VP and Senior Advisor ends 38-year career as football coach, dean of students, human resources director

At Charlie Emery’s Sandia retirement party Jan. 31, the Vice President and Senior Advisor was joined by friends and colleagues he’s worked with at the Labs since he arrived eight years ago with Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) as Human Resources Vice President.It was a fun event where several of the people and groups who worked with Charlie shared stories about their relationships with him. Charlie also reflected on a 38-year career that took him from high school and college football coach, to college dean of students, to human resources director. Along the way, he says, he’s learned valuable lessons that aided his ability to deal with people and do better at his work.

As a coach he realized that every player wants to contribute, be part of the team, and be recognized; that playing should be fun; and that players should be helped to realize their full potential through development programs. As a college dean he learned to recruit the best students and faculty; recognize differences and uncommon background — listen, listen, listen; and be responsive and supportive to personal needs.

And as a human resources director he learned to take time to say “thank you” and “I appreciate you”; listen to those who want to talk with you (every employee wants to be part of the team and belong); and celebrate success. You can still see his excitement as a college football player at West Virginia Wesleyan College, where he earned his BS degree. After college he worked as a football coach and history teacher at a high school in Warren, Ohio — the heart of football country in the midsection of the US. He later coached college football at Western Michigan University, where he obtained an MA degree; North Park College in Chicago; and Augustana College in Illinois, where he nurtured his “best athlete,” Kenny Anderson, who later played starting quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals.

For Charlie’s retirement party Anderson sent an auto-graphed picture as a retirement gift. For another eight years Charlie served as Dean of Students at West Virginia Wesleyan, also obtaining an Ed.D. in Personnel/Higher Education from West Virginia University.Almost by accident he fell into human resources work by doing leadership training as a consultant for coal mining companies in West Virginia.“ I never really thought about HR as a career, but I eventually realized it was what I wanted to do,” he recalls.He joined Martin Marietta in 1980 as a manager and trainer at its Owensboro, Ky., site. He moved on quickly to become director of Human Resources for Martin Marietta facilities in Kentucky, California, and Tennessee.

In 1993 when Martin Marietta was vying to serve as Sandia’s management and operating con-tractor, Jim Tegnelia, then head of the proposal team and now Sandia 15000 VP, tapped Charlie to serve on the team. During the bid period, he met all the VPs and managers and decided Sandia was a “special place.”Charlie then joined the Labs as Human Resources VP.“ When I came in 1993 the Human Resources Division was 20 percent bigger. There were 225 people in the department with a $20 million bud-get,” he says. “That’s been streamlined to 170 people and a $16-17 million budget. ”Over the years Charlie has had a hand in initiating several human resources advancements intended to make life better for Sandians. He quickly gives credit for the success of these initiatives to Larry Clevenger (3300), Don Blanton (3000), and the dedicated Human Resources staff.

Among some of his initiatives were assisting in establishing the 9/80 workweek; establishing the vacation donation program; initiating the pay-for-performance program in 1998; working with Executive VP Joan Woodard and others on the Women in Management Program; initiating the market comparison in salaries based on R&D industry averages; instituting telecommuting policies; promoting Sandia’s diversity program;initiating in 1993 Sandia’s first institutional strategic staffing plan; overseeing the voluntary separation program in 1996-97; adding the Integrated Job Structure program in 1997; initiating the mentoring program, which has involved some 1,000 people; formalizing Executive Resource Planning; and helping found the Cam-pus Exec program (see next page). He says he’s most proud of “planting the seeds” for the EDGE Process (Employee Development, Growth, and Education), a career development process he’s been working on for the past six months.

He strongly believes that all employees should have written individual development plans.What’s next for Charlie?He and his wife Zoreah, the director of the High Desert Yoga Studio in Albuquerque, recently bought land in Zihawtencjo, Mexico, and plan to build a home in the secluded area on the beach. He has a grandson, CJ, who he loves to spend time with. CJ is going to have a brother in Marchand Charlie finds that exciting. After a while, he plans to rejoin an old friend and do some work in the commercial business area. “I like working with people,” he says. “It’s been fun. I get ‘pumped up’ by helping people improve and then move on. I hope I can continue to do that.”

Photovoltaics Department celebrates 25 years of sun power at Sandia

^{PHOTOVOLTAICS CELEBRATION — Some 50 people gathered recently at the Coronado Club to celebrate 25 years of photovoltaics at Sandia. At left is a 1976 photo of a photovoltaic cell array. The photo above shows several people who have been involved in photovoltaics pro-grams viewing a display board of pictures of the program over the years. They are, from left, Paul Klimas, Manager of Photovoltaics and Renewable Energy Systems Dept. 6219; David Hasti (former department manager and now retired); George Samara (1120); and Don Schueler (12141). Don, the department’s first manager, recalled working with the National Science Foundation to get the department started in the middle of the 1970s energy crisis. Paul said he and Joe Tillerson, Manager of Photovoltaics Systems Dept. 6218,quickly realized they inherited a national treasure when they took over their positions last year. With new energy problems emerging — witness the California rolling blackouts — Paul says he anticipates photovoltaics will play an even greater role in filling future energy needs.}