Jonathan French

Jon French graduated from Michigan Tech in 1998 with his Bachelor’s Degree in Geological Engineering, followed by his Master’s in Civil Engineering in 2000. 

French chose to be a Husky because of Tech's reputation as an excellent engineering school and its Division I hockey program. He was a member of the Tech hockey team in 1993–94. 

Following graduation, French worked as a project engineer/field inspector for Short Elliott Hendrickson Inc. He eventually transitioned to a project manager/engineer with Peninsula Fiber Network (PFN) and Baraga Telephone Company. French played a key role during the initial inception of PFN, and was involved in constructing a robust fiber optic network that supports all of Michigan’s Nextgen enhanced 911 public safety answering points as well as traffic, banks, medical facilities, banking institutions, and cell phone towers throughout the Midwest.

In 2007, French enlisted into the Michigan Army National Guard as a combat engineer. “I wanted to prove myself, to be a part of something bigger,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of something stronger.”

French served in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008–09 in the Eastern Afghanistan/Pakistan border region. On July 19, 2009, he was seriously wounded when he was hit in the chest by a rocket-propelled grenade after being on duty there for only six and a half months.

After being injured, French rediscovered his sense of purpose by working with different organizations where he could take people hunting and fishing, spending lots of time outdoors himself. Additionally, he utilized his engineering degree to develop a gun site for blind and visually impaired people, patenting his design and creating a foundation. Through his foundation, French uses funds from the sales to create additional products which are then given to combat-wounded veterans.

French went on to serve NATO training missions to Latvia in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, a training support mission for Third Infantry Division in Germany, and for the State of Michigan Natural Disaster/Flood division in Gogebic County, Michigan—both in 2016. French medically retired as a sergeant first class/E7 in 2018.

His military accomplishments include earning an Excellence in Competition badge, being Governor 20 tabbed, serving as a marksmanship training coordinator, and being certified as a small arms master gunner and a senior master gunner.

French currently serves as the director of outside plant and engineering at both Peninsula Fiber Network and Baraga Telephone Company, where his projects include the implementation of submarine fiber optic cable routes between Chicago and lower Michigan, to Beaver Island and Gulliver, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula.

Thinking back on a lesson he learned at Tech that has remained with him through his career, French shared, “A former civil engineering professor and mentor, Dr. Henry Santeford, remarked once, ‘80 percent of today’s engineering is people management and 20 percent is actual engineering.’ I found this statement to hold true just as much today as when I first started out. The ability to listen, communicate efficiently, respect, and work with other people is vital to having a successful career.”

Updated May 2025