Anthony Valenti

In the spring of 1958, my parents, my girlfriend Eileen, and I were excited that I was accepted into CCNY. I got an outstanding education at a great price. I made many friends and we stayed in touch. The professors were easy to talk with and available to get together with. They were all accomplished civil engineers or other experts in what they were teaching. I graduated in 1963. Before I left, I interviewed with various companies. I went to work on the Lunar Excursion Module as a structural engineer at Grumman Aircraft in Bethpage, New York. I learned a lot. At the same time I was going for an MBA at St. John's University. One day, a Grumman friend suggested that I look into opportunities at IBM. That night, there was a posting at the graduate office which said that on Saturday, IBM was coming to interview students that were going for their MBAs. I signed up and the interviewer turned out to also be from the Bronx. He was a marketing manager and we got along fine during that one hour interview. IBM offered me a job, I accepted, and I started in June 1996. I became a sales trainee, which took nine months of schooling and training. In my career, I've been a salesman, a regional representative, a marketing manager, an assistant regional manager, a branch manager, a manager at IBM's corporate headquarters, a planning manager in an international division, and a product division director, all still in the same organization. My next position was as general manager. I was to run a business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It was located in Paris, France. I led that business for four years, then I returned to the United States and retired. I have been retired since 1997, and it has been a wonderful 24 years. I've spent more time with Eileen, our three daughters, and our six grandchildren, from 21 years old down to 8-year-old twins. All of them are within a 15-minute car ride. Eileen and I have been married for 57 years and we are blessed.