UPT'S NEW PRESIDENT TO DELIVER

KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT CONVOCATION

TITUSVILLE, Aug. 24 – The new president of the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, Dr. William A. Shields, will speak at the eighteenth annual Academic Convocation on Thursday, September 1, at 2:00 p.m., on the veranda behind McKinney Hall.

            Shields has over thirty years of experience in higher education, as a teacher, a researcher, an administrator and as a president of four institutions.  In addition, prior to coming to UPT, Shields served one-year terms as interim president at the University of Maine at Presque Isle and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.  He was president of Rockford College in Rockford, Illinois, for 10 years and president of the College of Great Falls in Great Falls, Montana, for 15 years.

            Before beginning his first presidency, Shields served as chairperson of the Division of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Idaho State University.  He taught sociology at a number of colleges and universities, including the College of Great Falls, Idaho State University, Pennsylvania State University-New Kensington and the University of Pittsburgh.

            In addition to teaching, Shields was a research associate with Idaho State University’s Government Research Institute, where he supervised and conducted state-wide survey and community development projects, and he was a research consultant with the Urban Renewal Agency, conducting social and economic impact studies.  As a research associate at Pitt, he conducted sociological research for “Project Succeed,” an individualized instruction effort for middle and high school students.

            Shields earned both his master’s and his doctorate in sociology from the University of Pittsburgh and his bachelor’s in sociology from Carroll College in Helena, Montana.

            Shields has numerous publications, papers and reports to his credit, and he has presented at conferences in California, Florida, Ontario, Montana and Illinois.  He served as a consulting humanist for “Crossfire,” a public affairs program, and “The Future of the Small Town in Idaho,” a four-part television series, both sponsored by the Association for the Humanities in Idaho on the Idaho Public Television Network.  In addition, he co-hosted a weekly public affairs program of PBS station KBGL in Idaho.

Shields is an accomplished public speaker, who continues to deliver local, state and national presentations.

He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Rockford College Alumni Association Appreciation Award and Honorary Alumnus, Rotary International “Service Above Self” Award by the Rockford Rotary Club, Distinguished Service Award by the Illinois Campus Compact, and President Emeritus Status by Rockford College Board of Trustees.  Shields was named an Andrew Mellon Teaching Fellow and National Institute of Mental Health Fellow.  He was recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America, Outstanding Educators of America, Idaho State University Mortar Board Professor of the Year, and National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminar Fellow at Vanderbilt University. 

As a college student, he was a member of Pi Kappa Delta Collegiate Forensics Honorary Society, Who’s Who Among American College and University Students, Delta Epsilon Sigma Catholic Academic Honorary Society, and he was named the Montana Collegiate Oratory Champion.

 Shields served on a number of community boards and committees in Montana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Maine, including the Cascade County United Way, Columbus Hospital Advisory Board, Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Governors Task Force on Telecommunications in Montana.  He was a member and chair of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Campus Compact, Rockford Golden Apple Foundation, Rockford Rotary Club, Northern Illinois Center for Healing, Rockford Health Council, as well as a member of the board, vice chairman and chairman of the Greater Rockford Council of 100 in Illinois.

He presently serves as a Senior Consultant on the Mission and Identity Project with the Association of Governing Boards in Washington, D.C.

            During the convocation, an induction ceremony will be held for new members of Phi Theta Kappa, an honorary fraternity for two-year colleges.

            The public is invited to attend the ceremony and reception immediately following.  In the event of rain, the convocation will relocate to Henne Auditorium in the Broadhurst Science Center.

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