Gregory Cornell has had a front row seat to history. After graduating from BYU in finance in 1985, he joined the U.S. Army and served his first four years in Germany at the end of the Cold War.
“The Berlin Wall came down and an LDS temple was built in East Germany while I was there,” he says. “Those really were once-in-a-lifetime experiences.”
Cornell continued active military service, rising to the rank of captain, until he transitioned to the South Carolina Army National Guard in 1996. With his military service now just a few weeks a year, he began full-time work in the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice, first as director of health services and then as director of planning and programs. When he began, the state’s juvenile detention facilities and programs were struggling. During his time of service, Cornell opened five new health clinics and applied for grant money to start a number of new statewide projects, including work-training and employee stipend programs for juvenile offenders.
Cornell was reactivated for military service in 2003 and 2004, spending time overseeing training management at eleven southern U.S. Air Force bases and completing an eleven-month tour of duty as an executive officer in Afghanistan.
In 2009, Cornell began working as an analyst in the Army solutions division of General Dynamics, a defense contractor focused on military training. In this role he travels the country preparing brigades for battle and designing simulations to replicate the rigors of combat.
“We train leaders to prepare them for battle and for the unique organizational challenges they will face,” he says. “We have a unique opportunity to help our troops be as prepared as they can.”
Cornell acknowledges that his schooling and career have given him a unique perspective on history in the making.
“My education helped prepare me for understanding that when things are happening around you, it’s a significant thing,” he says. “I’m grateful for all I’ve been able to experience.”
Cornell lives with his wife, Deborah, in Elgin, South Carolina. They have four children and four grandchildren.
