Email: calabrese@eng.vt.edu
John Calabrese was named vice president, global vehicle engineering, for General Motors Company in April 2011. In this capacity, he also serves as president, global technology operations. Prior to this appointment, he served as the executive director, group global functional leader for body, exterior, dimensional, interior, safety, HVAC/PTC, and GM de Mexico Toluca Regional Engineering Center.
Mr. Calabrese holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology and a master of science degree in administration from Central Michigan University. He was awarded an academic GM scholarship at ITT and worked as a summer intern for General Motors Fisher Body Division in 1979-1981 and officially joined GM in 1981 as an experimental engineer at the Milford Proving Grounds.
After rotating through several engineering positions, Mr. Calabrese was appointed director, global advanced purchasing, for the Worldwide Purchasing Organization in July 1998 and then was appointed executive director of this activity in July 1999. In October 2000, he returned to engineering as executive director, interior engineering, for the General Motors North American Organization. Since his return, he has held executive director positions in global chassis/HVAC & PT cooling and body/exterior/dimensional engineering.
In addition to his engineering responsibilities, Mr. Calabrese sits on the board of directors for Shanghai GM (SGM) and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC.) Mr. Calabrese is also the key GM executive to Virginia Tech. In addition, he is a member of the board of directors for the Engineering Society of Detroit and the Michigan Science Center.
Mr. Calabrese was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and is married with three children.
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