It's Not About Me

While at the University of Tennessee, I did not limit my formal course training to Engineering Physics, I also attended the Dale Carnegie Course on “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. This course was taught to about thirty U.T. students in Knoxville, TN in 1966; it was one of the first times this course was ever specifically offered to college students. This course has been attended by over 8 million people and his book, first published in 1936, has sold over 30 million copies. Warren Buffet took this same course when he was 20 years old, and to this day, he has the diploma on his wall in his office. Good advice never goes “out of style”. Serving our customers’ needs requires that we can influence others to join in our campaign to always put the customers’ needs first. Some of my associates might question whether I ever mastered the course as it relates to “How to Win Friends” but few will argue with the fact that I learned “How to Influence People”! This is my graduation photo with my 1963 Ford Galaxy 500 (I had traded in my 1955 Ford at the end of my sophomore year in Bolivar during my summer break) that had been parked all semester along the road near my Old Melrose Hall Dorm so I wouldn’t lose my FREE parking spot! Note that the car has not been washed lately! The only time my parents visited me at college was when I graduated. Dr. Andrew Holt was the President of UTK at the time and he held a reception for student leaders who were graduating and their parents at his home in Knoxville. My parents and I were invited. Interestingly, while at the reception, the Dean of Men, Dean Lewis, walked over to me and said, “ I have been wanting to meet your parents to see who raised YOU! ” My parents never quite caught on that his reference to me was the fact that I could be a most stubborn student sometimes!!! Personal Life … first Job after College As I recall, my first job at Westinghouse paid $660 per month. I thought I was rich! The nice part about joining Westinghouse directly from college was that I was not committed to a particular job as I was part of their recruitment program that allowed new employees to visit various Westinghouse Divisions on monthly assignments to tryout various permanent job opportunities. My new job began at the Westinghouse Education Center in Wilkinsburg, PA (a suburb of Pittsburgh). My first lodging was a room over a store in downtown Wilkinsburg (the bathroom was down the hall); I remember my first big purchase was a 19 ” Westinghouse Jet Set TV! While I had graduated in June from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville with a degree in Engineering Physics, my various job recruitment trips had helped me to realize that my life ambitions did not really lie with “engineering”. I had spent enough time in college in various “extra curricula clubs and activities” that I realized that a technical job was not my future calling. I had several job assignments before accepting a permanent job offer at the Westinghouse Semiconductor Division in Youngwood, PA (30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh). I worked in Marketing Communications in Pittsburgh where I really enjoyed a two-month assignment organizing their film library, getting experience working with an advertising agency (KPMG), etc. but there were no openings at the time. Next, I worked at the Westinghouse Atomic Power Division in Forrest Hills, PA reviewing research papers (interesting but very boring). Finally, I was on assignment in Youngwood, PA at the Westinghouse Semiconductor Division. I

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