Frank Wilson, PhD, assistant dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, recently was named the interim associate dean of the David C. Frederick Honors College (FHC) at Pitt-Greensburg. Wilson’s appointment is the latest development in the partnership established this past spring between Pitt’s David C. Frederick Honors College and the Pitt-Greensburg Honors Program.
“I think what makes Frank truly the perfect candidate for this role is that no one knows the Greensburg campus like Frank,” said FHC Dean Nicola Foote, PhD. “He has been so committed to student success at that campus, and he is essentially the ranking academic officer at Greensburg.”
Wilson has played a key role in the shaping of the regional campus’s honors education, the foundation of which began in 1999 when the Academic Village--a system of four living-learning communities (LLC)--was established for the campus’s most intellectually curious students.
The LLCs were separated by academic division until 2010, when they integrated into one interdisciplinary village. It served as the unofficial honors community until fall 2020 when the Pitt-Greensburg Honors Program was formally established through the collaborative efforts of Wilson and fellow faculty members Sheila Confer, EdD, William Pamerleau, PhD, and John Prellwitz, PhD. A profound commitment to improving accessibility to an honors education by the David C. Frederick Honors College and Greensburg honors faculty, as well as support from University leadership at both campuses led to this partnership, which is giving Greensburg students the same access to programming, funding, and honors-specific support as their peers in Oakland.
“Dr. Wilson has been part of the core group that planned and created our honors program from the beginning,” said Robert Gregerson, PhD, president of the Pitt-Greensburg campus. “As we began to work toward integrating our program with the Frederick Honors College, Frank was a primary driver of those efforts. He was a natural choice to represent the Greensburg campus as Associate Dean of the Frederick Honors College, and we are excited to have him in this role!”
Greensburg students already have benefited from the budding partnership. In spring 2023, Kaylee Huber and Ethan Crosby became the first regional-campus students to receive Brackenridge Fellowships for research, and Olivia Petry and Madison Vogel were awarded travel funds in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Moving forward, more Greensburg students will have opportunities to compete for national scholarships like the Fulbright, Truman, Rhodes, and Marshall fellowships.
“We thought this was too good to be true, but it’s happening,” said Wilson. “It’s happening, and once it starts, I see continued growth and continued experimentation. I’m absolutely sure that this will be a success. I’m sure that the students who graduate from [the FHC at Pitt-Greensburg] will come back and be amazed at how it continued to grow.”
Wilson’s experience as president of Pitt’s Faculty Senate—the only faculty member from a regional campus to serve in that position--also gives him a unique perspective.
“He was leading and having to represent faculty from all the different campuses while recognizing that he had more perspective on one campus than the others,” said Foote. “He really learned through that process how to implement needs and policies that fit the University as a whole. So, with the launch of Frederick at Greensburg, that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve got decades of experience at Frederick Honors College in providing world-leading opportunities for the talented undergraduates, and he’ll be able to adapt and tweak those opportunities for the Greensburg students.”
Wilson also played a pivotal role as one of the leaders of the Frederick at Greensburg steering committee who developed the new program over the course of 18 months, working with leadership from the Honors College and Greensburg, as well as University leadership from the Office of the Provost, the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of Admissions, and the Office of Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement.
“We had a lot of interaction between people from the Pittsburgh campus and our folks, which has been a really terrific experience for everybody,” Wilson said. “We feel bigger than we once were.”
A sociologist by training, Wilson also maintains his connection to students in the classroom, teaching Social Movements and Drugs & Society as part of the Pitt-Greensburg Criminal Justice and Public Policy curriculum.
About the University of Pittsburgh’s David C. Frederick Honors College
Founded in 1987, the Honors College at Pittsburgh is one of the oldest in the nation with a unique tradition of excellence. In 2018, the Honors College launched its Joint Degree program to complement the legacy BPhil (Bachelor’s of Philosophy) degree, and moved to a direct-admit model for incoming first-year students. In July 2022, Chancellor Patrick Gallagher announce the multi-million-dollar gift by David C. Frederick, JD (A&D ’83) and Sophie Lynn to rename the University Honors College and establish the David C. Frederick Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh. In the two years since the Fredericks made their transformative gift, the FHC has used this funding to support the expansion of the student body to more than 3,000 students, and to build out experiential and co-curricular learning opportunities, including new research and internship programs. In addition to expanding its footprint in the Cathedral of Learning, the FHC offers student engagement space and honors advising suites, added a new upper-division LLC in University Hall, created a dedicated Office of National Scholarships Advising and Post-Graduation Success, and established an Office of Social Innovation.
About the University of Pittsburgh at 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 31 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.