Meet Todd Phannestiel

UC’s new provost on his long and winding road to Utica and his student-centered plans for the future.

You can learn a lot about Todd Pfannestiel from even the most cursory look around his office. The Godfather is well represented, as are comic books and the Beatles. Autographed photos of Rat Packers like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin are proudly displayed. The walls showcase hockey jerseys and sticks, memorializing his favorite team (the Pittsburgh Penguins) and favorite player (Mario Lemieux).

The mementos have followed Pfannestiel throughout his long academic career, most recently at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, where he spent more than 20 years in a variety of roles and planned to spend several more.

Clarion, he explains, felt like home. He and his wife, Aimee, a philosophy professor and Clarion alumna herself, had built strong relationships in the community, and Pfannestiel was an integral part of the University’s growth over the past two decades as a faculty member, then dean, and later provost and vice president for academic affairs.

But starting in 2015, Pfannestiel couldn’t seem to escape news about Utica College. The tuition reset was “on everyone’s lips in academia,” he recalls. “I was at a national conference, and people kept talking about Utica College and this big thing they did with tuition. I thought ‘wow, now that’s a remarkable move.’ I admired an institution that was bold enough to carve out a path and find a way to follow it.”

And then there were the students. The more Pfannestiel learned about UC’s history, mission, and unique student population, namely UC’s many first-generation college students, the more his interest grew.

“I saw myself in UC’s students,” he says. “My parents didn’t go to college. They always encouraged me, but I had to find ways to pay for my own education. I had to figure it out.”

Even as he continued his work at Clarion with no real interest in leaving, Pfannestiel kept tabs on UC in the years following the tuition reset, including the addition of new academic programs, facilities, and the growing enrollment. He puts it simply: “I had an interest in Utica College long before they ever expressed an interest in me.”

So when the provost position opened in 2017, Pfannestiel couldn’t help but explore the opportunity. He certainly had the credentials for the job; he earned his Ph.D. from The College of William and Mary and his B.A. from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He also completed a National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship at Duke University and had spent decades in the classroom as a professor of history. A historian, Pfannestiel has focused his research on American civil liberties and the Vietnam War, among other topics.

In late 2017, after talking it over with Aimee, he applied for the job. A few phone interviews later, Pfannestiel was invited to campus.

“Meeting the people at UC exceeded my wildest expectations,” he recalls “I really value those personal relationships where you can laugh and joke with your colleagues, and I immediately got that sense from the people I met here.”

After his two-day visit, Pfannestiel was sure he’d be getting a job offer—so sure, in fact, that he stopped at the bookstore for a Pioneers ice hockey jersey before heading home.

Fortunately, his instincts were correct. Today, nearly five months into the job, the adjustment period has been “fantastic,” he says. “Everyone has been so welcoming, and not just in the way of ‘oh, you’re the new person, so I’ll be nice.’ I’ve felt a genuine connection with faculty, staff, students, and community members.”

The easy transition has allowed Pfannestiel to dive into projects designed to increase UC’s relevance on both the regional and national stage “as an institution that continues to offer cutting edge academic programs that students seek and employers need,” he says. He’s already working on initiatives to explore new program offerings, reexamine existing ones, and provide expanded internship opportunities to students.

“It’s not so much about fixing problems, but about what we should do next.”

Pfannestiel’s ultimate goal, though? To help UC maintain the air of excitement and change that drew him here in the first place.

“There have been great successes in the past two years,” he says. “We want to be sure these aren’t just two great years we regress from, but instead ask ourselves ‘how do we repeat and grow from those successes? How do we maintain this momentum?’”

Provost Todd Pfannestiel at a Glance

Hometown: I grew up all over, but spent my formative years in Sepulpa, a small town in northeast Oklahoma.

Pets: Aimee and I always say that our two dogs are our babies. We have a 14-year-old Shepard-Collie named Maddie, and a 3-year-old Shepherd mix named Rocky. They get away with everything.

Favorite movie of all time: I absolutely love The Godfather, but my favorite is an Italian film from 1988 called Cinema Paradiso. It’s a love story in the purest sense; the only movie that’s ever brought me to tears.

Funniest movie of all time: Young Frankenstein. Or Blazing Saddles. Anything Mel Brooks.

Favorite meal: My mom’s meatloaf. I grew up on that stuff.

What’s playing on your car radio: The Beatles station on Sirius XM. I haven’t changed the channel once since I discovered that radio station.

Favorite sports team: The Pittsburgh Penguins. And the UC Pioneers, of course.

Last concert you attended: Paul McCartney in 2015 in State College, Pa. It was my third time seeing him live.

Hidden talent: I am confident that I make the world’s best pumpkin roll. It’s pumpkin cake with cream cheese filling rolled up like a jellyroll. I challenge anyone to make a better pumpkin roll. It’s sublime.

Favorite way to unwind: Watching a hockey game, or any sporting event.

Last great book you read: I reread Candide by Voltaire often, but I just finished The Alienist by Caleb Carr. I’m a big murder-mystery fan, especially when it’s historical.

Favorite Utica cuisine: I love Italian food, so my wife and I have enjoyed sampling Utica’s cuisine over the past few months. Riggies, greens, and pizza—everything is delicious. Just the other night I had the best lasagna at Cavallo’s.

Varied Treasure

Provost Pfannestiel's office in DePerno Hall is packed with his most prized possessions, but these three items are among his favorites:

Batman Comics Lithograph

1. My Batman Comics Lithograph. I was a serious comic book collector as a kid, and I especially loved Batman comics. When I was 12, my mom brought me to an art gallery in San Diego, and I thought I’d be bored out of my mind. But the exhibition was all about Batman. I was looking in awe at these paintings, watercolors, and charcoals. The gallery owner could see how much I was enjoying the artwork. He said, “There’s someone here I want you to meet.” Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, happened to be in the back filling out paperwork. He came out and talked to me. He asked questions: “How many Batman comics do you have? What’s your favorite?” I told him, “Detective Comics No. 31. I love it.” This was before the days of email or social media, so we exchanged addresses, and Bob Kane and I became pen pals.

In December of 1978, almost six months later, a cardboard tube arrived in the mail. It was a Christmas gift from Bob Kane: the cover of Detective Comics 31. He remembered it was my favorite. At the very bottom, he wrote “To my pal Todd. Best Wishes, Bob Kane.” We continued to correspond over the years, but more infrequently as I grew up and he got older. I still have letters that he wrote, some hand drawings that he did. But this piece means the world to me. It’s been on the wall in every office I’ve ever had.

Mario Lemieux autographed hockey stick

2. My Mario Lemieux autographed hockey stick. For about as long as I can remember, Mario Lemieux has always been one of my true heroes, just for everything he’s been through and everything he did to make the Pittsburgh Penguins a better team. He autographed this stick for me at an auction in Pittsburgh, and it was real moment for me. I felt like I was 10 again, meeting my sports idol. Every time I see it I can still remember that feeling.

Happy Xmas (War is Over) record autographed by John Lennon

3. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” record autographed by John Lennon. Beatles fans will say “oh, don’t play favorites,” but John was always my favorite Beatle. When I was in graduate school, I developed an appreciation for everything he did in his art to promote peace. It really resonated with me. I found an autographed Apple version of this record from an auction house, and I had to have it. I framed it with this flier, also from an auction, that John and Yoko released from a plane over Toronto in 1969 as part of the “War is Over! If you want it” campaign.