GE Executive, Smeal Alum to Kick Off Executive Speaker Series
The Penn State Smeal College of Business will kick off its guest speaker series, Leadership in Focus: Executive Insights, on Oct. 14 with Smeal alumnus Jeff Malehorn, president and chief executive officer of GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance. Malehorn will join James B. Thomas, the John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal, for an interactive on-stage conversation at 11:15 a.m. in 110 Business Building (Struthers Auditorium). The talk is free and open to the public.
Jeff Malehorn '83, President and CEO of GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (September 22, 2011) – The Penn State Smeal College of Business will kick off its guest speaker series, Leadership in Focus: Executive Insights, on Oct. 14 with Smeal alumnus Jeff Malehorn, president and chief executive officer of GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance.
Malehorn will join James B. Thomas, the John and Becky Surma Dean of Smeal, for an interactive on-stage conversation at 11:15 a.m. in 110 Business Building (Struthers Auditorium). The talk is free and open to the public.
At GE, Malehorn leads GE Capital, Commercial Distribution Finance, a leading provider of specialized financing products and services that facilitate the manufacture, distribution and sale of consumer durables including watercraft, motorsports, RVs, trailers, electronics, appliances, and technology products. A GE company officer since 2001, Malehorn serves as co-leader for GE Capital, Americas Commercial Council, the firm's designated forum for best practice sharing.
Previous to his current role, Malehorn served four years as president and CEO of GE Healthcare Financial Services, a provider of equipment leases and loans, corporate asset based and buyout debt, real estate finance, and equity investments for the health care market.
Prior to that, he served as president and CEO of GE Commercial Finance's Global Financial Restructuring business based in Tokyo, where he led teams buying distressed debt in Europe, Asia and the Americas. He also led GE Real Estate's European business for three years based in Paris. Throughout his career, he has held positions in risk, portfolio and operations management as well as business development and process improvement.
A 28-year GE veteran, Malehorn started his career in the Financial Management Program after graduating from Smeal in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in Finance. He then conducted and led numerous financial and operating business reviews with a four-year leadership development assignment in GE's Corporate Audit Staff.
Passionate about giving back to his community, Malehorn is GE's corporate citizenship leader for Chicago, a campaign cabinet member and Tocqueville Co-Chair for United Way, and co-chair of the Business Leadership Group for Workforce Chicago. He is also chairman of the Midwest American Heart Association and a regional board member for Junior Achievement, the Greater Chicago Food Depository and buildOn.
Executive Insights, an initiative started in the 2006-2007 academic year, is designed to complement the Smeal educational experience by bringing high-profile business leaders to the college to connect with students, faculty, and administrators to share some of their business expertise and experiences in leadership.
In addition to Malehorn, this semester Smeal will host Michael Oxley, former congressman and chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, on Nov. 11. Past Executive Insights guests include Daniel Mead, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless; Karen Quintos, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Dell; Barry Salzberg, chief executive officer of Deloitte LLP; and John Surma, chairman and CEO of U.S. Steel.
For more information on the Executive Insights series, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/about/lecture/execinsights.
