Akers selected as Southeastern Alumnus of the Year
Monday, August 20, 2018
by: Tonya Lowentritt
ALUMNUS OF THE YEAR – Southeastern Louisiana University has selected Tom Akers, retired president of trading at Metal Exchange Corporation and a 1969 and 1973 graduate, as the Southeastern Louisiana University Alumni Association 2018 Alumnus of the Year. Akers will be honored at the Alumni Association’s annual awards evening held on campus Friday, Oct. 12, as part of Southeastern’s Homecoming Week.
HAMMOND – An internationally renowned metal and manufacturing executive has been
selected as the Southeastern Louisiana University Alumni Association 2018 Alumnus
of the Year.
Tom Akers, retired president of trading at Metal Exchange Corporation and a 1969
and 1973 graduate of Southeastern, will be honored at the Alumni Association’s annual
awards evening held on campus Friday, Oct. 12, as part of Southeastern’s Homecoming
Week.
“During his tenure with Metal Exchange Corporation, Tom was responsible for growing
the company from a U.S. regional trading company with sales of approximately $400
million to an international organization with sales approaching $2 billion and offices
throughout the U.S. and international offices in Switzerland, China and Brazil,” said
Beth Carney Ebberman, president of the Alumni Association.
Akers is also an alumnus of Harvard University Business School as a graduate
of its Advanced Management Program in 1991. His areas of business expertise include
management and strategic planning, marketing, operations, international trade, import/export,
commodities markets, risk management, derivatives, logistics, and extensive international
negotiating in Europe, South America, the Middle East, Asia and the Eastern Bloc.
Prior to MEC, Akers worked for Consolidated Aluminum Corporation for 13 years,
where he was vice-president of metal supply and general manager of its recycling division.
He also worked for Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation early in his career in
Louisiana and served two years active duty and four years reserve duty in the U.S.
Navy in the 1970s.
Over the last decade, Akers has served an adjunct professor in St. Louis at both
Maryville and Webster universities, teaching courses in leadership and international
marketing.
Now retired, Akers works part-time with MEC coaching and mentoring personnel
in their Management Development program.