Betty Jane (BJ) Hess

BJ Hess was Senior Vice President of Global Operations for Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE) until her retirement in mid-2004. She had been a Corporate Vice President since 1989. Arrow is the world's largest distributor of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions, with 22,000 employees and global sales of more than $37 billion.

BJ joined the company in 1967, when Arrow acquired a small electronics distributor where she was working as an inventory control clerk. For 37 years, she served in a variety of field and corporate operations management and information technology positions, and participated in or directed all of Arrow's system conversion, mergers and acquisitions. Arrow acquired 62 companies over a 20 year period.

BJ was responsible for the company's information technology, logistics, manufacturing and fulfillment operations, business processes, and internal audit, as well as human resources, management development and succession planning.She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cairn University, a master's degree in business administration from Adelphi University, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Adelphi University. She currently serves on the Boards of Cairn University, and The Good Jobs Institute.

BJ's husband of 32 years died in 2000 from a brain tumor, and upon her remarriage in 2004 to Herb Hess, she retired from her position at Arrow Electronics. In her new life she enjoys Herb's four children and their spouses, and Herb's 10 grandchildren. She also enjoys participating as the case protagonist in case studies on Arrow Electronics at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management, instructing on integration strategy and operational excellence in the supply chain.