Karyn Puleo

Karyn Puleo ’84, ’12 was well-established in her career, overseeing global financial reporting for a manufacturing company in New Hampshire, when a job posting in late 2012 caught her attention.

The senior management position sounded like a perfect fit. Then she reached the bottom of the listing and saw it was at UMass Lowell.

“That's the job,” she thought. “I want that job.”

Puleo got the job. For the Lowell native, it was a chance to work at the university that had shaped her life — where she had earned a business degree as a first-generation college student and had just completed her MBA.

After nearly 14 years as executive director of Facilities Business Operations, Puleo has retired from the university where she found an opportunity to continue learning and serving others.

“Working here has helped me grow as a person,” Puleo says. “When you work in higher ed, you’re open to seeing so much more from what the students, faculty and staff bring. It helps you see the world differently.”

Growing up in Lowell’s Highlands neighborhood, Puleo remembers sledding on the hill behind Allen House. As an undergraduate commuter student, she took business classes on North Campus and psychology and science courses on South.

“When I started working here, I knew all the buildings,” she says. “It just made so many things easier.”

Puleo became the first person hired into a newly created administration and business affairs role within Facilities Management. She helped establish the division’s business office while developing processes and partnerships that supported one of the university’s fastest periods of growth.

Throughout it all, one thing stood out.

“The people are what make UMass Lowell absolutely amazing,” she says. “I've never had a time where I couldn't solve a problem, because someone here always knew the answer and was willing to help.”

Puleo’s impact extended beyond her day job.

As an adjunct faculty member in the Manning School of Business, Puleo taught Introduction to Business and Negotiation Strategy and Process. She also served on committees for the Women’s Leadership Conference and Employee Health and Wellness, helping create opportunities for professional development and employee well-being across campus.

Learning has remained a common thread throughout Puleo’s career.

After earning her bachelor’s degree, she took a “meandering path” through finance, accounting and manufacturing before earning leadership roles with several companies. While working full time and raising a family, she returned to UMass Lowell for her MBA.

“Being an adult learner was so much more fun than being an undergraduate,” she says. “I loved the classes. I loved learning from other people and bouncing ideas off them.”

Her daughter, Alaina Puleo ’10, ’11, earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in biology from UML before launching her career as a biologist in Virginia.

Outside UMass Lowell, Puleo has served on the Tyngsborough Select Board and School Committee, chaired the Salvation Army of Greater Lowell Advisory Board and the Lowell Catholic Board of Trustees, and represented Tyngsborough on the Lowell Regional Transit Authority Board and the Northern Middlesex Metropolitan Planning Organization.

“I love contributing and being busy,” she says. 

Retirement won't change that. Puleo plans to continue her community service while also making time for teaching, travel and pickleball.