CGS - College of General Studies - University of Pittsburgh

Alumni Profile: John P. Goodrum

Fresh out of the U.S. military in 1968, 23-year-old John P. Goodrum knew he would need a four-year college degree in order to fulfill his lifelong dream of running his own business.

"At that time, I had an associate's degree in engineering," he says. "But without a four-year degree, it's extremely difficult to borrow money from banks or do the many, many other things you need to do" to launch a business. "One of the first things loan officers ask you is, 'How much higher education do you have?'"

Full-time studies weren't an option for Goodrum, who had a young family to support. With financial help from the GI Bill, Goodrum enrolled in Pitt's College of General Studies (CGS).

"I was just back from Vietnam, and Pitt was a whole different environment. I was still pretty redneck from my military time," Goodrum recalls, with a chuckle, "and at the University there were peace marches going on.

"It was an adjustment, I'd say, but it all worked out fine and I had a great experience in CGS."

Working as a traveling salesman, Goodrum took night courses. "I would arrange my trips so I would get to Pitt in time for classes," he says. Back then, most CGS evening courses began at 5:20 p.m. and ended just before 8 p.m., but others ran from 8 to 11 p.m. As often as he could, Goodrum took two classes per night, completing six or eight or even 12 credits per term.

In 1981, three years after earning his BS in business at Pitt, Goodrum and two partners founded Basic Carbide Corporation. The Lowber, Pa.-based business—which today employs 130 workers at three plants—produces custom-made products made of tungsten carbide.

Harder than any other metal or alloy and extremely wear-resistant, tungsten carbide is widely used in the manufacture of cutting tools and mining machinery and as a scratch-resistant material for jewelry. Goodrum's company has produced key cutters for Ford Motor Co. and Ace Hardware, among many other products.

Basic Carbide Corporation survived the U.S. auto industry's downturn in the 1990s by diversifying into making specialty products such as aerosol cans and Iron City Beer's innovative aluminum bottles. "Pretty much anything that's mass produced needs tungsten carbide, so there's a lot of room for diversification," explains Goodrum, whose company recently expanded its production capacity by opening a new nickel plant. (Nickel is a binder material in the production of tungsten carbide.)

Goodrum remains grateful for the high quality of his CGS education and the college's willingness to accommodate the demands of his home and work lives: "I gained knowledge in so many areas, and earning that bachelor's degree really increases your confidence level."

Basic Carbide Corporation today employs a number of Pitt graduates as sales representatives and sales engineers. "I try to support the University of Pittsburgh in any way I can," Goodrum says.