Keith Krach on Mentorship, the American Dream & U.S. Manufacturing Revival | 2025 SME Merchant Medal

Описание: Brad Koepenick, award-winning educator, producer, and co-founder of the Spark Rise social impact platform, sits down with Keith Krach — Chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University and 2025 recipient of the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of Honor — for an inspiring conversation on leadership, mentorship, freedom, and America’s manufacturing future.

At the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Conference, Krach reflects on his journey from welding in his father’s small Ohio machine shop at age 12 to leading billion-dollar innovations that transformed robotics, digital trust, and global supply chains.

Highlights from the interview:

• How Dr. Seiuemon Inaba (FANUC) and Don Peterson (Ford Motor Company) shaped Krach’s early career at General Motors.
• The lessons his parents — Mama Krach and John Krach — instilled about hard work, humility, and the true meaning of the American Dream.
• Why small and mid-sized manufacturers are the heart of the U.S. economy.
• Insights on manufacturing security as national security — and Krach’s role in bringing TSMC’s semiconductor production to the United States.
• Reflections on leadership, education, and what America means to him in one word: Freedom.


About the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal

Awarded jointly by ASME and SME, the Merchant Medal honors individuals whose pioneering contributions have advanced manufacturing science, practice, and education worldwide.

About Keith Krach

• Former U.S. Under Secretary of State
• Nobel Peace Prize Nominee (2022) for the Trust Doctrine
• Chairman Emeritus, DocuSign, Ariba, and Purdue Board of Trustees
• Founding Chair, Global Tech Security Commission
• Co-founder, GMF Robotics, and Ariba (B2B e-commerce pioneer)

“The American Dream is that the student surpasses the professor.” – John Krach

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