Thiel College recognizes Greenville native Wilt, outstanding staff members

Feb. 28—GREENVILLE — Rod Wilt may have received his degrees from Thiel College in 1986, but the Greenville native's alma mater recently presented him with a new honor, recognizing his efforts in the nearly four decades since graduation.

Wilt serves as the executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corp., Mercer County's development agency, and vice president of Thiel's board of trustees.

However, when Wilt found out he was selected to receive the college's Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award, he said he was very surprised yet honored to be recognized.

"It was very humbling," Wilt said.

The award was presented to Wilt during the college's annual Founders' Day celebration, which is held the first Thursday of February. This year, it fell on Feb. 2.

According to Thiel College's website, Founders' Day recognizes the colleges founders, Louis and Barbara Thiel, and William A. Passavant. The first Founders' Day was held on Feb. 2, 1876, Barbara's birthday.

The Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to "community members who demonstrate exemplary character, continuity of leadership and long-term service to Greenville and its environs. The recipients must demonstrate a commitment to the common good above private interests," the website states.

For Wilt, his connection to Thiel College stretches back to his childhood in Greenville. Since his mother was a college professor, Wilt said he had a chance to informally meet some of the college staff and see the campus growing up.

Later as a young adult, Wilt transferred to Thiel College, hoping to pursue a career as a math teacher and wrestling coach. However, Wilt eventually changed his mind to become an English teacher instead, and used his math credits to pursue a second major in business administration.

"I had always liked math, but I quickly realized that there's a lot of different math that goes into being a math teacher," Wilt said. "I think I got to Calculus 4, and that's when I tapped out."

While attending Thiel, Wilt met his future wife, Jill, a fellow Thiel student, and made a series of lifelong friends during his four years at the college.

There were also multiple professors who affected Wilt, including the late business Professor David Miller, history professor Dr. Robert Olson, and English professor Evelyn Baer.

"They always say that 'Thiel is family,' and I really met a wonderful cross-section of people," Wilt said. "It was really unanticipated, but once I got there, I met the people who had a life-changing impact on me."

Wilt graduated in 1986 with degrees in English and business administration, but his career took another turn as he decided against pursuing a teaching degree and got his first job at Dollar Bank in Pittsburgh.

Although the career focused more on finances than teaching, Wilt said he was still able to use his English degree for tasks such as writing loans for clients.

Wilt took on a few other jobs post-college, including a decade where he served as representative for the 17th Legislative District in the state House of Representatives.

Eventually Wilt ended up living in Pittsburgh and Florida part-time, but he decided to return to the Mercer County area in 2019, when he and his wife took over the Wilt family farm in Greenville.

The following year, Wilt was hired as Penn-Northwest's executive director — Wilt's "seventh career," and a position that allowed him to draw on his many previous experiences.

"I had a lot of banking and lending experience, and we have a pretty robust lending program here at Penn-Northwest, and I also had a lot of contacts at the state level and throughout the community," Wilt said.

Wilt and the Penn-Northwest staff were able to get some minor issues turned around, such as getting the corporation operating at a profit and handling some non-performing loans, which had been caused by multiple factors including the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

But aside from his continued personal connections to Thiel College, Wilt's alma mater and other local colleges also serve as potential tools for economic development — the mission of Penn-Northwest.

"We want people to build a life and a career here, so if we can bring people to Mercer County and get them to stay, then we can help meet some of the demands of employers and drive some more innovation," Wilt said. "Education providers are one of the big reasons this area can be a great place to live, work, and play, so they're a great starting point."

Aside from Wilt, many of Thiel College's staff were recognized during the ceremony, according to a press release.

This included speech-language pathology program administrative assistant Jennifer Gongaware, of Greenville; coordinator of the Accessibility Resource Center Erin Bain, of Sharpsville; Director of Admission Sonya Lapikas, of Sharon; Assistant Director of Admission, Graduate Counselor Morgan (Steiner) Bodnar, '16, MBA'21, of Greenville; and women's volleyball coach Tyler North, of Sharpsville, who all received the Distinguished Staff Award.

Other honorees included Jared Hanneman, Ph.D., of Sharpsville, associate professor of sociology, department chair, communication and leadership program director, who received the Professor of the Year Award.

Jared Johnson, Ph.D., of Greenville, associate professor of English, department chair, received the Distinguished Scholar of the Year Award.

Christopher Stanisky, Ph.D., of Sharon, professor of chemistry, department chair, received the Distinguished Service Faculty of the Year Award.

Distinguished Adjunct Faculty of the Year: Julie Harris, of Meadville, adjunct professor of education, received the Distinguished Adjunct Faculty of the Year Award.

Mary O'Donnell, Ph.D., of Youngstown, Ohio, assistant professor of biology, received the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, the press release states.

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