Adam Feinberg, B.B.A. ’82

Member of Adelphi University’s Profiles in Success program.

Former executive at UPS

                 “In the business world, you deal with all types of people,” said Adam Feinberg, B.B.A. ’82, whose career working for United Parcel Service (UPS) spanned 30 years. “In my career working for a global company, not only did I deal with diverse groups of people in the United States but I also dealt with people from all over the world at different times in my career depending on my assignment.” Feinberg credits his time at Adelphi for helping him learn how to communicate with people from other walks of life. “[Adelphi] was a completely different environment than what I was used to,” he said. “It was very diverse and everybody got along great. I loved how close Adelphi was to New York City. It was a more urban environment than where I grew up and that was good for me. I needed that; to see a different world.”

                By his own admission, Feinberg wasn’t a stellar student growing up in Connecticut. However, his parents passed on lessons about the value of hard work that he put to good use over the course of his career and life. Reflecting upon the day he received his acceptance letter, Feinberg fondly recalled, “The acceptance letter said they were going to give me a chance even though I wasn’t exactly the kind of student they were looking for. But they saw something in me. Adelphi gave me an opportunity.” Feinberg went on to say, “[Adelphi] was a great experience. It gave me the chance to get away from home which I had never done before that. The campus was far enough away from Connecticut but close enough to go home. I was out on my own, making my own decisions, and managing my own time. The independence was great and it doesn’t get any nicer than Garden City.”

                Adelphi transformed Feinberg’s life in another profound way as well.  “I met my wife at Adelphi. We met in my best friend’s dorm room,” he said. “The independence I had and meeting my wife at Adelphi were the two things that really changed my life forever.”

                During his time at Adelphi, Feinberg was a member of the Marketing Club and was also involved in student government. He was a member of the men’s swim team all four years at Adelphi and was captain of the team in his junior and senior years. “My junior year, we won the Metropolitan Conference Championship and that was a big deal,” Feinberg said. “Our coach was Dave Ferris and he wasn’t much older than us. He was a good mentor. Swimming also gave me discipline and helped me manage my time. I was either sleeping, swimming or studying.”

                After graduating from Adelphi in 1982 with his degree in management, Feinberg went to work for a small telecommunications company in Shelton, Connecticut. “It wasn’t very glorious,” he said. “I was working in the mailroom and warehouse.” A year and a half later, he was transferred to a facility that was quite a distance from his home.  Feinberg decided to leave that job due to the long commute and found work in the warehouse of a small promotions company in Stamford, Connecticut. However, after the company was forced to make cuts to its staff, Feinberg found himself without a job. “So then I decided to answer a blind ad in the New York Times help wanted section. I didn’t know what company it was. All I knew is they were looking for management candidates but I had to drive a standard shift truck first. I put in my letter that I just got a standard shift car. I got a callback and it was UPS,” Feinberg recalled. “I didn’t know a lot about UPS other than once in a while a guy came by and dropped off some boxes. I called my dad and asked him what he knew about UPS. He said it was a good company but the work would be tough. I told him it was no problem. I grew up working for him. I don’t shy away from hard work.”

                Feinberg was hired as a New York area peak season driver for UPS in November 1985. Within a year, he was promoted to the role of customer service representative. Over the course of the next six years, he held many positions in UPS’ business development group in New York working his way up to area sales manager. In 1992, Feinberg and his family moved to Orlando after he was promoted to director of sales for the central Florida district. Over the next nine years, Feinberg and his family would relocate three more times, first to Atlanta, then Dallas, and finally Chicago where Feinberg took on the role of vice president of sales for UPS’ NorthCentral Region. When he first took the position, it was very similar to his previous role as the vice president of sales for UPS’ SouthWest Region. However, after UPS went through some changes and consolidation, the NorthCentral Region went from a territory of three states (Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana) to ten. Feinberg soon found himself in charge of all business development operations for the largest UPS domestic region at the time.

                In 2010, Feinberg transferred back to UPS’ corporate office in Atlanta where he worked in the company’s international group. In this role, he conducted business with representatives from the countries around the world that UPS serves.  Five years later, Feinberg accepted a position in UPS’ enterprise account group. In this role, he was responsible for approximately 400 salespeople across the U.S. who in turn were responsible for local enterprise accounts.

                A year later, Feinberg reached his eligibility for retirement. “30 years of the corporate grind was great. I got to go places, meet people, and do things that I would have never had the chance to do. It was a fantastic opportunity and great career but it was time for me to move on to other things,” he said.

                Now, Feinberg, an avid cyclist, spends much of his time riding his bicycle. He also tries to travel internationally at least once a year. “[Travelling] gives you another perspective,” he said. “The culture, food, architecture, people, language, music, is all so interesting. To learn about all of that makes you a much better person.”

                Looking back on his career, Feinberg believes his greatest accomplishment was, “Developing the people that worked for me and watching them get promoted. It was a great source of pride to help develop someone because not only do you change their professional life but you impact their personal life as well.” As for his own personal life, Feinberg said his greatest accomplishment has been, “Meeting my wife. I was lucky. She is tremendous and much smarter than I am. She pushed me to be a better student in college. Together we started a family and raised two successful kids.” Feinberg went on to say, “We relocated as a family five times and four of those were in a span of nine years. It’s very important to have a spouse and family that are supportive. My family’s ability to be supportive of my career was tremendous. It was much easier for me as an employee to make that move. UPS is UPS; everything is pretty much the same. It’s much tougher on the spouse and family. I give a lot of credit to my wife who was supportive through all of that. That’s why meeting her at Adelphi was so important.”

Published September 2017