He lectured in Electrical Engineering at the University College Galway from 1970 through 1974. He then joined Molex Ireland in Shannon in 1975, as Quality Manager and later became Materials Manager.
Joe relocated to the United States in 1979 as Molex's Director of International Operations with staff responsibility for a variety of functions including, Engineering, Quality, Manufacturing and Information Systems.
Between 1985 and 1988 he served as a Corporate Vice President and President of Molex's Far East South Region. While he was President of the Region he opened Molex's Malaysia facility and initiated discussions on operations that would later open in Thailand and China. He was also responsible for developing the Region's marketing and engineering capabilities.
In 1988, as Group Vice President-International, he was responsible for sales and manufacturing operations in Europe, the Far East and new international ventures. In 1996 he was named Executive Vice President and held responsibility for Molex's functional groups worldwide. The EVP role was part of Molex's move toward integrating its domestic and international operations by consolidating global staff functions while assigning all the Regions to report to one person, the President and Chief
Operating Officer. Mr. King assumed the position of President and Chief Operation Officer in 1999.
In July 2000 Joe assumed the position of Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Molex. He resigned that position in December 2004 and remains with the company as Vice President of Strategic Planning.
Joe currently serves on the board of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He received a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1966 from the National University of Ireland in Cork and a Master of Engineering Science degree from the same institution in 1967. He spent a year studying at the University of California at Berkeley in 1967/8. In 1974 he received a Master of Industrial Engineering degree from the National University of Ireland in Galway.
MOLEX INCORPORATED is a 67-year-old manufacturer of electronic, electrical and fiber optic interconnection products and systems, switches and application tooling. Based in Lisle, Illinois, USA, the Company operates 50 manufacturing facilities in 21 countries and employs approximately 22,000 people, 2004 revenues were $2.2 billion.
