WILLIAM E. TRUEHEART

Dr. William E. Trueheart is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of The Pittsburgh Foundation, one of the oldest and largest community foundations in the country.

Before joining The Pittsburgh Foundation, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., America’s oldest and largest children’s and family literacy organization. Prior to that, he was President of Bryant University (formerly Bryant College) in Rhode Island, the first African American to head a four-year private college in New England. He also served Bryant University as Executive Vice President and member of its Board of Trustees. He was Associate Secretary of Harvard University in its Office of Governing Boards and served as Assistant Dean and Director of the Master in Public Administration Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. After serving Bryant University for ten years, Dr. Trueheart returned to Harvard as a Visiting Scholar.

He held several administrative posts at the University of Connecticut, including Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Assistant to the President, and American Council on Education Fellow. He has served as a consultant to the United States National Park Service, the Ford Foundation, the Lilly Endowment, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, the College of the Atlantic, Lincoln University, and Arthur D. Little, Inc.

He currently serves on the Boards of the Commonfund, Inc., the University of Pittsburgh, Johnson and Wales University, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. He also serves on the Visiting Committees for the School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Connecticut.  Dr. Trueheart is a member of the Advisory Board for the Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Foundations.

He has held a variety of positions in the past, including service as the co-chair of the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Commission on Public Education, the chairman of the Rhode Island Independent Higher Education Association and the vice chairman of the National Council of Presidents of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. 

Honors include University of Connecticut Distinguished Alumnus, Harvard University Littauer Fellow, Travelli Fellow and Ford Foundation Fellow.

Dr. Trueheart earned his BA degree in political science and economics at the University of Connecticut, his MPA at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, and EdD at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University. His honorary degrees include a PhD in Humane Letters from Bryant University, a PhD in Education from Bridgewater State College and a DBA from Johnson and Wales University.