The Pitt-Greensburg Alumni Association (PGAA) will present its 2023 Young Alumni Leadership Award to Doug Smeltzer ’17 at the Alumni Award Celebration Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 28, as part of Blue & Gold Celebration 2024: Homecoming and Family Weekend. Registration for the dinner is available here.
The PGAA Young Alumni Leadership Award, initiated in 2015, recognizes established and future leaders among Pitt-Greensburg’s young alumni who are age 35 and younger. The winners of this award have distinguished themselves as leaders among their peers and in their profession, community, and/or at the University.
"As the Pitt Greensburg Alumni Association President, it is my honor to be part of a university that produces the level of impressive distinction, volunteers, and leadership among our winners," said Michel Keller.
Smeltzer graduated from Pitt-Greensburg in 2017 with a BS in management-accounting. He and his wife, Claire, a 2023 graduate from Pitt-Greensburg’s Early Childhood Education program, live in Unity Township, PA.
“I have been very fortunate to be able to use the education and skills I obtained while at the university to establish myself as a leader in my field,” said Smeltzer. “From the real-world insight of professors like Sharon Turchick (now retired), to the scientific business approach of Ewa Rudnicka, my time at Pitt-Greensburg continues to be a major factor in my career success. I am thankful to be able to represent and reflect our great school in everything I do.”
For the past 12 years, he has been working with The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in a number of different roles, each adding progressive management responsibilities.
A Team Leader with Goodyear, Smeltzer operates his own store and is responsible for providing support to other stores in the region where he develops and improves business processes, ensures operation excellence, develops training for field leadership, and mentors future and emerging leaders within the company. Smeltzer also works with company leaders in-store support business development, retail leadership, and the executive board.
He also teaches the Business Acumen and Financial Statement Analysis portions of Goodyear’s New Store Manager Foundations course and has developed a series of training modules for retail leaders that illustrate how to run one’s businesses efficiently, how to leverage labor for success, and how to grow market share. Smeltzer has presented these training modules to more than 25 percent of the company’s stores nationwide, including Chicago, Buffalo, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles. The initial start-up of the training series began with a nationwide training of all of the Retail District Managers who were given Smeltzer’s training resources to use in training their respective teams.
During this past year, Smeltzer was asked to develop and grow Goodyear’s Amazon platform, a nationwide network of Fleet Service Centers dedicated to servicing Amazon delivery vehicles. In September of 2023, he was selected to redesign the business workflow model for the original Fleet Service Center in Columbus, Ohio, to increase productivity and ability to service Amazon’s rapidly growing and changing needs. Throughout this process, he worked the Retail Leadership Team, Business Development Team, and several Store Support members to create a sustainable business model that has now been implemented nationwide. The program has expanded from nine locations at start-up to more than 50 locations. Additionally, he has mentored new managers responsible for the Fleet Service Centers in the Columbus and Cincinnati markets.
In each of the past two years, Smeltzer participated in Goodyear’s Talent Week. This year, he was one of six retail field leaders selected for a week of development and collaboration with leaders from all segments of Goodyear Retail. In March, he also was one of five retail leaders selected for a roundtable with Goodyear’s newly appointed CEO where he contributed to crafting a vision for the future direction of Goodyear Retail and to the discussion on how the retail division can fit into the new CEO’s vision for moving Goodyear forward.
His leadership skills are also evident in his success as Pitt-Greensburg’s Head Tennis Coach for both the men’s and women’s teams. During his seven years at the helm of the women’s tennis team, the women won four regular season Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) titles, three AMCC championships, and three NCAA tournament appearances—making him the winningest tennis coach in campus history.
During that time, players in the program won seven AMCC Player of the Year awards, four AMCC Newcomer of the Year awards, three Pitt-Greensburg Athlete of the Year awards, and three Pitt-Greensburg Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. The team earned 60 All-AMCC selections, one AMCC Faculty Athletic Representative (FAR) award, and two Team Peak Performer awards. The women’s team’s success led to his being named Pitt-Greensburg Coach of the Year (three times) and AMCC Coach of the Year (four times). In 2022, he became the first coach in campus history to have a team defeat a Division II opponent, which was followed by two more victories against Division II opponents the following season. At the conclusion of the 2023-24 season and his tenure as head coach, he is in possession of several program coaching records: most coaching victories, most AMCC tournament victories, and responsible for coaching the team to more than half of the women’s tennis program’s all-time victories.
Smeltzer also assisted in founding TEAM Bobcat, a sports ministry club, and served as the staff advisor to the club. After a slow start due to Covid-19 protocols, the club has gained significant traction and sponsored a very successful Worship and Wings night in spring 2023.
An active member of Charter Oak Church, Smeltzer serves on the Worship Arts team where he plays the trumpet and flugelhorn with the traditional service team and performs vocals for both the traditional and contemporary service teams.
“I am so very thankful for my time at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg,” said Smeltzer. “I have so many valuable lessons that I have taken away from my education that have helped me to grow into the leader that I am today.”
About Pitt-Greensburg:
Founded in 1963, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg is a publicly assisted, four-year, liberal arts college in southwestern Pennsylvania. Pitt-Greensburg offers 31 baccalaureate degree programs, including new majors in data analytics, nursing, and healthcare management, as well as 30 minors and four certificate programs. With nearly 1,400 students, more than 10,000 alumni, and faculty and staff numbering 260, Pitt-Greensburg provides a vibrant, diverse community that is a dynamic model of a 21st-century liberal arts education. As part of the University of Pittsburgh system, Pitt-Greensburg offers the resources of a world-renowned university combined with the individualized and immersive experiences of a small liberal arts college. Creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit permeate the campus and extend into its many collaborative projects with the Westmoreland County community. Nestled in Pennsylvania’s beautiful Laurel Highlands, the campus is surrounded by the region’s outdoor recreation venues and rich history. It is a five-minute drive from uptown Greensburg and less than an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh.