Joseph B. Anderson Jr., chair and CEO of TAG Holdings Companies in Troy, will deliver the Commencement address June 9 during graduation ceremonies in Kettering's Recreation Center. Anderson, who served on the Board Trustees from 1995-2005, was the first Trustee involved in the GM Sullivan Fellowship Program and helped focus attention on the crucial need for more ethics training at Kettering. He will receive an honorary doctor of Management degree. His address topic: the importance of leadership.

Anderson graduated with Math and Engineering degrees from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He earned two master's degrees from UCLA and is also a graduate of the Harvard Advanced Management Program. He is a highly decorated soldier, having served two tours of duty in Vietnam and working as an aide-de-camp to two generals.

His infantry platoon in Vietnam was the subject of a highly acclaimed documentary film, "The Anderson Platoon," which earned an Oscar and an Emmy for Best Documentary Film in 1967. He was a White House Fellow and worked as a special assistant to Secretary of Commerce Juanita Kreps before joining the General Motors Corp. from 1979-1992. Today he leads TAG Holdings, the parent corporation for a diverse collection of manufacturing and service-related businesses with operations in the United States, Korea and China. TAG Holdings creates opportunities for entrepreneurs whose creative and business talents were often overlooked in the past.

Commencement ceremonies begin at 11 a.m., June 9, in the Recreation Center. Around 270 students will graduate during spring ceremonies, with 109 undergraduates and 46 master's candidates planning to march in the processional. Prior to the ceremony, a faculty-hosted reception honoring the graduates will be in the International Room from 8:30-10 a.m.

Written by Pat Mroczek
(810) 762-9533
pmroczek@kettering.edu