Fri,
10/09/2020 – 09:01am | By: Bailey Harris
The College of Southern Mississippi (USM) Faculty of Enterprise and Financial Improvement
and its Enterprise Advisory Council is delighted to honor Joseph Saoud because the 2020 Boardman
Alumnus of the 12 months. Saoud was acknowledged throughout a video shared to the Southern Miss
Enterprise YouTube Channel on Friday, Oct. 9.
“Our school has an extended historical past of manufacturing excellent graduates who go on to differentiate
themselves of their profession endeavors. In 2001, we started honoring an excellent alumnus
of the yr to acknowledge and have a good time the accomplishments of our graduates,” stated
Dr. Bret Becton, dean of the USM Faculty of Enterprise and Financial Improvement.
Added Becton, “previous honorees have included alumni who’ve had outstanding careers
in practically each trade as executives for giant companies or as founders of their
personal companies. One widespread thread that unites all of them is that they’ve represented
the Faculty of Enterprise & Financial Improvement with honor and integrity and this yr’s
Alumnus of the 12 months is not any exception.”
Through the video, Saoud shared that he grew up in Lebanon throughout that nation’s civil
warfare, continuously separated from his mother and father who have been in Ghana working to provide them
a greater life. His father confused the significance of an training all of their lives
and in 1988, his father despatched Saoud to the US to get an training. Saoud
selected Southern Miss.
“I’m pleased with the years I spent at The College of Southern Mississippi, learning
at such a good college and dwelling in such a various and vibrant ambiance.
My years at USM have been among the greatest years of my life. It’s the place I realized a lot
about and from others and the goodness of human beings,” stated Saoud throughout his acceptance
speech.
Saoud went on to say that this was the primary time in his life that he and his brother
lived collectively. Fond recollections have been made whereas their mom, who ultimately turning into
a member of the English Language Institute at USM, visited them on campus.
Saoud graduated from USM and the Honors Faculty through the summer time of 1992 Summa Cum
Laude with a level in Banking and Finance.
“I can nonetheless bear in mind the glow on my mother and father faces the summer time of 1992 when each my
brother and I graduated with honors,” he stated. “My father handed away this previous March
and I wish to dedicate this second to his reminiscence and for the love and values
he and my mother instilled in us. When he died, he nonetheless had subsequent to his mattress our 1992
graduation booklet.”
Upon commencement from USM, Saoud enrolled within the MBA program at Vanderbilt College
and was employed by Cummins Inc. upon completion of his graduate diploma in 1995. Joseph
held quite a few roles whereas at Cummins together with roles in Monetary Planning and Evaluation,
Supplies Administration, World Buying, Plant Administration, and Normal Administration
within the U.S., Mexico, and United Arab Emirates. In his final seven years with Cummins,
Joseph was a Cummins Inc. Officer and President of the worldwide Cummins Filtration enterprise.
In 2016, Joseph joined Bridgestone as President of the Truck and Bus tire enterprise
in addition to the chief of the worldwide Retread enterprise. Joseph finally turned an
Officer and Government Vice President of Bridgestone Americas and President of Bridgestone
Latin America, the place he led Bridgestone’s $2.5 billion enterprise in Latin America.
Lately, Joseph retired from Bridgestone to commit extra time to his household and actual
property growth in Nashville, Tennessee.
To study extra in regards to the Faculty of Enterprise and Financial Improvement at USM, name
601.266.4659 or go to: https://www.usm.edu/business/index.php
