{"id":5815,"date":"2024-04-12T06:41:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T06:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=5815"},"modified":"2025-03-27T11:19:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T15:19:01","slug":"joe-pro-this-presidents-now-a-hall-of-famer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2024\/04\/12\/joe-pro-this-presidents-now-a-hall-of-famer\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Pro: This President\u2019s Now a Hall of Famer"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column5815_60c721-f4 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<p>It seems that the title of \u201cpresident\u201d has followed <strong>Joe Pro<\/strong> around for most of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Chichester High School, in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, he played football and was elected president of the senior class. Later, after he married and began raising a family, he was president of his children\u2019s PTA.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1998, he earned a master\u2019s in Business Administration from what was then Wilmington College, joined the Alumni Association and became \u2014 what else? \u2014 president of that organization from 2006\u20132011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The importance of the title ratcheted up a bit in 2006, when he was named president of Pennsylvania Machine Works, a company founded by <strong>Charles W. Lafferty <\/strong>in Aston, Pennsylvania, in 1931. Pro became the first person outside the Lafferty family to lead the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And now he has an even more impressive title: hall of famer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, The Wholesaler Magazine named Pro its 2023 PVF Hall of Fame inductee. The honor recognizes his 40 years of dedication to the PVF (pipe, valves, and fittings) industry, including five years as president of the PVF Roundtable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pro started his career with Penn Machine in 1983, two years after graduating from Temple University with a degree in Business Administration with a concentra-tion in Accounting. The company manufactures forged pressure fittings, specializing in the marine, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipbuilding, cryogenic, and steel-making industries, as well as many other critical industrial applications.&nbsp;Besides its Aston head-quarters, it has a forging facility in Swedesboro, New Jersey, and a large sales and machining center in Houston.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a working-class, blue-collar background, Pro was a natural fit, and he climbed the corporate ladder quickly, moving from controller, to plant manager in Swedesboro, to operations manager, and finally to president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was during his time in plant management that he saw the need to acquire a master\u2019s degree, and Wilmington College seemed to be the obvious choice for a man who had a demanding job in New Jersey and a busy family life at home in Bear, Delaware.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-ad2f72ca wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote wu-blockquote-simple is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always felt blessed that I have the education and the experience to provide time and guidance to almost anybody who has issues.\u201d<em>\u2014 Joe Pro<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBased on having talked to some people who previously went through the program, it was the most flexible schedule,\u201d Pro says. \u201cWith classes at night and on weekends, it allowed me to continue working full time and also let me participate at home, where I had&nbsp;two young kids who were into every sport there was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He related to his classmates \u2014 \u201cpeople just like me; people who were working, people trying to advance their careers\u201d \u2014 and he was particularly impressed with the instructors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI had 12 professors who held jobs in the real world, experienced people who could share their experiences,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd you could share what was going on in your career and get tremendous guidance and mentoring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It turns out that the entire Pro family has a WilmU connection. Son Josh has a B.S. in Business Management and a master\u2019s in Business Administration from the University, while daughter Danielle Hudson holds a WilmU master\u2019s in Management with a Marketing concentration. And Pro\u2019s wife, Debbie, who has been with the University for 21 years, is assistant to the vice president of Administrative and Legal Affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking back on his career, Pro is especially proud of his involvement with the PVF Roundtable. As a past president, he serves on the board of directors for the organization, which, in addition to promoting the PVF industry, has raised more than $2 million in scholarships for students at seven trade schools and two four-year universities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Roundtable provides funding for skills that our industry is desperately in need of,\u201d says Pro.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The fundraising efforts resonate with the grandfather of five and his approach to life in general. \u201cBe kind to others, offer yourself to anyone who needs your help,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt blessed that I have the education and the experience to provide time and guidance to almost anybody who has issues. It would be wrong not to share that with others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2014Bob Yearick<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It seems that the title of \u201cpresident\u201d has followed Joe Pro around for most of his life. At Chichester High School, in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[145,135],"tags":[209,57,210,211,212,14,15],"class_list":["post-5815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-magazine","tag-b-s-in-business-management","tag-magazine-spring-2024","tag-masters-in-management","tag-pvf-hall-of-fame","tag-pvf-roundtable","tag-wilmington-university","tag-wilmu"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":145,"label":"ALUMNI NEWS"},{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":209,"label":"B.S. in Business Management"},{"value":57,"label":"Magazine Spring 2024"},{"value":210,"label":"master\u2019s in Management"},{"value":211,"label":"PVF Hall of Fame"},{"value":212,"label":"PVF Roundtable"},{"value":14,"label":"Wilmington University"},{"value":15,"label":"WilmU"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Wilmington-University-Pro-Family-480x480.jpg",480,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Mckayla Imperatrice","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/mckayla\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":145,"name":"ALUMNI NEWS","slug":"alumni-news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":702,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":113,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":145,"category_count":113,"category_description":"","cat_name":"ALUMNI NEWS","category_nicename":"alumni-news","category_parent":0},{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":209,"name":"B.S. in Business Management","slug":"b-s-in-business-management","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":766,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":57,"name":"Magazine Spring 2024","slug":"magazine-spring-2024","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":614,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":210,"name":"master\u2019s in Management","slug":"masters-in-management","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":767,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":211,"name":"PVF Hall of Fame","slug":"pvf-hall-of-fame","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":768,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":212,"name":"PVF Roundtable","slug":"pvf-roundtable","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":769,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":14,"name":"Wilmington University","slug":"wilmington-university","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":571,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":361,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15,"name":"WilmU","slug":"wilmu","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":572,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":295,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14072,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5815\/revisions\/14072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}