President Chilton, UNH Leadership Visit BAE Systems, Fidelity Investments

Earlier this month, UNH President Elizabeth Chilton spent the day in southern New Hampshire, touring both BAE Systems in Nashua and Fidelity Investments in Merrimack. The visits reinforced the university's ongoing commitment to enhancing partnerships with the Granite State's business, industry and community leaders. Chilton was joined by Marian McCord, senior vice provost for research, economic engagement and outreach and Gretchen Heaton, associate vice provost of Career and Professional Success, among others.

The morning began with a tour of the manufacturing floor with the operations team at BAE Systems, the site of the company's Electronic Systems sector's headquarters in south Nashua. The tour included the opportunity for UNH leadership to see the work BAE Systems is leading as the state's top manufacturer and hear firsthand from an alumnus of UNH employed at BAE Systems about how his UNH education, research and internships prepared the path for a successful career at the company.

Following the tour, leadership from UNH and BAE Systems sat down to further discuss workforce development, and how a continued strong partnership between the state's public flagship R1 institution and top employers is as important as ever to ensuring New Hampshire's success in the 21st Century economy.

"I am so impressed with the hub of world-class innovative systems and technology operations happening right in our backyard at BAE Systems in Nashua," McCord says.

"Our deep-rooted presence in New Hampshire has thrived through strong collaborations with our state's educational institutions. The talent pipeline we've built together ensures we remain at the forefront of aerospace and defense innovation, while providing rewarding career opportunities for our state's graduates," adds Mark Waters, director of human resources at BAE Systems.

In the afternoon, the agenda continued in Merrimack, with UNH leaders visiting Fidelity Investments.

While UNH has long enjoyed strong ties to Fidelity, this served as President Chilton's introductory stop at the site to meet with the company hiring more UNH students for internships and first jobs than any other in New Hampshire.

The visit began in Fidelity's Fixed Income unit, where UNH leadership participated in a tour, led by Tressa Webb '98, head of investment services. Webb walked the group through the trading floor.

Later, UNH and Fidelity's regional leadership team convened to meet and discuss how to build upon existing and successful strategic partnerships. The meetings concluded with an engaging roundtable conversation with five UNH alumni who shared their stories and experiences with the group.

"Every year, students land dream internships and jobs at Fidelity Investments: from computer science majors programming better tools and networks, to art majors creating human-centered design for financial products, to business graduates bringing deep financial savvy and skill to a range of roles," Chilton says. "We're proud that students from all of our colleges, across a range of disciplines, can gain critical job experiences and potentially a professional home here at Fidelity."

"While the students may look at the Fidelity intern program as a fun and educational 10 weeks, the opportunity has the potential to be much more than that," says Anna Colombo, Fidelity regional leader. "Our internship program is just the beginning. At Fidelity, UNH graduates have the opportunity to embark on a journey of lifelong learning and a rewarding career."

Both BAE Systems and Fidelity Investments are flagship companies in UNH's Business and Economic Engagement (BEE) Initiative. This university-wide effort is developing deeper, broader relationships with corporate partners by maximizing opportunities in talent attraction and development, research, access to technical capabilities and more.

"The day's visits served to underscore UNH's unwavering commitment to afford our students a wide range of high-impact educational experiences, and to serve as a leader in the state's economy, workforce training and quality of life," Chilton says.

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