Northampton Community College will host a program that allows students the chance to learn from one of the region’s top business leaders.
William H. Spence, chairman, president and CEO of PPL Corp. of Allentown, will give a talk, “The Energy Sector and Cybersecurity: Protecting the Power Grid” as the executive-in-residence at NCC in Bethlehem Township at 11 a.m. March 30 at 3835 Green Pond Road. The venue is the David A. Reed Community Room, College Center.
Admission is free, and the event is open to the public. Also, Spence will meet with NCC students and faculty.
Spence oversees PPL distribution and transmission subsidiaries in the U.S. and United Kingdom and has more than 30 years in the utility industry, according to a news release.
Spence joined PPL in 2006 as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He was named president and CEO in 2011 and chairman in 2012.
He is on the board of the Electric Power Research Institute as a member of the executive committee of the Edison Electric Institute, and as co-chairman of EEI’s CEO policy committee on reliability and business continuity. Spence is a member of both EEI’s CEO policy committee on environment and the electricity subsector coordinating council, which serves as the principal liaison between the federal government and the electric power sector to protect the grid from cyber and physical threats.
Begun in 1985, NCC’s Executive-in-Residence program is funded by Jack and Cecile Shaffer in memory of their son Hal Shaffer. The program allows students to spend time with and learn from the area’s most successful business leaders.
Past executives-in-residence include Elmer Gates of the Fuller Co., Ed Donley of Air Products and Chemicals, Robert Rodale of Rodale Press and Chris Martin of C.F. Martin Guitar & Co.
“We have been fortunate to secure underwriting for the event for students and the community at large,” said Denise Francois-Seeney, dean of business and technology at Northampton Community College. “It allows our students to connect with successful leaders in the Lehigh Valley to have them bring to life what they are learning in their classes. It’s a nice, co-curricular activity that pairs theory and practical experience.”
The executives are very giving of their time and the topics are very timely, she said.
