After Robert Sell earned his B.S. in Chemistry with High Distinctions from UVA in 1975, he worked for four years in the U.S. Navy as an instructor at the Naval Nuclear Power School teaching Chemistry, Radiological Fundamentals, and Materials Science. From 1979 to 2009, he worked with Corning Incorporated in a wide variety of positions in manufacturing, process engineering, product and market development, strategy development, intellectual property, product line management. During his time at Corning, he obtained a Masters in Business Administration from West Virginia University in 1987. Over the 30 years he worked at Corning , he participated in the areas of glass products for the pharmaceutical industry, environmental laboratory analysis, and semiconductor manufacturing. He is now retired from Corning and instructing at Corning Community College.