Kevin Gilligan will join the IOE 101 class to discuss his occupation at Graham Packaging with a presentation titled "My Career in manufacturing and what I’ve learned along the way."

Biography:
Kevin Gilligan is a business leader with extensive executive experience running complex organizations including a $700 million paper business, a global operations team of 1,800 people and the Asia Pacific region for a specialty chemical company.

Kevin is currently President of the Food & Nutrition business for Graham Packaging, a global manufacturer of rigid plastic containers for well-known consumer brands. Prior to that, he served as chief executive officer and board member of Appvion, a specialty paper company.

Before joining Appvion, Kevin enjoyed a 20-year career with H.B. Fuller, a $2 billion in revenue global specialty chemical company focused on adhesives. He served as global operations vice president; region vice president for Asia Pacific businesses; general manager of H.B. Fuller Window; North American operations director; e-business director; product line manager; and plant manager. He began his career as a manufacturing engineer for Texas Instruments.

Kevin currently serves on the Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative Board of Directors where he is Finance and Audit Chair and the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center Board of Directors where he is a member of the executive and governance committees. He also serves on the Industrial and Operations Engineering Advisory Board at the University of Michigan as Board Chair and serves on the education committee.

Kevin earned a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and operations management from Indiana University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. He currently resides in Appleton, Wisconsin with his wife and their three teenage children.