Gretchen W. McClain
Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) April 25, 2016
Salt Lake Community College graduates May 6, at 9:30 a.m., will hear from Gretchen W. McClain for the 2016 Commencement keynote address at the Maverik Center in West Valley City.
McClain is an accomplished business leader who thrives on energizing organizations and building businesses by enhancing innovation and developing exceptional leadership talent. With more than 25 years of global experience in both Fortune 500 corporations and government service, including serving as founding CEO of an S&P 500 global water technology company, Xylem Inc., and NASA’s Chief Director of the International Space Station, McClain brings extensive business, developmental, strategic and technical expertise. Her distinctive leadership approach focuses on helping companies break down internal barriers to identify new ways to create value and integrate technologies, enabling organizations to unlock growth and gain critical competitive advantage.
McClain serves as a Board of Director for three publicly traded companies: AMETEK, Inc., a $4 billion leading global engineering and manufacturer of electronic instruments and electromechanical devices; Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation, a $5.3 billion leading provider of management consulting, technology and engineering services to Fortune 500 corporations, governments and not-for-profits globally; and Boart Longyear Limited, a leader in innovative drilling services, drilling equipment, and performance tooling for the mining and drilling companies globally.
Previously, McClain served in numerous senior executive positions in both the government and industry starting from a systems engineer. As the founding President and CEO of Xylem, an S&P 500 company and global water technology company with revenues of $3.8 billion, she oversaw the successful creation and spin-off of the company from ITT Corporation. At ITT, she served as President of ITT Fluid Motion and Control, a $4.5 billion diversified leading manufacturing company of highly engineered technology and equipment, where she led the organization to double-digit revenue growth. Prior to ITT, McClain held a number of executive positions at Honeywell Aerospace (formerly AlliedSignal), including Vice President and General Manager of the Business, General Aviation, and Helicopters Electronics Systems Division and Chief Technology Officer of Aerospace Engines and Systems. Earlier in her career, McClain spent nine years with NASA, including serving as Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Development, the top management position responsible for NASA’s International Space Station (ISS). She graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and received the University’s prestigious Founders Award in 2015. McClain was inducted into the Utah Technology Council Hall of Fame and is the first woman to receive this honor.
Salt Lake Community College is an accredited, student-focused, comprehensive community college meeting the diverse needs of the Salt Lake community. Home to more than 60,000 students each year, the College is Utah’s leading provider of workforce development programs. SLCC is also the largest supplier of transfer students to Utah’s four-year institutions and a perennial Top 10 college nationally for total associate degrees awarded. The College is the sole provider of applied technology courses in the Salt Lake area, with multiple locations, an eCampus, and nearly 1,000 continuing education sites located throughout the Salt Lake Valley. Personal attention from an excellent faculty is paramount at the College, which maintains an average class size of 20.