“My Rutgers education is the foundation for everything I do and have done in subsequent years.” – Alex Wellen
Alex Wellen earned his BS in industrial systems engineering (ISE) in 1992 and is a graduate of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He has drawn on his education to become a leader in digital transformation as it relates to business, as global chief product officer at CNN and more recently as Motor Trend’s president and CEO. He has recently embarked on a new role as QVC Group’s president and chief growth officer. Something of a Renaissance man, he is likely the only SoE graduate to have written both a memoir and a well-received rom-com novel. He is an inventor, and chair of the board of Duo Umbrella, an innovative company he co-founded with his teen-aged son with an investment from Shark Tank.
Why Rutgers for Engineering?
I’ve always been curious and passionate about creating a better mousetrap and figuring out how systems work. Starting from age six or seven, I’d tried to invent products and services and ways to improve a system.
My Rutgers education was the perfect fit for me. It is the foundation for everything I do and have done in subsequent years. It enabled me to analyze problems holistically and identify the right questions to ask to begin to build solutions. It gave me a taste of what it means to be more efficient and effective as you build solutions.
I’m all about Rutgers – it has served my family well. My younger brother majored in art history at Rutgers and is today a curator at Tate Modern in London.
What do you most value about your Rutgers Engineering education?
I don’t think I appreciated how profoundly it would alter the rest of my career. It would pay dividends in decades to come. It launched my legal career and ultimately created the opportunity for me to be CNN’s first chief product officer. And it certainly enabled me to step into a business role as president and CEO at Montor Trend and just recently as president and chief growth officer at QVC Group.
What did you most enjoy about your role at Motor Trend?
It was exciting to build upon the print, TV legacy, and branded content across digital platforms. People feel so passionately about cars and as an iconic brand, the company delivers a unique service. We’re all defined in a way by the cars we have – from our first car to our parents’ cars, to what we own now or want to own.
What about CNN?
CNN has always been a disruptor in linear TV, and a strong presence on digital media. I helped figure out how to transform change from digital to third party platforms, to still deliver news in authentic and personal ways and to make the CNN brand essential. I took on five or six different roles from programming to purely digital leadership roles.
What do you look forward to as QVC Group president and chief growth officer?
My remit is to solve problems for both retailers and consumers by leading the growth and extending the brand of the multi-media platform global shopping powerhouse.
What have you invented with your son?
When my son Nathaniel was seven, we began developing an umbrella with an extendable and retractable dual handle, so that two people could comfortably share an umbrella, stay safe, and stay dry. In 2024, Nathaniel presented the patented umbrella on ABC’s Shark Tank, landing an investment deal for Duo Umbrella, the company we cofounded.
How did your memoir Barman, come about?
It started with this notion I’d had as I left law school and was undergoing studying for and taking the bar exam and waiting to obtain my license. I thought it might be something people could connect to when leaving college or grad school and starting a career in Manhattan.
What was your inspiration for Lovesick, your rom-com novel?
It’s a bildungsroman – a story of coming of age and growing up while on a journey of getting engaged and getting married. There are two story threads: what it means to be a man and why we want to get married and what it means to become a family and marry into another family.
What advice do you have for School of Engineering students?
Don’t be literal about the teachings. They’re giving you information to analyze problems that aren’t always just for engineering purposes. Think big about the kind of contributions you can make thanks to your Rutgers engineering education.
At the end of the day, your degree will serve you in different ways as your career journey takes you in different directions than you might think. I’m proof of that.
What did you do for fun as a student?
I was president of my fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma. I think back fondly to being with friends and socializing in New Brunswick. It was special to have such a sprawling campus.
What do you do for fun now?
In many ways, I identify myself as being a father first of all. I invent things with my son for fun, play guitar, and love going down to the beach that’s three blocks away. My daughter is well-rounded at age 12, but better in math and sciences than she likes to admit. We recently spent a Saturday night on the Pythagorean theorem.
If you could go on vacation tomorrow, where would you go?
My family and I will be going to Japan this spring to see the cherry blossoms.
