The president and CEO of Siemens Corporation since 2004, George Nolen (marketing '78) is part of a Hokie lineage so extended that his family crest must surely be cast in burnt orange and Chicago maroon.

For starters, Nolen, who was raised in Northern Virginia, met his wife, Michele Carpenter Nolen (finance '78), at freshman orientation. Now married 25 years, they "share [his] greatest achievement," he says, "two wonderful children" — Jennifer (finance '06) and Brian, a rising sophomore at Tech. All told, "18 other members of our family have attended Virginia Tech," he adds.

With a family tree so firmly rooted in Hokie soil, Nolen might be considered an expert on what the university has to offer. "I learned a lot during my four years at Tech," he says, "not only in the classroom, but also through leadership activities. My experience as a resident advisor and president of my fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, showed me how important management and communications were to getting things done."

Nolen has no doubt flexed those management and communications skills during his nearly 25-year tenure at Siemens. Moreover, getting things done seems to have been his longstanding modus operandi during a career that has taken him from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia, Dallas, and Silicon Valley.

Nolen participating in a Siemens Science Day event at an
elementary school in New York City. (photos courtesy of Siemens)

Nolen heads up the company's U.S. branch, whose corporate headquarters in New York City occupy the Citigroup Center — one of midtown Manhattan's tallest and most dramatic skyscrapers — a site which seems especially fitting for such a dynamic, lucrative business. According to Richard Galant in a mid-2005 profile of Nolen for Newsday, Siemens is "an American success story ... a company that's grown from 650 U.S. employees to 70,000 in 30 years," with operations in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Notably, Nolen has been on board for nearly the entirety of those three decades.

Siemens in the U.S., a leader in healthcare technology and information management, power generation and transmission, automation and controls, lighting, information and communications technology, transportation, and building technologies, reported sales of nearly $20 billion last year, a fair share of the company's global revenues. In fact, 11 of Siemen's worldwide businesses — including, for instance, Siemens Building Technologies, Siemens Hearing Instruments, and Sylvania — are headquartered in the U.S., making it one of the company's largest markets in the world. "Some people have to move from company to company to get new experience," Nolen points out. "At Siemens, it's all here."

As Nolen tells it, there's a great deal to like about being at the helm of such a diversified — and diverse — company. "There are two main reasons why I love my job and why I continue to see opportunity and challenge," he says. "First, as a global company, Siemens provides an environment where I interact daily with intelligent, innovative people representing a multitude of cultures, experiences, and perspectives and constantly presenting me with new ideas and challenges."

Nolen presenting the Siemens Trophy to University of Florida's men's basketball coach, Billy Donovan, whose Gators won the 2005-06 NCAA Championship.

Beyond the vision and experience he brings to his role as president and CEO, Nolen chairs the board of Siemens One — the U.S. company's cross-selling and solutions arm — and is a board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a member of The Business Roundtable, a member of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science, and the Siemens representative in the Partnership for New York City. He also serves his alma mater, having been appointed to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors in 2005 by then-Gov. Mark Warner.

Nolen, however, hasn't been blinded by his entrepreneurial success or his far-reaching responsibilities; instead, he has maintained what might be called a sensible perspective. "I am most proud of my family," he says, "and my Virginia roots" — a good many of which stretch across the Virginia Tech campus.

To learn more about the Siemens Corporation, go to www.usa.siemens.com.