G. Reynolds Clark to Receive Area's United Way Inaugural Outstanding Campaign Volunteer of Year Award

G. Reynolds "Renny" Clark

G. Reynolds (“Renny”) Clark, the University of Pittsburgh’s vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff for Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, has been selected to be the inaugural recipient of the United Way of Allegheny County’s Outstanding Campaign Volunteer of the Year Award, which recognizes a campaign leader who has made “a significant impact in the annual United Way campaign through his or her dedication, leadership, and outreach.” Clark also is being recognized for his “passionate dedication to facilitating new and longstanding relationships with agencies of the United Way.”

The award will be presented to Clark, retired chair of the Westinghouse Foundation, at the 2009 United Way Campaign Celebration, to be held at 11:30 a.m. May 25 in the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown.

Clark has been the cochair of the University’s United Way campaign since he joined the University in 2000; during that time, the Pitt campaign has raised $5.76 million for the Allegheny County United Way.

“Renny is the best volunteer in the world,” says Robert Nelkin, president and chief professional officer of the United Way of Allegheny County. “He is tireless. He is passionate. He is reliable. And he is very effective.”

A member of the United Way of Allegheny County Board of Directors, Clark also serves on the United Way’s Tocqueville Society Committee, which strives “to deepen individual understanding of, commitment to, and support of United Way’s work of advancing the common good by creating opportunities for a better life for all.” The Tocqueville Society also recognizes local philanthropic leaders and volunteer champions around the world who have devoted time, talent, and funds to create long-lasting changes by tackling their communities’ most serious issues. As a Tocqueville Society Committee member, Clark has reached out to community leaders, requesting major gifts of $10,000 or greater.

Clark joined Pitt after a 34-year career with Westinghouse Electric Corporation, where, in addition to having chaired the Westinghouse Foundation, he served as executive director of the company’s staff services functions, among other roles. In June 2009, Westinghouse SURE (Service Uniting Retired Employees) selected Clark to receive that organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2009. SURE’s 900 supporting members volunteer some 60,000 hours a year, benefiting children, the elderly, and the infirm, and they help to raise funds for, and provide guidance to, other charities. In addition, Clark and his wife, Linda, lived for many years in Franklin Park, Pa., where Clark served for five years as mayor and 30 years as a volunteer firefighter, including 18 years as fire chief.

A 1965 graduate of Geneva College, Clark serves on his alma mater’s board of trustees. In 1990, he received the Distinguished Service Award from that college’s Alumni Association and cochaired the school’s recent $25 million capital campaign. In 2006, he received the Geneva College Life “G” award for lifetime achievement.

He also sits on the board of the Greater Pittsburgh Council-Boy Scouts of America, which awarded Clark the 2006 Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service to scouting. Clark is an Eagle Scout, a distinction he earned in 1960.

Clark also serves on the advisory boards of the Salvation Army of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Allegheny Regional Asset District and sits on the boards of a number of civic and cultural organizations, among them Family House, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, the Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, the Pittsburgh CLO, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the Regional Industrial Development Corporation, and Pittsburgh Gateways. He also is chair of the Oakland Task Force.