Joe Michels, Ph.D, P.E., C.P.L. is the managing principal at Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC. He founded Solomon Bruce Consulting in 2007 to help businesses optimize their organizations by providing the same level of strategic thinking and business processes that Fortune 500 firms receive. Dr. Michels has guided the firm with a wealth of experience and expertise gleaned from his unique, remarkable work history. A retired military senior officer and a former university business school Dean, Dr. Michels imbues each engagement with his real world, practical approach to solving client challenges.

As Dean of the College of Business at Montana State University-Billings, Joe was a mentor within an organizational culture that fostered innovation and entrepreneurship. This experiential, personalized learning environment combined with strong leadership resulted in award-winning student achievements and faculty receiving international, national, and regional recognition for business plans, case studies and research on every sector of business.

While a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force for over three decades, he worked the logistics side, experiencing first-hand how structure, organization and discipline work together to create efficient business models.

Joe earned his PhD in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the States of Texas and Montana. He also holds additional graduate degrees from the Naval War College, University of Oklahoma, University of Southern California as well as an undergraduate degree from Weber State University. In addition:

He is actively involved in the local community and is currently serving in the following venues:

Membership Committee Member, Rotary Club of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, July 2014- June 2024

Chair, Industrial Engineering Professional Engineering (P.E.) License Development Committee, National Council Of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors (NCEES), Jan 2019-present

Board Member, Lone Star Chapter,  Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area, National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Sept 2015- December 2020.

Member Advisor, Rotaract Club of Fort Worth, August 2020- Present

Board Member, Fort Worth Youth Symphony Orchestra, September 2019- Present

Fort Worth Business Assistance Center Business Plan Competition Judge, May 2013-June 2021

 

He has also served in leadership roles in the following organizations:

Past Co Vice Chair, Industrial and Systems Engineering Professional Engineering Licensure Committee, National Council of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors

Past Co-Chair- Young Engineers Committee, Texas State Professional Engineers

Past Chair, Program Committee, Rotary Club of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas

Business Advisory Board Member, Texas Academy for the Biological Sciences, Fort Worth, Texas

2012 Montana Ambassador of the Year, Selected by Governor Steve Bullock, D-Montana

Past Board Member and Committee Chair, Board of Directors, Billings, Montana Downtown Rotary Club #999

Past Member, Business Expansion and Retention (BEAR) team, Billings, Montana

Past Board Member, Board of Directors of Billings, Montana Chamber of Commerce/Convention Visitors Bureau,

Past Vice Chair, Board of Directors of the Montana Business Incubator;

Past Board Member, Board of Trustees, First United Methodist Church, Billings, Montana;

Past Board Member and Chair, Head Start Inc, Billings, Montana,

Past Chair, Billings Chapter, Montana Ambassadors.

Past Board Member and Vice President, Magic City Model A Ford Club, Billings, Montana

Past Engineering Advisory Board Member, School District #2 Career Center, Billings, Montana

Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International (2010, 2018, 2020, 2023)

Talent Advocate, Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, July 2019- December 2020

He had held various leadership positions with the Institute of Industrial Engineering chapters in Washington D.C., Dayton, Ohio and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. He is a FELLOW of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE)

An active public school advocate, he has worked in numerous volunteer roles with public schools in Rialto, California, Arlington, Virginia, Washington D.C., Billings, Montana and Fort Worth, Texas.

The President nominated and the Senate confirmed him as a Colonel in the United States Air Force. He served in a wide variety of key command and staff positions in the Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force. He has led and managed industrial production and manufacturing, acquisition, surveillance and academic organizations that were required to adapt to changing global economies and environments.

Dr. Michels has received numerous awards for his leadership and public service in insuring ethics/integrity, attitudes of excellence and strong organizational achievement were implemented in global organizational climates.

He holds earned degrees from Weber State University (B.S.), University of Southern California (M.S.), Texas A&M University (PhD), University of Oklahoma (MPA) as well as the Naval War College (M.A.).

Dr. Michels is inducted into the Pi Alpha Alpha and Sigma Beta Delta honor societies.

He maintains professional engineering licenses in the States of Texas and Montana.

He is a Certified Professional Logistician by SOLE-The International Society of Logistics as well as a Certified Cost Analyst by the Institute of Cost Analysis.

Dr. Michels is Defense Acquisition Worker Improvement Act (DAWIA) level 3 certified in Acquisition Logistics.