with Space General Corporation and Aerojet General Corporation
to develop lunar and missile guidance systems. The seven years
I spent in the space program of our country was exciting and completely
different from my liberal arts education at Pomona. During those
years, I realized that business is a critical component of technology
and continued my education in the evenings at the University of
Southern California and obtained a Masters of Business Administration.
Who would have thought
that twenty-seven years later, I would retire from the Ford Motor
Company? This journey started when I relocated from California
to Michigan with the intention of working for one year to gain
business experience from the second largest corporation in the
world (so similar to my nurturing experiences in the protective
Pomona campus?). I was pleasantly surprised by the stimulation
I received from the automotive industry and the Midwest environment.
Also to my surprise, this Midwest industry provided me the opportunity
to gain international experience. In my last assignment at Ford,
I was asked to direct and manage the global consolidation of Ford's
distributive computer infrastructure. This global consolidation
of more than one billion dollars of equipment and 650 systems
established a professional computer infrastructure recognized
as 'best-in-class' in the industry. During this time I had the
opportunity to contribute to the computer industry as President
of Honeywell's Large Systems Users Association and as senior member
of Dell's Global Advisory Board. Since retirement from Ford,
I founded a consulting and information technology company and
serve on the Board of Directors of National Tech Team.
My real passion at this
time is to enjoy life with my wife Terri. We have two daughters,
Melissa and Amy. Our newest addition and joy is Mia, our granddaughter.
Also, three cats and a dog keep us young and very busy.