Ask Manjit Singh '90 how he's been able to quickly climb the corporate ladder, and his first answer is that he has been at the right places at the right times. More than that, he says, it's the ability to help businesses move from outmoded practices to those needed to be competitive in the 21st century.

For the past year, Singh, 38, has been the vice president and chief information officer at Chiquita Brands, based in Cincinnati. The company hired him as part of a large-scale reorganization effort, expanding its focus from bananas to products such as bagged salads.

According to the trade publication Food Navigator USA, Chiquita was burdened with debt and new regulations on the importation of bananas into the European Union. In a company statement announcing Singh's hiring, Chiquita said it was focusing on growth and innovation.

"We have a very strong global brand," Singh said. "But even with that, we hadn't invested in getting consumers' insights. We need to better tailor our products to them. And, that extends to our focus on the IT [information technology] side."

Singh said Chiquita will continue to invest money in people and building the IT architecture needed to achieve growth. The challenges facing him mirror his experiences at other Fortune 500 companies. For example, before coming to Chiquita, Singh led the consolidation of Gillette's Asia Pacific IT organizations. During the early days of the Internet, he helped Procter & Gamble get started with e-marketing.

Singh also attributes his success to the education in math and computer science he received at Binghamton and to his belief in life-long learning.

"From a young age, I had a very strong drive," Singh said. "That applied to my academic life and then to my career. I set very strong goals and pushed myself to achieve them. The education I got at Binghamton was as good, if not, better, than the education my colleagues received at Ivy League schools."

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