Thiel Founders’ Day honors foundation

Staff report

GREENVILLE, PA.

Thiel College honored The Dietrich Foundation with its 2016 A. Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award at its annual Founders’ Day celebration Thursday.

“It is with great gratitude that we are honoring The Dietrich Foundation for its significant, lasting and ongoing contributions to Thiel College and the Greenville community,” said Thiel College President Troy D. VanAken. “Bill Dietrich II’s dedication to higher education has made an indelible mark at Thiel College.”

The Dietrich Foundation’s $25 million gift to Thiel College in 2011 remains the largest in the college’s history. A portion of that gift was used to establish The Kenneth ’31 and Marianna Brown ’32 Dietrich Honors Institute. The DHI was named in honor of Dietrich’s parents, who were Thiel College alumni.

VanAken was to present the Distinguished Service Award to Edward Grefenstette, president of The Dietrich Foundation, during the Founders’ Day ceremony.

The celebration also served as the official kickoff for Thiel College’s yearlong sesquicentennial.

The A. Louis and Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award is presented annually to individuals who demonstrate exemplary character, continuity of leadership and long-term service to Greenville and the surrounding community. The recipients must demonstrate a commitment to the common good above private interests.

The award is named after Louis and Barbara Thiel, whose generosity made possible the founding of Thiel College in 1866. As part of the Founders’ Day tradition, five faculty members and 10 staff members are recognized for their hard work and dedication to the college.

Based in Pittsburgh, The Dietrich Foundation is a Pennsylvania charitable trust created through the vision and generosity of William S. Dietrich II, who died in October 2011.

The primary mission of The Dietrich Foundation is to benefit higher education, principally in the greater Pittsburgh area, by providing ongoing and increasing financial support to six educational institutions that were important to him.

The foundation also provides financial support to nine other charitable beneficiaries in Western Pennsylvania, including funds for both Greenville and Conneaut Lake communities, for which Dietrich had great fondness.