At this year’s Commencement ceremony on Sunday, April 30, the Waynesburg University Class of 2017 will be addressed by Aradhna Oliphant, president and CEO of Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc.

Oliphant, who was born in India, earned degrees from Rutger’s University and Bhopal University and began her career as an adjunct professor in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania. For the last 15 years, however, Oliphant has been working in the civic sector in the Pittsburgh Region.

Oliphant serves on a number of boards and committees throughout the region, is the Vice President of the International Women’s Forum of Pittsburgh and was named one of the 2015 most influential people in the region by Pittsburgh Magazine. It is her work at Leadership Pittsburgh, however, that connects her with Waynesburg University. The non-profit organization works to bring people with significant spheres of influence together and inform them about the region and what opportunities there are to make an impact.

“[Waynesburg] is an important institution in the region,” said Oliphant. “Many of the Waynesburg leadership team has participated in our senior leaders program and a few in our emergent leaders class.”

Oliphant has a strong philosophy of servant leadership in both her work and her personal life, which she knows mirrors the university’s mission. It is this, she speculates, that led university President Douglas Lee and Dr. Larry Stratton, director of the Stover Center for Constitutional Studies and Moral Leadership, to extend her the invitation to speak at Commencement.

“I was floored,” said Oliphant.

The opportunity, Oliphant believes, is an enormous honor and one that she takes very seriously. While she doesn’t want to give away the content of her speech before the day of Commencement, she plans to share with the Class of 2017 her thoughts about servant leadership.

“I think, read and talk a lot about what makes for a true leader, and how it’s an every day commitment,” said Oliphant. “The theme is, What, in my opinion, does it mean to be a true leader?'”

Oliphant has heard many good things about Waynesburg University’s campus and is looking forward to visiting and seeing Waynesburg alumni of Leadership Pittsburgh in their element. At the same time, the responsibility makes her a bit nervous– but “the things that matter are the things that make you nervous,” she believes.

“I’m always a little nervous about [going onstage] which I believe is healthy. But what is making me much more nervous is the responsibility of being a Commencement speaker. I’m also very cognizant of the fact that most people really don’t want a Commencement speaker,” she laughed.

In addition to speaking at the ceremony, Oliphant will be presented with a Doctor of Humane Letters by the university for the way her life and personal mission align with Waynesburg’s mission.

She’s excited and extremely honored by this recognition, but she is always reminded that her work is not about herself.