Rick Nelson

After Central I went to Penn State where I graduated with a degree in psychology. After 5 years as a psychiatric caseworker at a community mental health center in Altoona, PA, returned to Penn State where I earned a degree in electrical engineering. I went to work at AT&T Bell Labs in Reading, PA in 1981. After 10 years my job moved to Allentown, PA so we relocated. After a total of 16 years doing process engineering, digital logic verification and test engineering, transferred to AT&T Microelectronics where I was a product engineer for 3 years. Later became a project manager and went with the Lucent Technologies spin-off and later the Agere Systems spin-off. After 24.5 years, left and became an IT Project Manager at MetLife in Moosic, PA (Scranton area). After 27 months, due to a re-org I was laid off but immediately found a job as an IT Project Manager consultant working at PJM Interconnection in Norristown. After that gig I spent one month as an IT PM consultant at AT&T when my current (and last) employer called and asked me to interview. My wife, Paula, of 46 years, and I live in Whitehall, just north of Allentown. We retired at the end of October, 2014.

Got an MBA along the way and a PMP certification (project management professional). Founded a payphone company in 1990 (side job). Grew it throughout a 4 county area specializing in bars in poor neighborhoods (gotta go where they needed them). Profitably sold the company in 1999 before the payphone industry crashed due to the growing use of cell phones.

We've traveled a number of times to Europe and also to the Caribbean where I enjoy SCUBA diving. Photography is another of my hobbies both above and below sea level.

Playing "football" at lunchtime on the cafeteria tables. You know, spinning a quarter, having to catch and balance it on its end.

Almost putting the driver ed teacher through the windshield the first time I "hit" the brakes.

Hated the 1/2 mile run.

Cutting school after being accepted to college. Going on such noteworthy adventures with my carpool buddies (Ron Brooks, Bruce Engel, Curt Brodsky, Alan Perlberg) like driving to NY city for lunch, walking home to Overbrook Park from Central, driving to Wilmington and taking a tour of an auto assembly factory.

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