Alumni Feature: Mr. Joesph Lazzara S’69

Joseph Lazzara is a graduate of St. John’s Military Academy, class of 1969. His friendships that were forged here at the Academy left the biggest impression on him and he still treasures these relationships to this day. SJMA academic rigor gave him the academic skills necessary to excel at college where he received an engineering degree. The foundation he developed as a leader in Delta Company as commander the 2nd platoon, taught him how to be a true leader of men. From organizing the company for drill competitions to helping cadets stay out of academic probation are skills he still uses today to help his company be successful.

He has held various positions in the technology industry. Mr. Lazzara was President and Chief Executive Officer of Scientific Technologies, Inc, (“STI”) a publicly traded manufacturer of machine safeguarding and factory automation products, a position he held from 1993 to 2006. During his tenure as President and CEO, STI was selected for three years by Business Week as one of the 100 Best Small Corporations in the US; for two years by Forbes Magazine as one of the Best Small Companies in America and six consecutive years as one of NASDAQ’s most profitable companies.

Mr. Lazzara has over 30 years of public company Board of Director experience with various technology companies in the semiconductor, optical components, communication, industrial, defense and avionics industries. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the American Electronics Association (AeA), a high technology trade group and was past Chairman of the AeA’s Competitive Excellence Committee.

He is currently a member of the St. John’s Northwestern Board of Trustees. Mr. Lazzara is also Vice Chairman of and Director of Automation Products Group, Inc., a privately held manufacturer of automation, pressure and level control products.

Mr. Lazzara is also currently the co-founder and proprietor of Jazz Cellars, a producer of handcrafted, small-lot, ultra-premium California wines. Jazz Cellars has won over 145 awards and medals for their wines, including Double Gold, Gold and Best in Class accolades.

Mr. Lazzara received a B.S. in Engineering from Purdue University, an M.B.A. from Santa Clara University and learned the wine industry from the school of hard knocks.