Thiel Happenings

Inaugural class of Thiel College physician assistant students receive white coats

The 37 members of the first class of Thiel College’s new Physician Assistant Studies program attended a ceremony to receive their white coats on Saturday, April 2.

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NEW VIDEO: Thiel cheer team finishes second at NCA College Nationals

The Thiel College cheer team finished second Friday at the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA) College Nationals in Daytona, Fla.

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NEW VIDEO: Major donors, students celebrated at Thiel College’s Academic Honors Convocation

Thiel College recognized the generosity of Greenville-area community leader and philanthropist Daniel Spence and his late wife, Dorothy, at the College’s 2022 Academic Honors Convocation Friday in the William A. Passavant Memorial Center.

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Student News

Chi Eta Sigma inducts members

On April 6, the Arthur McGonigal Department of Business Administration and Accounting held its annual honors and awards ceremony in combination with the Ruth A. Miller Senior Seminar. Taking part in the evening’s festivities, in addition to the business department faculty members, were members of the Cabinet: Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College, Elizabeth Frombgen, Ph.D., and Vice President for College Advancement, Roberta Leonard. The keynote speaker for the event was Michael G. Zawoysky ’79, retired CEO of Shoe Sensation, Inc., 2019 Haller Enterprise Institute Entrepreneur of the Year, and member of the Thiel College Board of Trustees. 

The event started with the naming of this year’s incoming group of students to the Department’s honorary society, Chi Eta Sigma. To qualify for admission to Chi Eta Sigma, a student must be a major in accounting, forensic accounting, business administration, international business, or public relations, advertising and integrated marketing communications with junior or senior standing. The student must have completed at least five courses toward the major, completing at least two 300- or 400-level courses and been a full-time student of at least one year. Finally, the student must maintain at least a 3.25 GPA in the College and 3.50 GPA in the major.

Returning members of the honorary Madison Acor ’22, Emily Baker ’22, Charles Lichtenwalter ’22, and Katherine Sollers ’22; joined with Prof. John Gomolchak, to welcome and induct the new members. The new members admitted to the honorary for 2022 are Hollie Barna ’22, Evan Gerber ’23, Travis Harvey ’23, Kayla Jewell ’23, Christian Kemp ‘23, Logan Long ’22, Conner Lovic ’23, Maddison Neely ’22, Emily Sears ’22, Hallie Vogt ’23, Trey Williams ’22, Ashley Wolford ‘22, and Natalie Zgurich ’23. Due to other college-related conflicts, new members Alex Andreozzi ’23 and Hayley Phillips ‘23 will be inducted at a future date.

The event also included the awarding of the Department’s three highest awards. The Wall Street Journal Award was presented by Professor Angelo Giannini to Charles Lichtenwalter, with The Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Senior Accounting Student Award presented by Professor Melissa Oakes ’03 to Emily Baker, and The Business Administration and Accounting Departmental Award presented by Professor Dionna Kassalen to Maddison Neely.  In addition, on behalf of the Haller Enterprise Institute, Professor Steven Kandray presented student Entrepreneur of the Year Awards to John Retton ’22 and Devyn Giovengo ‘23. 

Michael Zawoysky ’79 shares his Thiel story

Michael “Mike” Zawoysky ’79 was the featured speaker at the April 6th Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar, which also incorporated the induction ceremony for Chi Eta Sigma, the honorary society of the Department of Business Administration & Accounting, as well as the awarding of several awards to outstanding seniors.  Mike is the retired CEO of Shoe Sensation, Inc. and serves on the Thiel College Board of Trustees.

“Dinner was a big event as the Senior Seminar not only had the honor of hosting Mike Zawoysky but also hosted the Department of Business Administration and Accounting Chi Eta Sigma Honorary Commerce Society and the induction of its newest members. The Department also celebrated and awarded students who showed excellence and growth in the fields of accounting, business, and entrepreneurship.” Owen Sa ’22

“Michael was a member of the baseball and basketball teams here at Thiel and was also an inductee of Chi Eta Sigma like myself. Over his successful professional career, he has held many high-level jobs such as the CEO and CFO for companies such as Shoe Sensation, Foot Locker, and A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts.” Trey Williams ’22

“Mike started his journey at Thiel and shared about his induction into Chi Eta Sigma. His professor went around and said what each student was going to be, and he said, “Mike you’re going to be a Vice President of a company one day.” This stuck with Mike as he thought maybe he’d be a manager one day but not a Vice President as he thought he wanted to remain in his comfort zone.” Madeline DePalma ’22

“The class welcomed Mike Zawoysky class of ‘79. Mike is currently retired however during his storied career he has held various titles such as CFO of Footlocker Europe, COO of Eastbay, and CEO of Shoe Sensation. Mike spoke a lot about his career and life path more than his experience at Thiel, which has become a common trend with the last few speakers.” Dan Myers ’22

“Mike shared that his career took him to 12 cities, across 3 continents and at his peak he achieved the #2 position as Chief Operating Officer at a billion-dollar division of Foot Locker.  This was one of his favorite positions due to his involvement in meeting with the NBA, NFL, and the U.S. Olympic Committee.  He also mentioned meetings with Jeff Bezos from Amazon.” Angela Sorg ’23

“Throughout his career, he traveled throughout the U.S. and across the world, such as Dallas, Los Angeles, Taiwan, Singapore, multiple countries in Europe, etc. As you can see, Mr. Zawoysky had a lot of success in his career and has taken advantage of great opportunities to travel and work many jobs.” Adonis Scriven ’22

“Over Mike’s career, he had nineteen different positions, moved ten times, and what helped him through every decision was the most supportive family he could have asked for. Mike’s career took him all over the world, but once he did not want to travel anymore, he and his family went back to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.” Emily Sears ’22

“When he retired in 2017, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Shoe Sensation, Inc.  Mike helped to grow the business from 62 locations employing 450 people to 163 locations and 1,500 employees.” Angela Sorg ’23

“Tonight, we had the opportunity to hear from Mike Zawoysky who had a very successful career. I previously met him as a freshman here at Thiel when he spoke to our first-year seminar class. This time, he was able to go into more detail of how he got to have such a rewarding career.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“Mike explained how he put a ceiling on his achievements but with the help of his professor he was able to remove it and get away from his comfort zone.” Abigail Cico ’22

“Mike was a first-generation college student; he didn’t really have any mentors at home, so he used his professors at Thiel as someone to look up to. Over his years at Thiel, his professors believed in him and opened many doors for a great career for him, he is forever grateful for all his professors for believing in him.” Emily Sears ’22

“He made it very clear just because you come from a small school like Thiel doesn’t mean you are any less capable than a person from a larger university. I am truly blessed to belong to an institution that is Thiel and all the great skills and knowledge I have learned from the world-class business department as a whole.” Logan Long ’22

“He gave us many tips, some of which included the need for passion, empowerment, being a team player, finding your niche, listen to learn, and checking your ego at the door. Mike was very inspirational, and I really enjoyed listening to his presentation.” Maddison Neely ’22

“Mike talked to us about how important it is to make connections and to build relationships. If you make those connections it is going to make it easier finding new opportunities.” John Retton ’22

“Mike had the great opportunity to advance his career thanks to his skillsets, work ethic, and ability to connect and socialize with his colleagues. He went from being the new guy at the lowest rung to sitting at the table, reviewing the different divisions, to talking and socializing with the different division heads.” Owen Sa ’22

“One of the lessons he noted was that we should listen to learn. I got the chance to see him do this firsthand because we sat at a table together for dinner. I noticed that when he asked any of us a question, his attention was on us, and he was fully interested in what we had to say. It was nice to see him sit and truly care about what our future plans are or what our favorite part of senior year has been.”  Kate Sollers ’22

“He finished his speech by listing and talking about what he believes are the keys and abilities you must have in order to be successful. They were passion, empowerment, teamwork, finding your niche, listening to learn, treating others as you want to be treated, create fans, leave your ego at the door, and take intelligent risks.” Trey Williams ’22

“An interesting point he had was that to do well in business, you can’t only rely on business, rather it is social skills + business skills = opportunity. That really made sense to me, and I personally will make it a point to be more sociable in future business situations so I can find that opportunity.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“One thing that stood out to me was how he felt about the senior seminar class that we are currently taking. He noted that this class is good for not only networking, but also learning personal skills to talk to people in business. The first class, I was nervous to talk to the speaker and tell them about myself. Now, I have no problem introducing myself and having a conversation with people who come to this class.” Kate Sollers ’22

“This was probably my favorite class we had so far. It was nice getting to see all the accomplishments of myself and my peers. It was so nice to see everyone with no masks, laughing, smiling, and in person.” Emily Sears ’22

Lessons Learned

• “Treat others the way you want to be treated.” Abigail Cico ’22
• “Mike’s ‘secret sauce’ of takeaways.” Madeline DePalma ’22
• “Create a raving fan base.” Logan Long ’22
• “Get your foot in the door as soon as you can. You can always advance, so by getting a foot in the door, you are starting your life journey.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “The first impression sometimes starts at the handshake.” Owen Sa ’22
• “Things may not go the way you want, but if you put in the effort then it will pay off.” Adonis Scriven ’22
• “Empower your people – it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” Angela Sorg ’23

Dinner Dishing

• “Dinner was wonderful and full of great comradery and conversation. It was nice to speak with Dean Frombgen about my future endeavors as well as my classmate’s futures upon graduation.” Logan Long ’22
• “Everything was accompanied by a lovely grilled wedge salad, shrimp on seasoned rice, and a delectable dark chocolate with potted berry cream.” Owen Sa ’22
• “Also, the dessert this week was by far my favorite. I am not sure what it was, but it seemed like a chocolate mousse.” Maddison Neely ’22
• “Overall, this dinner was my favorite by far, just because it was a special night for my friends.” Jacob Zylka ’22

Lambda Sigma inducts new members

Nineteen new members of the Rho chapter of Lambda Sigma Society at Thiel College were inducted on Sunday, March 27. Lambda Sigma Society is the national honor society for second-year students.

Evan Cessna ’25, Meghan Columbus ’25, Annie Goul ’25, Alexa Kantner ’25, Donna Kocher ’25, Jonah Lentz ’24, Sydney Linhart ’25, Alexis McFadden ’25, Andrea Elizabeth Meals ’25, Ethan Riley Orwig ’25, Virginia Ann Riddle ’25, Madalyn Ann Russell ’25, Gavin R. Sankey ’25, Kaitlyn Schmidt ’25, Abigail Sefton ’24, Abigail Smagala ’25, Bailey G. Stilts ’24, Madeleine Grace White ’25, Mya R. Winkle ’25.

Professor of Environmental Science and Chemistry and Department Chair Anna Reinsel, Ph.D. ’06 and college archivist John Hauser ’71, H’20 serve as the advisers for the chapter.