Today, Ken Jeanos \u201990 is chief information officer of General Dynamics Electric Boat, the leader in the design, construction, delivery and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy, including the new Columbia-class ballistic missile vessels. In this role, he is responsible for enterprise information technology (IT), cyber security and the data analytics initiative to support the company\u2019s 23,000 employees.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, however, Jeanos was a high school student in a blue-collar New Jersey community. He happened to really like math, and he was prepared to work his way through college. \u201cMy story isn\u2019t that much different from many Montclair students,\u201d he points out. \u201cI commuted to class and worked two jobs to support my financial needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Initially, Jeanos anticipated pursuing a career in actuarial science, but once involved in the program he knew he wanted to be on the applied mathematics track. He also leaned into getting as much real-world career experience as possible. \u201cI was able to work with the University to create a co-op program out of a part-time summer opportunity at Panasonic,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was a fantastic real-world learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
During his senior year at Montclair, Jeanos experienced another life-changing turning point. \u201cWhile working on a project, I asked a fellow student for help who was working at the computer lab. Her response was to ask someone else since she was busy. At that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to ask her to go out with me. Luckily, she said yes, and we have been together ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeanos and his wife, Kimberly \u201991, a computer science major, have been happily married for 30 years.<\/p>\n
Jeanos\u2019 co-op at Panasonic led to a full-time job after graduation, setting the stage for a highly successful career. \u201cIt was a foundational experience,\u201d he says. \u201cI moved through a lot of different roles, learning along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the course of nearly 29 years, Jeanos served Panasonic as project manager for enterprise resource planning; group manager for IT and e-business; director of operations and inside sales, director of corporate planning for strategic initiatives; vice president of business operations; senior vice president for corporate information systems for the Americas; and president, chief information officer and chief information security officer. He left Panasonic in 2019 and quickly joined General Dynamics Electric Boat. \u201cIt is exciting to be part of a company that is integral to protecting our country and the freedoms we enjoy,\u201d he notes. \u201cWorking here is part of a greater cause, and it gets me fired-up every day to go to work.”<\/p>\n
In addition, Jeanos is an advisor to The-Data-Pros, a NJ-based IT services firm that helps small- and medium-sized businesses migrate to the Cloud, and Channel Portal, a health technology start-up. He recently earned an MBA in strategic management and marketing from Villanova University and continues his involvement as a mentor to business students there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned a lot about the value of dedication and effort at Montclair,\u201d he says, when asked about the University\u2019s impact on his life and career. \u201cI also had great mentors, at Montclair and at Panasonic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeanos returns the favor whenever possible. While at Panasonic, he worked with the University to build a pipeline for Montclair students to intern at the company. Several have since become Panasonic employees.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is important for alumni to reach out, to help the next generation get a strong start to their careers,\u201d he says. \u201cThis is our opportunity to help students understand what it will take to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n
In his conversations with students, Jeanos encourages them to get involved in internships and co-ops as early as possible. \u201cDo your homework about the companies you want to work for,\u201d he advises. \u201cReach out to the University\u2019s career services advisors. Build your LinkedIn profile and research your market. And don\u2019t be afraid of not knowing exactly what you want to do. I started out as a product specialist, a role typically reserved for business majors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although now working in Connecticut where General Dynamics Electric Boat is headquartered, he remains engaged and has been a speaker at both the Feliciano School of Business and the College of Science and Mathematics. \u201cIt is so nice to see how Montclair has grown since I graduated, both in terms of the campus and in terms of its stature as a university,\u201d Jeanos says. \u201cI am very proud of my Montclair degree.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When he arrived at Montclair, Ken Jeanos \u201990 was sure of two things: his love for mathematics and the importance of hard work. These priorities continue to ring true for Jeanos, now that he is chief information officer of General Dynamics Electric Boat, the leader in the design, construction, delivery and maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines for the U.S. Navy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":214236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214234"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214273,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214234\/revisions\/214273"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}