2008–09 Lecture
Jerry Burris, president of the precision components global business segment of Barnes Group Inc., delivered the Sigmund Weis memorial lecture April 1 Burris addressed the topic, “Good and Great: The Importance of Being Both a Great Company for Investors and a Good Corporate Citizen.”
Burris oversees his company’s global suppliers of precision components, which are used in transportation, communication, manufacturing and technological applications around the world. He joined Barnes Group in 2006 as president of Barnes Industrial. Prior to joining Barnes Group, he held a number of senior management positions at General Electric Company (GE), including president and chief executive of GE Advanced Materials Quartz and Ceramics. He also served as general manager of global services at GE Health Care Technologies; general manager of global sourcing at GE Industrial Systems; and product general manager for dishwashers/disposers at GE Appliances.
Burris serves on the board of directors of Pentair Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
The Sigmund Weis Memorial Lectureship in Business brings prominent individuals from business and public life to speak on matters of interest to Susquehanna University and the community. The lectureship was established in 1979 to honor the late Sigmund Weis, an honors graduate in Susquehanna’s class of 1903 who, with brother Harry Weis, class of 1900, founded Weis Pure Food Stores Inc. in 1912. The firm now operates 158 stores in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
The Sigmund Weis School of Business (SWSB) was founded in 1983 and endowed with a major gift from Weis’ son-in-law, Charles Degenstein. Ten years later, the school achieved accreditation from AACSB International. The accreditation was reaffirmed in 2000, and Susquehanna University remains one of only a few private, undergraduate-only institutions that have AACSB-accredited business schools. The Sigmund Weis School offers majors in accounting, economics, information systems and business administration, supplemented by a curricular focus on information technology and international experiences, including the popular junior-year London Program.
