Peter Rea

Peter Rea is Vice President of Integrity and Ethics at Parker Hannifin Corporation. He is Professor of Business at Baldwin Wallace University. He teaches physician leadership for the Cleveland Clinic. He Chairs Ohio Universities Medical School Advisory Board. He serves on Baldwin Wallace’s Board of Trustees.

Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 publicly owned company with annual sales over $19 billion employing about 65,000 teammates in 50 countries. Parker is the global leader in motion and control technologies.

In 2012, Peter joined Parker in a newly established position with the purpose of preserving Parker’s reputation and protecting its financial strength.

The mission is to help individuals and teams perform at a high level despite pressure and uncertainty guided by character defined as virtue.

The strategy is to understand and apply a strength-based approach to support existing priorities.

The business impact of the virtues has been increased engagement, enhanced teamwork, and leadership development.

Previously, Peter was Business Dean and founding Burton D. Morgan Chair of Entrepreneurial Studies at Baldwin Wallace University. He was the founding Director of Baldwin-Wallace’s Center for Innovation & Growth. The Center provides a practical forum for students, profit and nonprofit senior leaders and entrepreneurs to create economic and social value through innovation guided by integrity.

He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Akron, an M.A. from Bowling Green State University, and a B.S. from Ohio University. He has completed postdoctoral studies in international marketing and business, and marketing strategy at the University of South Carolina, Memphis University, Carnegie Mellon University, and Duke University.

Publications include:

Better Humans. Better Performance December 2022. This book is an extension of Exception to the Rule: The Surprising Science of Character-based Culture and Performance co-authored with Alan Kolp and Jamie Stoller, September 2017. He co-authored Igniting Innovation with Integrity with Alan Kolp and Pierre Everaert, 2011. He co-authored Integrity is a Growth Market and Leading with Integrity with Alan Kolp, 2005. He co-authored Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide with Dr. Harold Kerzner, 1997. Co-authored publications include: Corporate Ethics Can’t Be Reduced to Compliance, Harvard Business Review, April 2016; Leading with Virtue in a VUCA World, Advances in Global Leadership, 2016.