Waynesburg University President Douglas Less was recently honored as one of the Pittsburgh Business Times’ 2017 Outstanding CEOs and Top Executives.  

Lee was nominated for the recognition by Heidi Szuminsky, vice president of Institutional Advancement and University Relations at the university. 

“I am on their email list, and when I saw that they were looking for nominations for Outstanding CEO, I thought, ‘oh, my goodness, we absolutely have to nominate him,’” said Szuminsky, “because he’s a wonderful leader and has done a lot of good here.” 

The Pittsburgh Business Times, according to Szuminsky, was looking for nominees who have made improvements and advancements at their organization. 

“Since he became president, we’ve been ranked on a national level for all sorts of things, but also just the type of leader he is – he creates a culture where people feel excited about the mission and he leads by example,” said Szuminsky. “I think that if you look up the definition of what makes a good leader, it’s him, so it was a no-brainer.” 

Lee was the only college or university executive out of 18 winners to be recognized for the award, which was presented at an event on April 12. He said this achievement is representative of the nature of the university. 

“We talk about Waynesburg being such a special place, and I think this is just another example of that,” said Lee. “We have amazing people here. Our students, our faculty, our staff collectively all create a great learning environment and service environment.” 

Lee believes his purpose at the university is to not only garner support for the university, but also spread the mission and promote the institution. 

“The most important job of the president is to continue the mission of the university and to ensure there is a clear understanding of the mission,” said Lee. “Secondly, to promote the university, to be the biggest cheerleader that the university has.” 

By achieving a recognition for his role at Waynesburg, Lee said he is enhancing the reputation of the school. 

“The more recognitions we’ve got, the greater the statement of our institution, particularly now,” said Lee. “We’ve had so many recognitions for the outstanding value of a Waynesburg education, the outcomes, the student placement rate. It benefits the whole university and it grows our reputation which is so important.” 

Over the last several years, Lee has been recognized in a number of similar capacities. He was named the 2016 World Class CEO by the Southpointe CEO Association and has previously been listed as one of the Top 100 People in Pennsylvania.  

Szuminsky agreed that such achievements contribute to the success of everyone at the university. 

“The more that people in the Pittsburgh market know about Waynesburg and what we do, the better chance our students have at networking, the better chance at getting jobs,” said Szuminsky. 

She strongly believes Lee is deserving of the recognition by the Pittsburgh Business Times. 

“I’ve worked closely with President Lee for eight years now, and I have always admired the way he leads through tough decisions,” said Szuminsky. “Through the good times and bad times, he is very consistent in the say that he guides his team and leads his organization.”