FALL 2016
President’s
INSIDER
FROM THE DESK OF CHRISTOPHER B. HOWARD, D.PHIL., PRESIDENT OF ROBERT MORRIS UNIVERSITY
In case you were not able to attend, here’s an excerpt from my inaugural address on October 7. It was a tremendous Homecoming weekend — not only my inauguration, but our celebration as a community of alumni, students, faculty, friends and supporters of Robert Morris University. Click here to see the full speech. “This a great American story for our time. What makes it an American story? It’s an improbable but not impossible story. It’s improbable to go from a for-profit school of accountancy to a national doctoral university. It’s improbable to go from the great-greatgrandson of a slave to being the president of one of the finest universities in America, Robert Morris University. Look at our keynote speaker: It’s improbable to go from being a young woman in Iowa shooting hoops to being the first woman to run the Air Force Academy. Our stories are improbable but not impossible, and that’s what makes America great. These are stories of the American dream. We can share that dream with the world, and it is a dream that will no longer be deferred…” “Opportunity and excellence — that’s the trade-off we’ve always faced in higher education. Do we serve students with potential, but who come from backgrounds with fewer resources, the first-generation college students, the students who have to work 20 hours or more a week to pay for school? The veteran who served his or her country and left pieces of themselves literally and figuratively on the battlefield? Or do we serve the merit scholars, the kids with perfect and near-perfect SATs, the kids admissions counselors fall all over themselves trying to enroll?” “That’s the point. We shouldn’t have to choose. And we won’t. That’s not to say we are going to be all things to all people at all times, which is a recipe for failure. We will always be Robert Morris University, however, and we will remain true to the values and character that
brought us here today. But we will strive to ensure that there is a place for the student who is the first in their family to go to college, a place for that student who has aced their AP tests, a place for that single mother who can only earn a degree if she can take classes online.” “We won’t do it alone. We will do it in partnership with the business world, government agencies, local communities, and professional organizations. RMU will be the preferred partner for corporations, organizations, and professionals in the Pittsburgh region. With organizations like UPMC and Peoples Natural Gas. Like ATI and PNC. Like the Pittsburgh Steelers and Fedex Ground. Like Covestro and the Urban League and the Allegheny Conference. And on and on. This is our story, ladies and gentlemen. This is Robert Morris University’s story. This is a great American story for our world. It is an improbable but not impossible story. But it is not finished, my friends. Where we will be in 2019, RMU’s 50th year as a four-year institution, and it’s president’s 50th birthday? Where will we be in 2021, when this grand institution begins its second century?” “My story began with a slave named Amos Howard on a dry patch of Texas land. The Robert Morris University story began in a few rented rooms in a smoky city. We will write the next chapter together. To quote one of my favorite authors, James Baldwin, who said, “America must be what America must be,” let Robert Morris be what Robert Morris must be — an institution with good people and a great future.”
Sincerely,
Christopher B. Howard, D.Phil.
President’s
INSIDER PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL RECEPTION Robert Morris University’s leading supporters and alumni gathered at the Fairmont Hotel in October for a special reception for the President’s Council. Mark Pallone ‘82 received the 2016 Alumni Heritage Award, the university’s highest honor for distinguished achievement. Attendees met several of the university’s most promising students, including Merritt Donoghue, recipient of the 2016 Rising Star Award, given each year to the senior who best demonstrates academic success, individuality, determination, passion, and potential in their field. Click here for additional pictures from the event.
25 Year Consecutive Donors Ruth ‘78 & Alan Garfinkel and Kathie & former president Ed Nicholson
Rising Star winner Merritt Donoghue (center) with sister Connor ‘14 and mother Terry O’Rourke Donoghue ‘84
FALL 2016
Heritage Award winner Mark Pallone ‘82
FALL 2016
President’s
INSIDER
AWARD WINNERS 2016 Alumni Heritage Award Winner Mark Pallone ‘82
2016 Rising Star Award Winner Merritt Donoghue
As a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers leading the accounting and auditing support group in the office of the general counsel in New York, Mark provides accounting, forensic accounting, and auditing technical advice to legal counsel and supports the firm’s lines of service in connection with litigation and regulatory matters.
Merritt’s mother and father met in graduate courses at Robert Morris University, and the Oakdale legacy is a corporate communication major who spread her wings as a college student. She is president of the Class of 2017, the Colonial Ambassadors, and the student program board, as well as vice president of Lambda Pi Eta and a mentor for the Women’s Leadership and Mentorship Program.
An accounting major and former student tutor, Mark graduated cum laude and joined PwC after graduation. He spent the first 12 years of his career in the firm’s Pittsburgh office as an assurance practitioner, progressing through various staff and senior manager roles. In 1994, Mark transferred to the national office in New York and made partner in 1999.
She helped the university set a Guinness World Record for the longest chain of T-shirts, subsequently donated to charity. Merritt hopes to work in the entertainment industry, but she is willing and ready to take on any challenges that come her way. Click here to watch Merritt’s acceptance speech.
Click here to watch Mark’s acceptance speech. “I’ve said many times that RMU handed me not just a diploma but the keys to a great profession. … I have the honor today of leading a group of very talented PWC partners and staff. We support the firm’s general counsel and lines of service in some very challenging situations. Indeed every role I have held throughout my career has involved thoughtful approaches to teamwork and problem solving. Throughout all of that, I’ve competed against accounting and legal professionals from the nation’s most prestigious law and business programs. … Here’s the punchline: Robert Morris University prepared me well for all of this.”
“Four years ago I applied to Robert Morris University and I was not accepted. My high school grades and SAT scores did not meet the requirements. … I did not put my academics first. I didn’t see the benefit of education in my life, and that was the choice that I made. … Although I wasn’t initially accepted into the university, what you did was offer me an opportunity. RMU accepted me into the Early Success Program. … This school saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I grasped at that opportunity and I haven’t released it since. That moment is when I built my foundation to take off, and it was my choice.”
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT 6001 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD, MOON TOWNSHIP, PA 15108-1189 RMU.EDU/CHANGE A LIFE