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After spending her entire 44-year career in higher education at the Pennsylvania College of Technology -- the last 23 years as its president -- Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour has announced her intention to retire in June 2022.
Gilmour has served as president since 1998. Under her leadership, the college has experienced a period of growth and dynamic innovation and its development into a national leader in applied technology education, according to a release from the college.
She joined the college in 1977 as an instructor and curriculum developer in the dental hygiene program. In 1983 she was appointed to the first of many administrative positions including coordinator of dental hygiene, division director of health sciences and dean of instruction.
Gilmour became the college's highest-ranking academic officer, vice president for academic affairs, in 1993. Three years later she assumed the position of vice president for academic affairs and provost. Then, in 1998, she assumed her current role as president of the college.
A long-time friend, Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, has worked with Gilmour since 1984 in various capacities, as a member of the college's board of directors and as a chairman of the board.
"I don't think there's any question about it, her greatest leadership quality is her ability to listen and to take all points of view and then make a decision based on that," Yaw said of Gilmour.
"The one thing that I think is an outstanding quality of Dr. Gilmour is that she is not afraid to make tough decisions. I think that has resonated throughout her tenure as college president," he added.
Yaw cited an article that said the average in-office tenure of a college president is seven years. He noted that Gilmour's tenure has been three times that amount.
"Throughout, whether it's academic or personnel or whatever, she assimilates information and then makes a decision based on the information that she's received. I think that's an outstanding quality without question. I think she has an innate sense of fairness to everybody involved, whether it's students, administration or faculty or anybody," he added.
During her years at Penn College, baccalaureate degree offerings have increased substantially. The college has also established its first graduate-level programs, a Bachelor/Master of Science degree in physician assistant studies and a Master of Science in Nursing degree in nursing education under Gilmour's leadership.
The college's partnerships and support from business and industry have grown exponentially during Gilmour's time as president, with the number of employers, including Fortune 500 companies, visiting camp to recruit student at career fairs and other events. Penn College graduates address critical skills-gap shortages in a diverse range of career fields led by manufacturing, health care, plastics and polymers and transportation.
Gilmour has directed not only an increase in the academic offerings at the college but has overseen a significant expansion of the main campus through various construction projects including: a new main entrance, a Student and Administrative Service Center, the Madigan Library, College Avenue Labs, the Center for Business & Workforce Development, the Construction Masonry Building, Rose Street Commons student housing complex, the Field House, UPMC Field and an expansion of the Welding Lab with the Lycoming Engine Metal Trades Center.
She has overseen extensive renovations to a number of campus facilities including Klump Academic Center, the Hager Lifelong Education Center, the Thompson Professional Development Center, the Larry A. Ward Machining Technologies Center, Le Jeune Chef Restaurant and Bardo Gymnasium. Penn College at Wellsboro, a renovated and retrofitted facility donated by UPMC Susquehanna, is serving vital workforce education needs in Pennsylvania's Northern Tier.
Under Gilmour's leadership, and through her advocacy efforts with elected officials, Penn College's state appropriation funding has risen to nearly $27 million.
Yaw shared that Gilmour's plan to retire has been known for awhile and that originally she had planned to leave at the end of June this year, but because of the pandemic, the board had asked that she stay another year.
The college announced that Gilmour will be succeeded by a new leader who will be selected after a nationwide search. Yaw said that work is being done to put the framework of that search together.
"After working with somebody for 37 years, and having her 23 years as the president, there's going to be a huge void. There's going to be a void at the college, void at the board and a void for me personally," he shared.
"When you work with someone in that capacity for that long, you get used to the way that they think and talking to them, and what information they need and all those little things that happen when you work with someone that long. It's going to be a challenge for all of us," he said.
Gilmour also announced plans for a legacy fundraising campaign that will invest in students as they continue to transform tomorrow throughout the workforce, in hopes that her legacy will reflect the boundless opportunity a Penn College education represents for students.
"For more than 100 years, Pennsylvania College of Technology has been empowering students to earn an applied technology education - one that leads to success in the global marketplace," Gilmour said. "So, my answer to the question of legacy is quite simple; it is setting the stage for future leaders, students, alumni and employees for the next 100 years."
True to the college's hands-on approach to education, the target of the Legacy Campaign for Pennsylvania College of Technology is about a collective commitment to the future.
"This campaign is not just about how much money we can raise," Gilmour said. "This campaign represents an education, a calling, an investment. Instead, here is the goal: Just like the core of our education, we need all hands in to empower our students to create the world we want to live in. I ask you to be champions for Penn College in our beloved community and beyond."