Esch to lead campus for next year

Longtime employee had been serving as VP of business affairs

Rick Esch, vice president for business affairs and a Pitt-Bradford alumnus, isn’t a jump-head-first-into-something kind of guy. He prefers to methodically weigh all the options while examining spreadsheets, charts and graphs.

He made an exception, though, when it came to serving as the interim president of his alma mater.

When Dr. Catherine Koverola resigned as president in late June, Pitt Provost Ann Cudd asked Esch if he’d be willing to serve as interim president until a permanent replacement was found. Esch’s answer was short and sweet: “Sure. I’d be happy to serve in that role.”

Esch, left, talks with staff members Kathy Moonan, center, and Angie Wolfe.

Glenn Melvin '04

Anyone who knows Esch wasn’t surprised by his answer. After all, he’s been one of Pitt-Bradford’s longest and loudest cheerleaders for decades.

“Pitt-Bradford is a very special place,” Esch said. “I knew it when I was a student on campus in the early 1980s, and I know it and appreciate it even more now.”

Esch has been working at Pitt- Bradford for nearly 30 years, most of that time as the leader of the business affairs area, which includes budget and financial reporting, auxiliary services, and facilities management. During his long tenure, his leadership style, personality and deep well of compassion helped to instill in his team members the kind of loyalty many other supervisors would envy.

Esch visits with summer student worker Rachel Close '22

Glenn Melvin '04

“We would follow him off the ledge,” one staff member in his area said. “That’s the kind of man he is.”

That’s the kind of man who, immediately after occupying the president’s office, said one of his first priorities was reconnect to and rebuild relationships with colleagues and friends, both on campus and off, which had been challenging during the pandemic.

“As we cautiously continue to move past the worst of the pandemic, I’m seeing people in person and solidifying those long-standing and fruitful relationships that have existed between Pitt-Bradford and the community.”

Those relationships are important to Esch because they’re what helped Pitt-Bradford flourish for nearly 60 years.

“Many, many people, both on campus and in our community, have helped Pitt-Bradford grow and become the amazing place it is today,” Esch said.

Relationship building takes time and many meetings.

His schedule is jampacked every day – he calls it being “stacked and packed” – with face-to-face and virtual meetings with students, faculty and staff, Advisory Board members, legislators, alumni and community members. Despite the subject of the meetings – developing or fine-tuning policies or procedures, planning for events, keeping the campus as virusfree as possible, solidifying continued financial support – the focus is always on the students.

“That’s what we’re all here for, to support our students. All that we do is to help our students succeed.”

While he’s doing that, he’s still leading the business affairs area, which includes overseeing construction of the $24.5 million Engineering and Information Technologies building, which broke ground in the summer and will be ready for engineering and technology students next fall.

Esch’s plate is beyond full, but he’s not worried. He knows he has lots of help.

“Pitt-Bradford has a great team of people who are committed to serving our students and helping the university succeed. We are all in this together, willing to help and support each other in any way we can. ”

Many, many people, both on campus and in our community, have helped Pitt-Bradford grow and become the amazing place it is today.

Esch is going to give the role all he has, at least until 2023, when a new president will likely be in place.”

In early November, Cudd announced that the search for a permanent president would begin in August 2022 with a new president on campus on July 1, 2023.

“I think good things will come as a result of that search,” Esch said. –Pat Frantz Cercone

Interim president Rick Esch (center) chats with Associate Vice President of Business Affairs Chris Clifford, left, and Vice President of Enrollment Management Dr. James Baldwin, right. -- Pat Frantz Cercone