Michael Gray

Mike has been a Faculty Leader with Penn State Executive Programs for over a decade. He has a passion for simply explaining complex systems and helping people understand the importance of a well managed supply chain - he takes every opportunity to teach, mentor and coach. He is also actively engaged as an investor and advisor with several startup companies in his home town of Austin, TX.

Mike’s spent most of his 31 year career in high tech with 11 years at IBM followed by 2 years with Square D Company and concluded his traditional career with nearly 18 years at Dell. He was affiliated with Oliver Wight as a consultant for the last 3 years and helped clients on their journey to Business Excellence.

Mike has had many roles in his career, from junior buyer to leader of a 500 person electronics manufacturing plant. He has led procurement, production control, inventory control and manufacturing operations functions and has held headquarters staff positions as a sales and operations planning project manager, sales enablement program manager and information technology liaison. He has logged millions of airline miles as he conducted business on nearly every continent and has a keen insight into the challenges of global commerce. As a speaker he has made over 900 presentations to thousands of executives and students in 41 US States, 16 Countries and 14 Colleges and Universities.

Mike graduated Magna Cum Laude from New England College in New Hampshire with a BA in Accounting/Management. He is a lifetime Certified Purchasing Manager (C.P.M.) with the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) and is also certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM) by APICS, the Association for Operations Management. He qualified to become a member of the National Speaker's Association as a professional speaker in 2008.