Thiel Happenings

Thiel College welcomes 2022 Fischoff winners Mixed Media for Con Spirito Series

Thiel College will host saxophone quartet Mixed Media, the 2022 Senior Wind Division gold medalists at the Fischoff Competition, as a part of the annual Con Spirito Chamber Music Concert Series at 7 p.m. September 15 at David Johnson Memorial Chapel.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel College hires Jason Fautas as athletic director

Vice President for Student Life and Athletics Mike McKinney, Ed.D. ’02 announces the hiring of Jason Fautas as athletic director at Thiel College. Currently at Walsh University, his first day with the Tomcats will be September 12.

+ Read the full story in the newsroom

Thiel Forums returns

The Thiel Forums are held on select Tuesdays from 4–5 p.m. in the Stamm Lecture Hall. The event provides faculty, students, and staff an opportunity to share projects or publications and to discuss their work.

• View the Academics calendar for upcoming Thiel Forums

The Thiel College community will enjoy learning about a wide range of topics as a part of the 2022-23 Thiel Forums. Topics will include travel stories, faculty research and conference presentations and much more!

If you are interested in presenting at a Thiel Forum, contact Mary Theresa Hall, Ph.D. at ext. 2154. 

Schedule

September 13
Anna Reinsel, Ph.D. ’06 and students
“Students’ Experience at Yellowstone Park in Summer 2022”
Sean Oros ’15
“First-year Coordinator Update”

October 4
Guru Khalsa, Ph.D.
“Adventures with Chemistry in the Wild, Wild West: Sabbatical Experience at the University of Wyoming”
Kristin Carlson, Ph.D.
“First-year Programming and the Excel Opportunities Program”

November 1
Fatimata Palé, Ph.D.
“Research in Biology”
Morgan Bodnar ’16 MBA’21
“Graduate Programs”

2023
January 24
Calli Shekell, Ph.D.
“NSF-funded Preservice Teacher Project as a Post-doctoral Fellow”
Liza Schaef
“‘Skills That Pay the Bills’: NACE Competencies”

February 7
Jared Johnson, Ph.D.
“Sabbatical Publication on Piracy and Upcoming Publication on The Tempest and Westworld”
Lana Kulik, Ph.D.
“Research project with Colleagues in Kyrgyzstan on Women and Leadership”

March 21
Shannon Deets, Ph.D.
“The Therapist is the Technique: Understanding the Scholar-Practitioner-Clinician Model of Training”

Homecoming right around the corner

The Thiel College community is excited to celebrate Homecoming 2022! This year, we're having an All-star party to celebrate all Tomcat student-athletes from Friday, Sept. 23 through Sunday, Sept. 25.

Homecoming will include the 3rd Annual Thiel College Worldwide Zoom Call at 10 a.m. Sept. 24.

• Read the list of events.

For more information, contact David Hummel '83.

Student News

Rod Wilt serves as the inaugural speaker to the newly launched Entrepreneurship Seminar!

Rod Wilt ’86 was the featured speaker at the August 31 Entrepreneurship Seminar, a new course offered for the first time this semester as part of the College’s certificate in entrepreneurship and open to students of any major. Rod is the Executive Director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation in Hermitage, Pa. and is the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of Thiel College.

“I always love being around Rod Wilt because he is very inspiring to me. The first time I met him was in 2021 with Professor Kandray in one of the entrepreneurship classes. Rod is a Thiel alum, Greenville native and if not the most, then one of the most successful entrepreneurs I personally know.” Devyn Giovengo ’23

“Mr. Wilt is enthusiastic about strengthening the Mercer County area that he lives and works in. As the Executive Director of the Penn-Northwest Development Corporation, he advocates the “homegrown initiative” that pushes to keep local college graduates in the area. This initiative seeks to build up small businesses.” Ava Kavulla ’25

“It helps to have a positive mindset about things. If you can’t handle bad news, you’re not cut out for this industry.” Nevaeh Arnold ’23

“When asked the best way to earn respect as a young adult in your career he responded, “You need to become an expert in what you’re working with. Most people don’t care how old you are, they care about how much you know.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“One major fact I took from this presentation is as Rod says, we are in the people business. No matter what field anyone chooses to go into you have to know how to make people happy, whether this be clients, customers, or even investors. If for some reason you fail to make people happy, you have to be willing to fix whatever mistake was made.” Sydney Hipps ’23

“After sharing his background and some of the accomplishments, he talked about how to give a good pitch. What I got from his message was that you must understand your business idea and have a passion for it. When giving the pitch you must keep it simple and introduce yourself. Tell the listener who you are and what you do, and tell them the need that you fill, what the product is, and the benefits from it. Lastly, it is important in a pitch to know your numbers.” Justina Jenkins ’23

“It is important that the means are not important, but that the ends are achieved. For example, people who want to know the time don't want to know how to make a watch.” Areumsongi Shin ’23

“During the speech, Mr. Wilt gave us his idea of what should be included in the perfect pitch: who you are, what you do, what you need and finally, what you need to fulfill. He told the class to keep it simple.” Hayley Phillips ’23

“Sometimes you have to ask what works for them,” or what you can do for them. Make someone’s life easier, then the price really doesn’t matter. What better way to summarize the modern American economy than that, make someone’s life a little easier?” Roy Wilt ’23

“From Rod, my biggest takeaway was that you must be willing to fail. He explained how he has failed before and that is why he isn’t afraid of it anymore because he kept being persistent.” Brycen Dorfmeister ’23

“Rod is part of the board here at Thiel. He was excited to talk about the future at Thiel and some of the new things coming up such as the new business department in the AC building and the renovation of the gym.” Jakob Misencik ’23

Lessons Learned:

• “Keep working with a positive mindset will lead to positive results for coping with bad situations and news.” Seoyeon Choo ’23

• “Keep a positive mindset. It is not the smartest guy who makes it but the hardest worker who does.” Autumn Gourley ’24

• “Ideas have value.” Justina Jenkins ’23

• “A diligent, inquisitive, and positive attitude define successful entrepreneurs.” Ava Kavulla ’25

• “He said we need to understand what our idea is, what our passion is, and where we want to focus our energy.” Siwon Lee ’23

• “Always remember that business is a people business.” Hayley Phillips ’23

• “Be willing to bet on yourself.” Ian Yahner ’23

• “Do not swim with the sharks. Know the climate and culture that you are working with.” Ashley Wolford ’23
• “Be a master networker. Make efforts to reach out and connect yourself with people who will help you be successful.” Autumn Gourley ’24

Dinner “Dishing”:

• “Dinner was fantastic, as the people I sat with made enjoyable conversation. We talked about a range of topics including what we would like to do for work upon graduation. The food was excellent as well.” Tyler Zere ’23
• “During the dinner, I sat with Roberta Leonard, who taught us dinner etiquette. It was really nice meeting her because she was a very considerate person. She asked me if the American dinner etiquette goes against Korean dinner etiquette. Fortunately, we have similar dinner etiquette in some nice restaurants in Korea, so the table setting was quite familiar to me.” Chaeeun Lee ’23
• “Oh, and the whole class sang happy birthday to me. Thanks, Prof. Witosky!” Ashley Wolford ’23