June 12, 2020
Paying it forward: alumni spotlight with Rod Mallette
Rod Mallette
Rod Mallette is the CEO of International Auto Logistics (IAL), a special-purpose company designed and built to provide quality-driven automotive transportation and logistics services to the U.S. government and other industries. His company operates an extensive, worldwide supply chain, a term in the limelight these days, that annually moves 70,000 privately-owned vehicles for service members being deployed or coming home from overseas.
Mallette’s supply chain career began when he was a logistics and transport officer for the Army. While in the Army, he obtained his Master of Business Administration from the College of Business to help him with the modeling and data analysis needed to perform the operations research required for his work.
Recently, Mallette and his wife, Wanda, established a scholarship for active-duty military, reserve or National Guard and their spouses. We spoke with him about his time at ECU and why he decided to give back to the College of Business.
“I finished my undergraduate degree in December 1977,” said Mallette. “Early in 1978, I joined the Army and found myself overseas four years later. Then when I left Germany in 1985, I became an Army recruiter based out of Greenville, and I decided to get my MBA from ECU (and the College of Business). I started as a part-time student, and I then asked the Army if they would let me attend full time and finish up my MBA.”
How was your experience getting your MBA from ECU (and the College of Business)?
It was wonderful, a really good experience. I can’t say I was the most dedicated student as an undergraduate, but being married and having two young sons has a way (of sobering) you up a little bit. I was there at the right time for me. I’ll always remember Don Boldt, whom I’ve stayed in touch with over the years, and learning how to look at problems in a structured way, which really helped me out.
I learned a lot from Don. I was really challenged by him and wanted to finish at the top of his class. Another professor, who has since retired, and with whom I stayed in touch with since graduating, was Maggie Capen. She was a big influence on me. I actually called her many times during my military career to say, “Maggie, I am trying to solve this problem. Here is how I looked at it. Am I on the right track?” and she was always helpful to me.
How has the MBA benefited you?
If you’re an officer in the military, at least when I came through, you needed to have a master’s degree at a certain point if you were going to stay competitive for promotion. More importantly, the strategy courses, like the one Don Boldt taught, gave me a foundation and a structured way of looking at things that I drew on in the military and still draw on in my commercial career. It’s a good value for the money going to East Carolina.
Why did you establish the scholarship? What do you hope for it, and what would you like to see accomplished?
Rod Mallette with his wife Wanda in Alaska.
When I joined the College of Business’ Board of Advisors, it was emphasized to us that we need to share our time, talent and treasure. Some people are fortunate and have more treasure than others. My wife and I wanted to establish something. My wife and eldest son went to school at ECU. It was just time. There are so many military service men and women and their spouses who weren’t as fortunate as I was, having the military pay for my school. I want them to have the ability to attend ECU and the College of Business. Hopefully, this scholarship will make it a little bit easier for them. It was very important to my wife that spouses are a part of it and have the (same) opportunity.
I believe it is the tipping point for them to go to ECU if they get help with tuition.
Why would you recommend other COB alumni and Pirates give of their time, talent and treasure to the College of Business? How do you think it will benefit them to give back?
I feel like someone has helped my wife and me along the way. You always pay past assistance forward and help someone else materially. That’s what you’re doing is paying it forward to someone else.
This gift is our way of saying thank you.
Last question. What’s the last book you read?
I’m reading “The Immortal Irishman” right now. It is about Thomas Meagher, who is a famous Irish man that was convicted and sent to Australia by the British and eventually went on to fight in the Civil War on the United States side. It’s just a biography of his life. It’s written in a historical fiction style, and it’s pretty good.
- Categories:
- Alumni
- Feature
- Graduate Programs
- LCD