Michael J. Hartnett

Michael Hartnett, we honor you as an innovator, researcher, entrepreneur, lifelong student in the fields of engineering and business, husband, father and esteemed graduate of the University of New Haven. Born and raised in Waterbury, you began working for your father, a tool and die maker, when you were 12, establishing early a superb work ethic and a healthy respect for education in all its forms. You attended Waterbury State Technical College, then graduated first in your class from the University of New Haven in 1969. Inspired by the promise of advancing technology in engineering, you accepted a position at Bethlehem Steel Corporation, a world leader in industrial manufacturing, holding to hopes of attending graduate school on your way to ascending the career ladder. But it was a time when the United States was embroiled in a war in Vietnam. You received notice that you had been drafted, and over the course of two years, postponed your dreams to serve in the military. Once free to pursue your future, you earned your master's degree at Worcester Polytechnic Institute while married with a child and working full time at the Torrington Company in Torrington, Connecticut. You stepped into the lead tribology role at the Torrington Company despite a lack of knowledge and experience, and mastered the art and science of tribology. Your interest in tribology, the science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion, led you to study and apply the principles of friction, lubrication and wear on machinery in new ways at the Torrington Company, and you became a world leader in the field, publishing numerous papers on the subject. Your drive earned you a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, and your innovative thinking led you to become a leader in manufacturing efficiencies. Science led you to business, and as an entrepreneur you took a calculated risk on a money-losing company, RBC Bearings, and within three months had made it profitable. Seventeen years later, the company is now publicly traded on NASDAQ with a market capitalization of just under $1 billion. Michael J. Harnett, for your leadership in the fields of engineering and business, for being a student of life who listened, learned and applied lessons, and for your valued membership on this University's Board of Governors, the University of New Haven is pleased to confer upon you the degree of Doctor of Business Administration, honoris causa.