The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations will be sponsoring Jeff Immelt, General Electric chairman and CEO, to speak at University Park on Oct. 26.
The talk, titled “Executive Insights with GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt: Competing for the Future,” will start at 3 p.m. in the atrium of the Business Building.
Immelt will bring several GE executives on campus. After his talk, he will take a tour around campus and will be visiting the Millennium Science Complex.
Seats are limited for the talk. Students, faculty and staff who are interested in attending can register at www.smeal.psu.edu/immelt.
“Immelt had decided on his own to come to Penn State to show his support for the University,” Dean of the Smeal College of Business Charles H. Whitemansaid.
Whiteman, who will moderate the talk, said it will focus on the partnership between Penn State and GE. Every year, Penn State places graduates at GE, he said.
Beth Colledge, associate director at the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Penn State, said 1,368 people who work at GE have degrees from Penn State.
Student Emily Zheng said the Penn State community relies on corporate relationships and is looking forward to hearing Immelt’s ideas about business.
This will also be a great opportunity for students who are looking to learn more about Penn State’s relationship with the business world and GE, she said.
“I encourage students to never become comfortable with all of these great opportunities. Take advantage of all of them. This is Immelt’s way of saying he still has faith in all of us,” Zheng (sophomore-economics and finance) said.
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations at Penn State functions “to assist organizations in assessing opportunities for collaboration with the University and investment in our people and programs,” according to its website.
The office has worked as a bridge for Penn State students to connect to corporate America in search of jobs and internship opportunities.
“This talk will be a great opportunity for Penn State to grow its relationship with GE even more,” Colledge said. “Jeffrey Immelt is ranked as one of the top 10 CEOs in the world, and he is the Job Czar for President Obama. He is really a rock star of CEOs.”
