Kevin Johnson MBA ’09 served much of his 2004-05 tour of duty in Iraq as a U.S. Army captain in the shadow of “seemingly endless” oil fires started by insurgents. “At the same time,” he wrote in the White House blog, “our own military’s dependence on fossil fuels was placing thousands of my fellow soldiers in harm’s way.”

His business education at Johnson was instrumental in his transition from the military to the solar energy industry. “The clean energy sector appeals to veterans for many reasons as the intersection of energy security and our national security are becoming better understood,” he says.

Currently, as managing director of Federal Business Development for Canadian Solar (USA), Kevin is delivering solar panels to Fort Benning, Georgia.

Kevin is on the board of the Solar Energy Industry Association, which, with the White House Joining Forces Initiative, aims to recruit 50,000 veterans into solar energy jobs by 2020.