First-Hand:A Career at Westinghouse

Submitted by Nick Petrou

Returning to the States in 1946 after the war, I had a choice of joining the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, where I had been an engineer in training, or RCA. I settled on Westinghouse because the company offered ten cents an hour more than RCA.

In 1951, I moved my family to Baltimore, Maryland, where Westinghouse assigned me to start up the Defense Electronic operations. In 1961, I was sent to the Advanced Management Program (AMP '39) of the Harvard Business School. I became General Manager of the Aerospace Division of Westinghouse in 1966. I advanced to President of the Westinghouse Defense Division and later to Executive Vice President of the Westinghouse Defense Space Group. In 1977, I was Corporate Vice President of Human Resources at Westinghouse headquarters.

I firmly believe ethics cannot be taught as a separate course in graduate schools. In actual practice, ethics is an every day issue and an integral part of every day living. Ethics begins at home and progresses throughout one's educational life.