Fred Niemeier, group president and senior vice president of strategy and operations at Harbour Group and a graduate from Missouri S&T, will give the twelfth annual Dr. Thomas J. O’Keefe Lecture this December.

The lecture will begin at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in the Planje Auditorium, 204 McNutt Hall, and is free and open to the public. There will be a reception prior to the lecture in the McNutt Hall Commons from 2:45-3:15 p.m.

Niemeier’s lecture will focus on career paths available to engineering graduates who want to build and lead businesses that make engineered products.

Niemeier earned a bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from Missouri S&T in 1995 and began his career at General Motors. After getting an MBA from Harvard Business School, he worked for the management consulting firm PRTM before working as an executive at Danaher Corporation, Baird Capital Partners, and IDEX Corporation. Currently at Harbour Group in St. Louis, Niemeier works with portfolio company leaders and investment teams to acquire and build businesses.

The Dr. Thomas J. O’Keefe Lecture Series at Missouri S&T was created in memory of O’Keefe, Curators’ Professor emeritus of metallurgical engineering. He earned bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from the university and taught in the metallurgical engineering department from 1953 until his death in 2008. O’Keefe graduated over 60 Ph.D. students, published 170 articles, had eleven issued U.S. and foreign patents, and received numerous awards throughout his career. The lecture series is funded by Joe and Sally Rupp; Joe Rupp was a student of O’Keefe’s who earned his metallurgical engineering degree from Missouri S&T in 1972.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System and located in Rolla, Missouri, Missouri S&T offers 101 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top 10 universities for return on investment, according to Business Insider. S&T also is home to the Kummer Institute, made possible by a $300 million gift from Fred and June Kummer. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.