Greetings Classmates. I attended our 10th and 20th year reunions and had a great time on both occasions. Our 30th year reunion is shaping up to be exceptional, which is due to the work of Tammy Hall Shropshire and the Planning Committee. My thanks in advance to Tammy and the Committee, and my compliments on an excellent website.
As I�m sure is the case for everyone, my life has taken a number of interesting twists and turns over the years. With the exception of a couple of summers during my early college days, I have not lived in the Alamance County area since graduation. Most of my immediate family still resides in the Haw River area, including my Mom, who�s now 81 years old and doing well. I do visit on occasion, but according to my Mom, not as often as I should.
Following High School graduation, I attended East Carolina University, earning a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Business Administration, and a Masters degree in Organizational Psychology. After getting into teaching, research, and consulting as a Masters student, I decided to pursue my Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology at North Carolina State University. After earning the Ph.D., I joined Burroughs Wellcome Company (British pharmaceutical company) in 1984, working in the areas of organizational and employee development. After eleven years with Burroughs Wellcome, I joined Pfizer Inc, holding various executive Human Resources positions in the pharmaceutical research & development and consumer healthcare divisions. I remained with Pfizer for nine years, living in both Connecticut and New Jersey. After Pfizer, I joined Wachovia Corporation, moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was nice to get back to North Carolina, but I missed the healthcare industry. So I joined Johnson & Johnson and we moved to Saint Augustine, Florida in 2005.
Throughout my career, I�ve remained involved in academia, serving in various part-time university teaching, research, and service roles. I�ve also had the opportunity to complete post-graduate programs in Business Administration at UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard University. Working with large global companies has also provided me the opportunity to travel a great deal over the years, both inside and outside the United States. School and career has been the focus of much of my life, so I didn�t marry until age 37. In fact, we won the award for being �married the shortest time as a first marriage� during our 20th year reunion. My wife Cindy and I now have a two year old daughter, Ashley Marie. My family is a blessing, and I�m convinced Ashley Marie will help keep me young at heart.
Cindy and I both enjoy scuba diving, hiking, and biking. Cindy is also an aspiring novelist, and has completed a few manuscripts. I occasionally get out on my motorcycle when time permits, but work is demanding and still requires travel from time to time. Florida is nice, but we hope to return to North Carolina and settle in Emerald Isle when I�ve had enough of the corporate life.
Best regards and we look forward to seeing everyone in October.
Craig Williams
