April 3, 2017
Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, Ph.D., President of St. John’s University, was recently honored by the Penn State Graduate School Alumni Society with a Lifetime Achievement Award that was presented during the annual Penn State University Graduate School Alumni Society Recognition Dinner, held on March 25 in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Gempesaw received his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Penn State University in 1985.
Regina Vasilatos-Younken, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate School, praised Dr. Gempesaw for bringing positive change to every institution that he has served. In her introductory remarks, she stated that one of Dr. Gempesaw’s nominators wrote:
“He is a leader who brings change, involves the members of the organization in that change such that they become co-leaders with him in making their institutions better in every way. It takes a very special leader to open his arms to the members of the institution and invite them to co-create with him the future of the institution, and then to educate, train, coach and mentor the entire community to step up to their collective leadership roles and responsibilities to move the institution forward. This is what Dr. Gempesaw has done for St. John’s.”