Quad/Graphics' Joel Quadracci is a 2011 Printing Hall of Fame Inductee

By Erik Cagle

Fartherly Advice

When your father is Harry Quadracci, dean of U.S. printing deans and the industry's greatest self-made man, you can be sure to get some valuable advice while growing up. Well, Joel Quadracci was certainly listening along the way.

"I knew I wanted to get into the printing business, so naturally I became a philosophy major," Quadracci said, referring to his choice of study at Skidmore College. "One piece of advice he gave me is that college undergrad is not a time to specialize, it's a time to learn how to think. Philosophy is a great degree for that—creating an argument, protecting an argument, tearing down someone else's argument and looking at things from a totally different perspective."

Suffice to say, his father wielded great influence over Quadracci. Even at an early age, he was fascinated with the company and enjoyed the manufacturing process. And when your name is Quadracci, printing is not a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. proposition.

"The intertwining of the company and the family didn't stop at the plant," he says. "The first few (Quad) family picnics were held at our house. And we would have people over for dinner—clients, bankers, other people involved in business. I would find myself staying longer and longer at the dinner table."

It seems that when food for thought was being served, young Joel Quadracci was getting second and third helpings.

A man and his high school-aged son are on a flight in the mid-1980s when they strike up a conversation with a businessman sitting next to them. The businessman was clearly successful, and he wasn’t shy about relating that fact as he detailed his many accomplishments.

Finally, his resumé fully shared, the businessman politely inquires as to the vocation of his fellow traveler. The high schooler can feel the pride welling up, knowing that his father was easily more accomplished in his line of work and could easily slam dunk on the stranger’s braggadocio.

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2011 Hall of Fame: Joel Quadracci - The Next Generation