Jim Stalder ’62 Distinguished Achievement Award wrap-up
On April 13th, 2024 an event was held at the chapter house to celebrate Jim Stalder receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award from Theta Chi International. Below is the speech given by Alan Copeland the International Secretary.
2024 James C. Stalder's Distinguished Achievement Award Event - April 13, 2024
The Distinguished Achievement Award was created by the Grand Chapter in 2007 to recognize alumnus members for exceptional professional accomplishments, career achievements, and community or public service.
Recipients of the award are prominently displayed in the Hall of Honor at the Theta Chi Museum located at the Headquarters in Carmel, Indiana.
At this time, I ask Brother Jim Stalder to please join me as I share some of his professional achievements and accomplishments.
Brother Stalder entered Penn State University in fall 1958. Penn State’s business college had been established at the university five years earlier in 1953, and Jim elected to become an accounting major.
As fate would have it, Jim would enter Theta Chi Fraternity’s colonial home on 523 South Allen Street and offered his pledge to join. He was initiated by Omega Chapter on February 14, 1960, and assigned Roster Number 673.
Jim received his Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State in 1962. Following graduation, he joined the international accounting and consulting firm of Price Waterhouse and was admitted to the partnership in 1974. In 1988, he was appointed Managing Partner of the Pittsburgh Office and, in 1998, he was asked to serve in the same capacity for the newly merged firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. During his career, Brother Stalder also graduated from the Amos Tuck Executive Program at Dartmouth College. He retired from the firm in July 2000, providing 38 years of consulting services for corporate and individual clients in a variety of industries throughout the United States and abroad.
Jim Stalder’s Distinguished Achievement Awar
On July 1, 2000, following his brief retirement of a few hours, Jim was appointed Dean of the A. J. Palumbo School of Business and the John F. Donahue Graduate School of Business at Duquesne University. He served for 5 years and retired from Duquesne in June 2005.
Brother Stalder also served as an Adjunct Professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Graduate School of Business for 20 years. In addition, he served for 23 years and became a Life Member of Carnegie Mellon’s Board of Trustees, where he served as Chair of the Finance Committee, Vice Chair of the Audit Committee, and Chair of the Investment Committee.
Remaining loyal to his Alma Mater, Brother Stalder also served as a member of the Board of Directors of The Smeal College Alumni Society of Penn State and was invited to join the Smeal College Accounting Advisory Board in June 2005.
In 2007, Mr. Stalder was elected to serve on the Board of Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges based in Washington, D.C., and served on the Audit Committee, including as its Chairman, and on the Executive and Governance Committees.
Brother Stalder is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has served as a member of the AICPA Council, as President and member of Council of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Big Five Accounting Coalition.
Mr. Stalder also served as
President of the Pittsburgh Tax Club;
President of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants;
President of the Estate Planning Council of Pittsburgh;
Chairman of the Committee on Federal Taxation and Committee on Legislation of the Pennsylvania Institute;
and as a lecturer in taxation at the University of Pittsburgh.
He was also a frequent lecturer at various firm and professional meetings, including the annual Tax Conferences presented by Penn State and the Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, and he served as Chairman of the Penn State Tax Conference Planning Committee.
Brother Stalder has also served on the Board of seven business-focused organizations including:
Keystone Powdered Metal Company
C-COR Incorporated
Koppers Holdings Inc.
Commonwealth Capital Group LLC
Pittsburgh Equity Partners, L.P.
Idea Foundry Inc.
Mascaro Construction Company
Jim has been and continues to be active in a wide array of community organizations. A sampling of his leadership positions include:
Chairman and member of the Board of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce;
Vice President and member of the Board of the Pittsburgh Public Theater;
Chairman and member of the Board of St. Clair Hospital;
Member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Duquesne Club;
Treasurer and member of the Board of Trustees of Penn’s Southwest Association;
Member of the Board and Executive Committee of the Zoological Society of Pittsburgh;
Vice Chairman and member of the Board of the Greater Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau;
Member of the Board of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater;
Member of the Board of Catholic Charities;
President and Board member of Theta Chi Fraternity Alumni Association for Omega Chapter;
Lay Minister and Chairman of the Finance Committee, Our Lady of Grace Church;
Founder and member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Tax Blueprint Project;
Member of the Advisory Board of the Greater Pittsburgh Commission for Women;
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens;
Member of Board of Andrew Carnegie Society of Carnegie Mellon University;
Member of the Board of Regents and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pittsburgh’s North Catholic High School;
Member of the Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh;
Member of the Board of Trustees of Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
Brother Stalder has been recognized as:
The “1990 Man of the Year in Finance” by Vectors Pittsburgh;
The recipient of the 2001 Distinguished Service Award from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Tax Executives Institute, Inc.;
The recipient of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ 1999 Distinguished Public Service Award – its most prestigious honor;
He was inducted into the North Catholic High School Hall of Fame in 2000;
Was invested into The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Class of 2002;
and he is the recipient of Penn State’s Smeal College of Business’ 2009 Outstanding Accounting Alumnus Award
Over 60 years ago, Jim married the former Judith A. Boyle of Pittsburgh, PA. They have three children, nine grandchildren, and one great grandchild. They reside in Upper St. Clair, a suburb of Pittsburgh.
Jim has been a generous contributor to the Foundation Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity and has attained the Lifetime Giving Level of ‘Freeman Fellow’ within the Foundation Chapter’s annual Excellence Fund.
Jim, we are a better Fraternity because of your generosity.
We are a better brotherhood because of your friendship.
We are a better world because of your attention to detail.
We are better Americans because of your selflessness.
We are better students and alumni because of your leadership.
And as they often say here in Happy Valley, We are…Penn State!
Congratulations and Well Done, Brother Stalder!
