On Wednesday, May 5th, Stephen Greer ’87 returned to campus to speak in Hard Auditorium. Greer is on a book tour in the U.S., speaking mainly at prestigious business schools, but he was especially excited to return to Pomfret. As he put it, he wanted to speak to the Pomfret community about overcoming adversity and globalization.

Greer’s book, Starting from Scrap, details his success starting his own business at a young age. After graduating from Penn State, Greer hoped to land a job on Wall Street. Due to the recession at the time, he was unsuccessful. So at 24, Greer flew to China on a one-way ticket, hoping to find business opportunities. He soon found a demand in the market and started his own highly successful company trading scrap metal. He cited his achievment as an example of “turning adversity into opportunity.”

Greer urged Pomfret’s students to “think about [themselves] in the context of the world, not just the United States.” The world is becoming increasingly global as technology improves, and he spoke with the wisdom of someone who has been around the world and back. “You can’t be fluent in all languages,” he advised, “but if you become fluent in cultures,” you can connect with people the world over.

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