Third Annual Hesselbein Global Academy Brings the World to Pitt

J. Roger Glunt (center), an emeritus trustee on Pitt’s Board of Trustees, works with a group of students during the Hesselbein Academy Summit. Glunt was one of nine professional mentors who delivered presentations on various leadership topics and worked personally with students during the four-day summit.

The third annual Student Leadership Summit of the Pitt Hesselbein Global Academy for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement attracted an impressively diverse group of student leaders and professional mentors from around the world to the University of Pittsburgh campus July 23-26.

During four days of leadership training, 46 students from countries ranging from Australia and Romania to Ghana and the United States participated in workshops and personalized training sessions—and interacted with mentors and Pittsburgh-area civic leaders.

The Hesselbein Global Academy was created in 2009 to honor the ongoing legacy of University of Pittsburgh alumnus Frances Hesselbein, recipient of the 1998 Presidential Medal of Freedom and chair of the board of governors of the Leader to Leader Institute (formerly the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management).

Five Pitt students attended the summit, and Pitt emeritus trustee J. Roger Glunt served as one of the program’s nine professional mentors. Pitt Vice Provost and Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey facilitated the summit, along with Hesselbein, who delivered several talks and presentations.

“I have a tablet full of notes and quotes,” said Glunt, who chairs the Chancellor’s Circle, the stewardship society for annual donors of $1,000 or more to the University. “I came here to serve as a mentor, and I think I ended up learning as much as the students. The caliber of leadership training at this summit was absolutely outstanding. Some of the brightest, most ambitious students in the world were here, and our Pitt students matched up with them very well.”

Matthew Riehle, a senior from Mars, Pa., who is majoring in political science, legal studies, and chemistry, serves on the Pitt Student Government Board. When his plans to study abroad fell through this past summer, he applied to the Hesselbein Academy and was thrilled to be accepted.

“I couldn’t have had a better international experience if I had traveled to another country,” said Riehle.

Riehle added that he was grateful to visit Leadership Pittsburgh during the summit and work with the nonprofit organization as part of his summit group’s civic engagement project.

Frances Hesselbein confers with Pitt senior Andrew Taglianetti.

Andrew Taglianetti, a senior marketing and finance major from Bridgeville, Pa., is used to competition on the football field as a defensive back for the Pitt Panthers. Taglianetti said he was attracted to the academy because he wanted to see how his leadership skills off the field stacked up against those of student leaders from around the world.

“I really enjoy making plays on the football field, not for personal gain or glory, but for my teammates,” Taglianetti said. “The same is true when you’re in a job in a position of leadership: You have to have the confidence to make decisions and the ability to be a leader. I thought this would be a great opportunity to be around like-minded people. The best of the best were here, and I know I can be a leader of leaders. This was an opportunity to learn more about how to do that.”

One highlight of this year’s summit was the “Dinner Dialogs,” which were dinners hosted by nine civic leaders in their homes. Hosts included Eva Tansky Blum (A&S ’70, LAW ’73), Pitt trustee and senior vice president and director of community affairs, PNC Bank; Robert Hill, Pitt vice chancellor for public affairs; Kathy Humphrey, Pitt vice provost and dean of students; Valerie McDonald-Roberts, Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds; Sheila Rathke (CGS ’76), Pitt assistant provost for strategic and program development; Art Stroyd (LAW ’72), a partner at Del Sole Cavanaugh Stroyd, LLC; Fred Thieman (LAW ’97), president, Buhl Foundation; and Patricia Waldinger (A&S ’72), CEO, American Red Cross, Southwest Pennsylvania Chapter.

Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill, second from the right in the photograph above, hosted a Dinner Dialogs evening with several Hesselbein Global Academy participants at his Mount Washington home. The others seen in the photograph are, from left, Larry Olson, a program mentor and vice president/director of marketing for John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; and students Cecilia Vargas, University of Monterrey, Mexico; Kingsley Essegbey, Central University, Accra, Ghana; Amarette Edmonson, St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas; Laura Glaub, Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Ind.; and Gentry Tran, Beloit College, Beloit, Wis.

“At each of the three summits we have had several students tell us that attending the Hesselbein Academy was a life-changing experience,” Humphrey said. “We’re thrilled that it has been so well received and that we are able to provide such a quality, global experience right here on our campus.”