David Reed was born on October 19, 1954, the second of three boys born to Edward and Bernadetta Reed. David graduated from Hudson Falls High School with honors in 1972 and was active in student government and athletics. He attended Alfred University where he graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Ceramic Engineering. He went on to receive a Master’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1978 where he studied biomedical ceramics supported by a National Science Foundation grant.
From 1978 to 1983, David worked for Norton Company as a Research Scientist and Manager of Process Engineering for the Industrial Ceramics Division. His groups supported some of the early government funded high temperature ceramic turbine engine research work. He also was instrumental in setting up high purity facilities for the production of semiconductor furnace components.
From 1984 until present David has worked for Ceradyne, Inc. and has held various engineering and management positions. He is currently President of North American Operations and has responsibility for over 1400 employees and approximately $350 million in sales of advanced ceramic materials into Defense, Solar Energy, Nuclear Power, Medical, and Oil exploration markets.
David is directly responsible for the R&D and production of the lightweight ceramic body armor system known as the Enhance Small Protective Inserts (ESAPI) used by every American fighting man and woman. Under his leadership, over $1.8 billion of these state-of-the-art ballistic body armor systems have been produced over the past six years, saving thousands of American lives.
David and his wife Diane have two boys, Greg, 27 who works in Finance and Steve, 24 who works in Marketing. He is a life member of the American Ceramic Society and actively supports research programs throughout the industry. He and his family are tennis enthusiasts and he maintains his passion for skiing which he fostered from his many trips to Gore Mountain as a child.
The education and mentoring from the teachers at Hudson Falls High School established a solid educational base that allowed David to pursue his passions for research and production of advanced materials. He is indebted to the community for the job support he received during his college years and feels that the Adirondack work ethic has served him well to this day.