Former PIT president dies from COVID at age 71
NETHER PROVIDENCE » The students and staff of the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology are mourning the loss of their former president, William B. Robinson Jr., 71, who died Monday. He had been hospitalized since late November with complications related to COVID-19 .
Robinson became president of the school in 2017, 50 years after he first enrolled as a student, when he studied civil engineering. After graduating in 1969 he went into the business world before returning as an instructor, trustee and later board chair.
The school, which was originally located in Upper Darby, offers specialized associate’s degrees and certificate programs. It moved to its present 12- acre location on Manchester Avenue, just outside Media, in 1982.
Matt Meyers, former vice president of the college and now president, called Robinson a visionary.
“He envisioned a role for PIT filling a need, much as it did with him. Students who, maybe a four year education wasn’t right for them, instead giving them avenues and adopting programs that were consistent with careers which were growing and emerging in our communities,” said Meyers. “He oversaw the
growth of our nursing program, which nearly doubled, and spearheaded us getting the first regionally accredited program in cannabis education. We were the first school in 2019 to start a regionally accredited cannabis degree program and now it’s grown into three different tracks.”
Meyers said PIT, which has an
enrollment of 500 students, was initially an engineering school. Its biggest programs when it opened in 1953 where engineering and computer science.
“Today we’re mostly a medical school, clinical, or connected medical such as healthcare administration, or psychology, or marijuana,” said Meyers. “Will Robinson, he was a visionary, always trying to be the next-greatest but he was always there for students, there for staff, the most positive upbeat human being you’ll ever come across .”
“We were so saddened to hear of Will’s death. His passion for not only education but community partnerships will truly missed in Delaware County,” said Trish McFarland, president of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. “He was so committed to providing every deserving student an opportunity to reach their academic and career goals. Our region lost an amazing leader but we know his legacy will live on.”
“We will all miss this special man, PIT’s leader, and everyone’s friend,” said Thomas E. McDuffie, Ed. D., chairp of the board of trustees. “He will be remembered as a folksy philosopher, an insightful educator, a comedian, and an athlete. We are all richer because he shared his life and hopes and dreams with us.”
Robinson’s leadership has led to unprecedented growth of the college and the introduction of academic programs that will have a lasting legacy on a generation
of future PIT graduates, he said.
“I can’t believe this. My prayers go out to his family during time. May God comfort them. We will miss Mr. Will Robinson,” Garrison Lockley, a counselor at the school, wrote on the school Facebook page.
“The PIT community deeply mourns the loss of President Robinson and wishes to extend our deepest condolences and prayers to his surviving children, grandchildren, family, and friends as we will cherish his memory and impact.”
The college will keep stakeholders updated as information regarding arrangements becomes available said a statement released by the school. A virtual vigil at the school is planned for Friday.