BLACKSBURG, Va., March 13, 2006 – The president and CEO of Siemens Corporation, George Nolen, will discuss doing business in the global economy as the Wachovia Distinguished Speaker on Monday, March 27, 4:30-5:30 p.m., in 1100 Torgersen Hall. Nolen’s talk, “One Step Ahead: Business Success in the Global Economy,” is sponsored by the Pamplin College of Business and is free and open to the public, no tickets required.
Nolen earned a bachelor of science in marketing from Virginia Tech in 1978. Joining Siemens in 1982 as a member of the sales force, he went on to become a senior vice president of Siemens Business Communications Systems and later, president and CEO of the enterprise networks and information and communication networks units. Appointed to lead the corporation in January 2004, Nolen is also chairman of Siemens One, the U.S. company’s cross-selling and solutions arm.
Nolen is a member of The Business Roundtable, serving on the organization’s Security Task Force in Washington, D.C., and a board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He represents Siemens in the Partnership for New York City and is a member of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science. Last July, Nolen was appointed to Virginia Tech’s board of visitors.
The Wachovia Distinguished Speaker series in the Pamplin College is made possible by a grant from Wachovia Bank. Past speakers have included senior executives from Goldman Sachs International, AT&T, GE, IBM, Polo Ralph Lauren, and Ferguson Enterprises.
With U.S. headquarters in New York City, Siemens has 70,000 employees and $18.8 billion in sales, representing more than 20 percent of the global company’s revenues. Siemens has businesses in healthcare technology, power generation and transmission, automation and controls, lighting, information and communications, transportation, and building technologies.
Virginia Tech’s nationally ranked Pamplin College of Business offers undergraduate and graduate programs in accounting and information systems, business information technology, economics, finance, hospitality and tourism management, management, and marketing. The college emphasizes the development of ethical values and leadership, technology, and international business skills. A member of its marketing faculty directs the interdisciplinary Sloan Foundation Forest Industries Center at Virginia Tech. The college’s other centers focus on business leadership, electronic commerce, and organizational performance. The college is committed to serving business and society through the expertise of its faculty, alumni, and students. It is named in honor of Robert B. Pamplin (BAD ’33), the former CEO of Georgia-Pacific, and his son, businessman and philanthropist Robert B. Pamplin Jr. (BAD ’64).