As the College of Engineering commencement speaker, W. Nicholas Howley, BS
mechanical engineering '75, returns to his alma mater as a successful
businessman and philanthropist. It's a return that feels natural for Howley,
even though, as a teenager, he never intended to be an engineer.
Howley, who will address graduates at the college's commencement ceremony on
Friday, June 12, recalls that his father steered him toward the degree for
practical reasons: an engineering background followed by a top MBA would
open a path into industrial management.
"He told me that, if I didn't know what I wanted to do, majoring in
engineering would give me a background that could help me succeed in
anything," Howley said.
After graduating from Drexel and earning his MBA from Harvard Business
School in 1979, Howley co-founded TransDigm Group, a manufacturer of
proprietary aerospace components, including pumps, valves, avionics systems
and cockpit hardware, that grew through more than 60 acquisitions into a New
York Stock Exchange-listed company with a public enterprise value of roughly
$100 billion and approximately 20,000 employees worldwide. He is also
co-founder and chairman of Perimeter Solutions, also NYSE-listed and the
world's largest supplier of forest fire prevention products.
Through it all, Howley credits what he took from his engineering education
more than any business strategy.
"I got the analytical basis of thinking. I got the comfort with numbers and
technology," he said. "Engineering helped me understand how to approach
problems."
When he and his wife Lorie turned to philanthropy, both kept returning to
something their parents had told them.
"The only thing we can ever give you that's gonna stick with you is an
education," Howley recalled. "That's the best thing we can do."
Together, they founded the Howley Foundation in 2001. Today it supports
roughly 1,600 students through the Howley College Scholars Program, which
connects graduates from partner high schools in Philadelphia and Cleveland
with colleges across Pennsylvania and Ohio, including Drexel. The program
targets students who have the academic ability to succeed but lack the
financial means to get there. Approved fields include engineering, computer
science, nursing and business.
For Howley, the mission comes down to something simple.
"We want to take a man or woman who has the ability but doesn't have the
opportunity because of their economic situation, and give them a chance," he
said. "They deserve a fair shot. You can't guarantee they'll hit a home run,
but they deserve a turn at the plate."
The work has grown into a family effort. His daughter, Meg Howley '10, who
holds a graduate degree in psychology from Drexel, serves as executive
director of the foundation's Philadelphia operations. His son Michael is
board chair of Saint Martin de Porres High School in Cleveland, part of the
Cristo Rey network, one of 41 college-preparatory schools serving
economically disadvantaged students that Howley once led nationally.
"An important part of it for Lorie and I is that we can pass our views on
this down to our children," he said. "How you do good, how you help people.
We're just thrilled that they've embraced it."
For the students he will address, Howley has advice he wishes someone had
offered him at graduation.
"Write down some specific things you want to happen in the next five years.
Professional, and maybe personal too. Check them every couple of years and
rewrite them or change them."
The path, he said, will not be straight.
"It'll never work in a straight line. But you need goals. You need something
you can keep thinking about and aiming at."