Joseph Bambenek is a strategy advisor for Michigan Electric Transmission Company.

He graduated magna cum laude from Truman State University in 1993 with a bachelor of science degree in physics, and he earned master's degrees in technology and policy, and in nuclear engineering from MIT in 1996.

As a student at Truman, he was involved in Student Senate, Newman Center, Student Ambassadors, Society of Physics Students, Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa. At MIT, he received the Technology and Policy Program's Alumni Award for Excellence and Leadership in Technology and Policy, Best Thesis on Technology and Policy, and one of three Compton's prizes, the Institute's highest awards that recognize student contributions in promoting high standards of achievement and good citizenship within the MIT community.

He was honored as Truman's 1998 Young Alumnus of the Year and served on the University's Magruder Hall Campaign Committee. Bambenek resides in Hastings, Minn.