The fall 2009 CEO Conversations series at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus continues Oct. 21 with guest speaker Steve Tritch, chairman of Westinghouse Electric Company. The hour-long program begins at 12:30 p.m. in the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium in the Community Center. The series is free and open to the public.
Tritch holds both a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and a master of business administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He began working for Westinghouse Electric Company in 1971 as a product engineer in the former Power Circuit Breaker Division. He was appointed chairman in 2008 after having served as president and CEO since July 2002. Prior to that, Tritch was senior vice president of Nuclear Fuel, providing nuclear fuel products and services to nuclear power plants throughout the world. He also managed the integration of the former ABB nuclear businesses into Westinghouse Electric.
Active in a variety of local organizations, Tritch serves as chairman of the Board of Trustees for Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, chair of the Engineering Board of Visitors to the University of Pittsburgh, and on the boards of the Allegheny County Conference on Community Development, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), the United Way of Allegheny County and the UPCI Cancer Council. In addition, he was appointed to the President’s Export Council by President George Bush.
Among other awards, Tritch was honored by the Engineering Society of Western Pennsylvania with the 2009 Metcalf Award and he was selected as the 2009 Business Hall of Fame Inductee at the Junior Achievement Spirit of Enterprise Awards Ceremony.
An initiative of Penn State Fayette Chancellor Emmanuel I. Osagie, CEO Conversations is designed to give students the opportunity to hear from and talk with key individuals in the local, regional and national business communities about business, entrepreneurship and leadership. The events are free and open to the public.
CEO Conversations debuted in fall 2007 with local businessman, philanthropist and former Fayette County Commissioner Joseph A. Hardy III as the guest speaker. Guest speakers also have included Attorney General Tom Corbett and Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon; Sheetz Inc. Chairman Stephen Sheetz; American Eagle Outfitters CEO James O’Donnell; Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Edward Stack; Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl; Allegheny Construction Group Owner and President Laura Deklewa; Pittsburgh Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer; the First Lady of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Marjorie Rendell; and John Kosar, chairman emeritus of Burt Hill.