Alumnus speaks about career development

Joe McInnes, director of the Alabama Department of Transportation and an alumnus of the University, spoke Friday about the development of his career.

He said he started as a chemistry major at the University before becoming a law student, then worked at an international construction company. Now, he is working in the state government.

"Very few people get to pick their destinies, but rather stumble upon [it] like I did," McInnes said. "I am also quite grateful that the journey is not over."

McInnes was part of the Helen Crow Mills and John Carroll Mills Lecture series, an endowed lecture series that brings distinguished alumni and citizens to campus to motivate and inspire students.

In his lecture, titled "How I Got Here From There: The Reinvention of One's Life and Career," McInnes said he came to the University the week after his high school graduation with uncharted dreams and a love for chemistry.

Tired of always finding definite answers, he said he sought to study the unsolvable questions of the law as a student at Jones School of Law. Then, he said, he spent the next 25 years working at Blount International as the company's executive vice president and chief administrative officer.

He said he also assisted the Winton Blount family in founding of the Blount Cultural Park and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the sixth-largest Shakespeare festival in the world. The Blount Undergraduate Initiative was named in honor of Winton "Red" Blount in 1999.

In 2003, McInnes became the director of the Alabama Department of Transportation after being appointed by Gov. Bob Riley. Before McInnes began, he said, the department had faced many difficulties, especially since two of the last three directors were indicted by a grand jury - and one was sent to the federal prison.

McInnes said he wanted to bring integrity back to the department and governor's cabinet. He made the entire department follow his own special code of ethics, which he called "Red's Book," in honor of Blount.

He said the desire for change already existed within the transportation department before he arrived, and when a hunger for change already exists, it is not hard to instigate change.

"When setbacks do fall into your path they can stop you dead in your tracks or they can inspire you on," McInnes said. "Either way, it will be a turning point that should be embraced in you life."

Mandy Anderson, a freshman majoring in pre-dentistry and a member of the Blount Undergraduate Initiative program, said she thought McInnes's speech was interesting.

"The part I found most inspiring is when he talked about how he failed many times, but still succeeded in his career," she said.