Mercer County and Hope Center executive serving first term as Thiel College trustee

Posted July 13, 2020 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Michael P. Walton is serving his first three-year appointment on the Thiel College Board of Trustees.

Walton is the CEO and co-owner of Jamestown Coating Technologies in Jamestown, Pa. Jamestown Coating Technologies develops and produces industrial coatings for use by manufacturers. Walton is active in the paint and coatings industry through the American Coatings Association where he has served on its board of directors.

Walton participates in economic development and education initiatives. He is board president of the Hope Center for Arts & Technology and is on the board of Team PA. He is a former president of the United Way of Mercer County and has also served on boards for PNC Bank and UPMC Horizon. Walton has taught as an adjunct professor at Thiel College and guest lectured at John Carroll University, Penn State University and Grove City College.

The Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award was given to Tom Roberts and Walton for their work at the Hope Center for Arts and Technology in 2018. The Hope Center for Arts and Technology is a non-profit organization that is a replication of the Pittsburgh-based Manchester Bidwell jobs and arts program created by Bill Strickland H’18. Since 1972, Manchester Bidwell in Pittsburgh has attracted national recognition for its market-relevant career training programs that lead to employment. There are similar programs in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, San Francisco, Grand Rapids, Mich., New Haven, Conn., Boston, Buffalo and Israel. HopeCAT classes are held in a high-tech, newly renovated school on the West Hill in Sharon, Pa. The center is equipped with classrooms, computer labs and art studios to serve students, both youth and adult, throughout the region. Michael P. Walton is the third generation of his family to be recognized by Thiel. His grandfather, Joseph M. Walton; father, D. Michael Walton; and uncle, Joseph P. Walton were given the Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award in 1994.

Walton earned a B.S. in management from John Carroll University and an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh. He lives in Hermitage, Pa. with his wife, Lisa, and their three children.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight of Thiel College. The Board adopts rules, regulations and policies governing Thiel College and has authority over curricular development, use of property, development of facilities and fiscal and human resources management. The Board of Trustees meets formally three times a year on campus.