VOLUME 13, NO. 1     DEC 1999

Board of Trustees welcomes international businessman

A WPI alumnus and one of China's leading industrialists is WPI's newest trustee. Glenn Yee '74 attended high school in Cleveland, Ohio, after his family emigrated there from Hong Kong. At WPI, where he majored in mechanical engineering, he was among the first students to enroll under the WPI Plan. He went on to found Pacific Can Corp., one of the major aluminum can manufacturers in China. The company, which he serves as CEO, supplies many of the top global and domestic breweries and soft drink companies.

After graduating from WPI, Yee joined General Electric Company's Technical Marketing Program. He left GE to complete an M.B.A. at Columbia University. In 1977 he became a corporate financial analyst at Continental Can Co.'s Stamford, Conn., headquarters. Two years later he was assigned to the company's new Asian Pacific office in Hong Kong, where he was responsible for financial evaluations of joint ventures and acquisitions in the region.

He was named commercial director for Continental Can Hong Kong Ltd. in 1984, promoted to deputy managing director responsible for business development in China in 1986, and appointed managing director in 1989. In 1991, sensing that China was beginning a new economic growth phase, he left Continental to start Pacific Can Company. The business expanded rapidly. In 1993 Continental Can Europe Inc., a subsidiary of VIAG A.G., a top-10 German group, became a strategic partner.

A dedicated alumnus, Yee is a member of the President's International Advisory Board and the President's Advisory Council and was active in the Alumni Admissions program during the past 10 years. He and his wife, the former Amy Lee, met while she was attending Simmons College. They have two sons, Nicholas and Curtis.