The office of the vice president for Human Resources sits in a quaint, converted residence at the corner of Peoples Avenue and Burdett Avenue. Curtis Powell greeted me with a broad grin as he ushered me into the room, the walls of which were adorned with a variety of certifications and citations, which I would inspect more closely later. I was more concerned at the time with learning more about the head of Rensselaer’s human resources division, so we sat down to chat.

Originally from a small town in Delaware called Felton, he grew up in rural surroundings where "everybody knew everybody," and athletics was king. "I played in everything—football, basketball, track." said Powell. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had decided to stay in Delaware, and attended Delaware State University, which both his parents had attended. "I majored in education, but I really had no idea what my major was going to be when I got there," laughed Powell. "I wanted to become a teacher." While attending, he played for Delaware’s Division I football team

In the 1975 college draft, however, Powell’s career took a different turn when he was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys. "It was a lot of fun [playing at Delaware], especially when it’s like being a big fish in a small pond. But the thing of it is, when you leave and go to the professional ranks, you’re the water boy," remembered Powell.

It was an exciting opportunity for him. "To put it in perspective, it’s just like leaving high school and going to college, and you’re saying ‘what am I doing here, someone must have made a mistake,’" he joked.

After a year he returned to Delaware and started teaching and coaching at Middletown High School. In the third year of his coaching, Middletown won the football state championship. "We had 700 students, and we went against a big private school that had everything. It was a wonderful game," stated Powell. It was around that time that the coach at the University of Maryland suggested that he should coach at the college level. After exploring the

possibility, he took a split position at Maryland 50 percent in coaching and 50 percent in what was called "personnel" at the time. By the time the head coach retired, Powell had a family and decided to stay where he was. When the new coaching staff was brought in, he decided to make the switch and become full-time personnel.

He started off in compensation, evaluating pay, performing salary surveys, and creating new job criteria, but was soon promoted. Three years later, he was able to become director of personnel for the entirety of Bowie State University, but moved back to University of Maryland after about four years when he was recruited to be a director there. After another four years, Powell made another career transition and moved into health care as vice president for Human Resources for the Bon Secours Health System.

"It’s the same work, you’re dealing with workforce. If you look at the faculty, staff, and everybody, and you look at how we recruit people and develop programs for those individuals, and benefits. It’s just like when you come in as a student, student life has a number of activities to make you whole. That’s the same focus we want to have in human resources," said Powell.

He remained in health care for about 10 years, and his responsibilities included two major hospitals and twelve primary care sites in the Baltimore area. When the opportunity at Rensselaer came up, Powell was skeptical. "I said ‘You have to be kidding—Troy, New York? Doesn’t it get cold up there?’" he laughed. "I wasn’t convinced that this was the right opportunity for me, but the recruiter kept talking to me and told me that I should meet with the president, and I did. I was so excited about her vision and focus for not just this university, but the world, that I decided to come," stated Powell, who is the first vice president for Human Resources RPI has had.

Powell enjoys helping people. "When I see employees that are happy and productive, that’s rewarding for me to see. That’s why we want to be the employer of choice, we want to drive that," said Powell.

His advice to students: Respect others. "Out of all that you learn, understand that the most important thing that you can take away is the respect for someone else, and appreciation of someone else. If I appreciate you, and I respect you, that allows you to feel a part of something, and everybody wants to be a part of something to share themselves with."

NEXT WEEK: Faye Duchin, Dean of the School of the Humanities & Social Sciences.