Innovative Leader Eric Seidel Selected For Charlotte’s Highest Alumni Honor
This year’s recipient of the college’s highest alumni honor is a visionary leader whose career has been defined by driving growth and commercial excellence on a global scale. Described as a shining example of the heights a Belk College graduate can achieve, Eric Seidel is lauded for his strong commitment to helping to shape the future of the Belk College and Charlotte.
“I’m incredibly humbled to be here,” he said. “I graduated in 1990, and I never would have thought, in my wildest expectations, to have been here. I came here as a transfer student in 1986. I was originally from New York. What brought me down here was the weather. That really was it. After I came here, I quickly got involved with things.”
That involvement with Charlotte and Belk College has faithfully continued through the years. He now serves on the Belk College of Business Board of Advisors and the UNC Charlotte Board of Visitors. Earlier this fall, Seidel joined other Honeywell executives in announcing a $10 million investment in Charlotte to transform Burson Hall into the Honeywell Innovation Hub.
As senior vice president and chief commercial officer at Honeywell, Seidel is responsible for driving organic growth through commercial excellence. He also has responsibility for enhancing the company’s global sales capabilities to best support customers in their efforts across automation, energy transition and aviation. Throughout his career, he moved more than a dozen times, as he took on increasingly higher positions. This has required sacrifices by his wife and six children, one of whom is a student at Charlotte.
“If I think about a couple of pivotal points during my life, obviously my marriage and my family rank as No. 1,” said Seidel, who noted that his undergraduate experiences through the Belk College was a second decisive point. “UNC Charlotte gave me my first opportunity for a real career. I did a co-op program in what was then called downtown.”
At that time, Charlotte was more of a regional banking community, rather than the dynamic financial and business hub it has become. Seidel and colleagues brought bag lunches every day because there were so few restaurants. In a full circle moment, when Honeywell chose its temporary headquarters before moving into its permanent site, he found himself amazed to be back in the same offices where he had reported to work as an intern as a Charlotte student decades ago.
“So, there’s something about Charlotte,” he said. “The difference is Charlotte. I truly believe that.”