Richard Sweeney is an American businessman. He is a vice president at the coffee brewing system company

Keurig Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and ...

Early life

Sweeney grew up in

Roselle Park, New Jersey Roselle Park is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Union County, New Jersey, Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 13,297,Roselle Catholic High School Roselle may refer to: * Roselle (plant), a species of hibiscus (''Hibiscus sabdariffa'') **A drink made from that plant, also called "Hibiscus tea" Roselle is the/a name of: ; People * Mike Roselle - American environmental activist and author ; ...

in 1966. Three months later he was drafted and served a 13-month tour of duty in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

as a soldier of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. While in Vietnam, Sweeney served as a medic, then as a team leader on the

Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol A long-range reconnaissance patrol, or LRRP (pronounced "lurp"), is a small, well-armed reconnaissance team that patrols deep in enemy-held territory.Ankony, Robert C., ''Lurps: A Ranger's Diary of Tet, Khe Sanh, A Shau, and Quang Tri,'' revised ...

s. Upon returning home to New Jersey, Sweeney received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Newark College of Engineering {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

(now known as the New Jersey Institute of Technology) in 1982, financed by the

GI Bill The Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in 1956, bu ...

. After graduation, he enrolled in graduate school and received an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Fairleigh Dickinson University Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...

in 1986.

Career

After returning home from Vietnam, Sweeney worked at

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service (UPS, stylized as ups) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company ...

as a driver. After that, he went on to a factory job where he became fascinated with the process, and decided to pursue higher education. Sweeney completed his education with an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1986 and continued to work in manufacturing. He joined

full-time in 1996 as its Vice President of Engineering.

Award recognitions

In 2006, the New Jersey Institute of Technology awarded Sweeney with their Entrepreneurial Leadership Award, and in 2018 it presented him with an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

.https://www5.njit.edu/boards/sites/boards/files/Honorary-Degrees-Commencement-2018.pdf

Personal life

Sweeney has been married to his wife Els since 1986 and they have one daughter. The Sweeneys currently reside in

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income, wealt ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Dick Living people New Jersey Institute of Technology alumni Fairleigh Dickinson University alumni People from Roselle Park, New Jersey Roselle Catholic High School alumni United States Army soldiers Year of birth missing (living people)