Posse Foundation founder Deborah Bial is Pitt’s winter commencement speaker

Deborah Bial, a higher education administration expert who founded one of the most comprehensive scholarship programs in the U.S., will address the University of Pittsburgh’s newest graduates at winter commencement. This year’s University-wide ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Petersen Events Center.

Bial is the CEO and founder of The Posse Foundation, a leadership development and college success organization that sends students from varied backgrounds to selective colleges and universities.

Since 1989, The Posse Foundation has recognized 15,000 scholars, who have received $2.65 billion in leadership scholarships from the nonprofit’s partner colleges and universities and boast a graduation rate of 90%. Active leaders both during their time on campus and when they enter the workforce, Posse Scholars and program alumni have won more than 600 prestigious national fellowships since 2001.

Bial’s extensive experience in facilitating dialogue has gained her national recognition, including a prestigious “genius grant” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2007.

In 2010, President Barack Obama named Posse as one of 10 nonprofits to which he would donate his Nobel Peace Prize award money. In 2020, Posse expanded, using a new virtual recruitment and training model to double its outreach. Today, the nonprofit supports programs in Atlanta; Boston; Chicago; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; New Orleans; the San Francisco Bay Area; Washington, D.C.; and recruits out of Puerto Rico.

Bial earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in education with a focus on higher education administration, planning and social policy from Harvard University. In 1999, she received a $1.9 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for her dissertation work, which focused on the design and assessment of a new college admissions tool.

Bial is a recipient of the Harold W. McGraw Prize in Education and the Anne Roe Award from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She completed her undergraduate degree at Brandeis University, where she serves on the Board of Trustees, and has 30 honorary doctorates.

Find more information by visiting Pitt’s commencement site or following @PittCommencement on Instagram