Executive-in-Residence Features B. Braun CEO

On March 24, Northampton Community College (NCC) held their 41st annual Hal Shaffer Memorial Executive-in-Residence program, featuring Robert (Rob) Albert, CEO of B. Braun of America. 

The Executive-in-Residence program is made possible by an endowment established by Cecile and Jack Shaffer in memory of their late son, Hal. 

President of NCC, David A. Ruth, Ph.D., opened the fireside chat by welcoming the executive and highlighting the significance of the event. “This event has brought us some of the Lehigh Valley’s most successful business leaders. This truly is a flagship event for the College each year. Today, we’re honored to host Rob Albert, CEO of B. Braun of America. Rob also is a member of our Foundation Board, so he has long been a supporter of NCC and our students,” Ruth said. He also noted that Albert invited interested students to take a tour of B. Braun’s Allentown facility. 

^{Albert (left) joined by moderator and professor, Wendi Achey (right)}

This is an exciting year for the program, as NCC’s Center for Career Development launched the Hal Shaffer Memorial Executive-in-Residence Leadership Certificate. This professional development opportunity allowed students to strengthen their leadership skills, build career readiness, and connect directly with industry executives. 

Braun’s history began when Julius Wilhelm Braun bought the Rose Pharmacy in Melsungen, Germany. Heenvisioned transforming thepharmacy into something greater, and he did.  

The company has remained in the Braun family for generations and has expanded into markets across the globe. Production of surgical instruments began in 1867 and grew in ways previously unimagined. Today, B. Braun has evolved into a global leader in the manufacturing of medical supplies, focusing on improving clinical outcomes and developing solutions for medical care. Its North American operations began in 1979, and soon after, Albert began his career with the company.  

“We now ship in a day what we used to ship in a year. That shows the amount of growth we have been fortunate enough to see in the 42 years I’ve been with the company,” said Albert. 

Albert graduated from college in 1983. At that time, unemployment was high and finding jobs was tough. He needed a steady paycheck, so, Albert grabbed the newspaper and circled jobs in the Help Wanted section. “I submitted an application to B. Braun Medical and was hired as a production supervisor for third shift,” he said. 

He was ultimately looking for something in marketing or sales, not in production. However, every time Albert started to get the itch to move on from the company, new opportunities arose. He seized each chance to grow and change positions, even if he didn’t know where they would take him. He said that sometimes having patience makes a big difference in your career.  

“Many of us want to move up quickly, and we wonder when the next promotion is coming. To those people, I say ‘I understand it, but we need to practice patience and persistence’,” Albert said. "Opportunity doesn’t always knock. Sometimes you have to go find it. You’re responsible for your career and how you plot your journey to success. Put yourself out there, even for jobs you don’t feel qualified for.” 

He spent four years with B. Braun as a production supervisor, but then he landed his desired role as a sales representative, a position he held for ten years. 

When B. Braun acquired a company in California, Albert was offered a role on the transition team. It was during this time that he began to see his own growth in the company, moving from a director role on the West Coast to leading the international division in Bethlehem, traveling the globe for three years.  

“The company I was transitioning was a U.S. company with foreign distributors, and B. Braun was a German company with affiliates all over the world. There were conflicting priorities in different parts of the world, and so, I was there to fix that. I learned and grew a lot.”  

It was then that he realized B. Braun was the company he could see himself with long term. He went on to lead special projects and work in pharmaceutical marketing, among other roles, before advancing into his CEO role.  

What makes B. Braun so special, in part, is the culture that he and his peers have built. “The culture is special. We aren’t cutthroat like in some of the other companies out there. We make every effort to allow for opportunities for our employees to learn and grow.” 

The company also stands out for their innovation in finding solutions to problems in the healthcare industry. For example, B. Braun evaluated how well nurses perform needle sticks for intravenous placement. “We can we improve the number of times you’re being stuck to find a vein, which also results in the use and waste of a catheter on each attempt. That’s a lot of product waste, cost to hospitals, and suffering for patients. We have a visualization technology for the sticks, and it makes the first stick success rate much higher.” 

“Be true to yourself, and carry yourself with confidence,” was Albert’s advice to all the students in attendance, key to what kept him moving up the ranks at B. Braun. 

The biggest lesson he’s learned is how important collaboration is. “We need teamwork. We need people supporting us, and we need to support the people around us in order to get things done and done well.” 

He compared this to Formula 1 racing. “There are two racecars on every Formula 1 team, and for each team, there are about 1,000 team members from the pit crew to the planning. These teams create success around them by trusting each other to do their jobs efficiently. And, trust is a big part of any job as well. Knowing that your team members are going to get their job done allows you to stay focused on what you have do.” 

At the end of the program, a $1,000 scholarship was presented to first-year marketing student, Kaitlyn Zile, in Rob Albert’s name. NCC’s Alumni Association committed to endowing the Executive in Residence Scholarship Fund to be presented annually in the name of that year’s Executive-in-Residence. 

When a student asked Albert what his definition of success is, he said, “Success goes beyond my career. It’s having a loving wife and family to go home to, but professionally, as long as what you’re doing makes you happy, you don’t need to worry about your title. As long as when you wake up Monday morning, you want to go to work, that’s success. That’s what matters.”  

Whatever your definition of success is, Albert recommended always learning something new. “I was fortunate enough to learn a lot all in one company, but I made sure to step outside my comfort zone to find what I really enjoyed.”