Emerson U. Fullwood

Phone: (585) 475-5453 Email: eufprv@rit.edu Office Location: 1126 Eastman

Our Minett Professor is Emerson U. Fullwood, former corporate vice president of Xerox Corporation, and Executive Chief Staff and Marketing Officer for Xerox North America's $9 billion business.

Fullwood's personal journey began growing up near Wilmington, North Carolina when the struggle for civil rights in the South was gathering new momentum. By the time he was ready for college, North Carolina State was just beginning to integrate its student body. As one of the first African-American students to enroll, he had a sometimes challenging, but ultimately very satisfying college experience.

Although his father preferred that he go to medical school, the business gene was strong in his family. He decided to pursue economics as an undergraduate, and then earned his MBA at Columbia. His next decision turned out to be one of the most important in his life: taking a job at Xerox.

Xerox put him through its world famous sales training program, and then started him off selling copiers. He was a successful salesman, and with the company growing rapidly, he took advantage of the many opportunities this growth created. After running a national sales organization, he was given the chance to run the $650M supplies business. He credits the business for significantly enhancing his management skills, and in a short time was asked to take over the struggling Convenience Copier business. Xerox talked of closing it down, however a determined Fullwood jumped in hard, reached out across the company for assistance, recruited an outstanding team, and together turned the business around.

With the help of several wonderful mentors, he became something of a 'Mr. Fix It' within Xerox, moving through a string of high profile P&L leadership roles, and in 1996 was elected a Corporate Officer.

As Fullwood's career developed, so did his awareness of his obligation to help others, both inside and outside of Xerox. In addition to mentoring many younger Xerox managers, he has served on the boards of numerous community, philanthropic, and educational institutions. He felt incredibly blessed when North Carolina A&T University awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2004.

He frequently is named among the nation's top executives, earning recognition in 2007 from Black Enterprise magazine as one of the "75 Most Powerful African-Americans in Corporate America," and in 2004 from VARBusiness magazine as one of the "Top 100 Executives" responsible for supporting computer resellers.

We are very fortunate to have Emerson Fullwood here at RIT to kick-off our leadership program, lecture in the College of Business, and deliver his motivational message across campus.

The Minett professorship is designed to bring distinguished Rochester-area minority professionals to RIT to share their professional knowledge and experience with students and faculty for one academic year. Past Minett professors include Moka Lantum, director of business process improvement Excellus BlueCross BlueShield; G. Peter Jemison, curator of the Fenimore Art Museum; Augustin Melendez, vice president for human resources, Eastman Kodak Co.; Robert Colón, director, RIT Office of Legal Affairs;

Michael Finney, former president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise; and Gladys Santiago, president of Rochester City Council.