About the Wilburn Group

Robert C. Wilburn

Robert Wilburn has served as the Chief Executive Officer in five very different environments over the past 30 years. Under his leadership, the number of customers, members, donors and volunteers increased sharply within each organization, bringing with them a greater sense of commitment and participation.

In July 2009, Dr. Wilburn was named a Distinguished Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Heinz College in Washington, DC. In this role, he helps advanced graduate students better understand the interaction between theory and practice in the public sphere.

From August 2000 until July 2009, Dr. Wilburn served as President and CEO of the new Gettysburg Foundation. This non-profit organization forged a public-private partnership with the National Park Service to restore, preserve and articulate to the nation the meaning of Gettysburg—site of the decisive Civil War battle and Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. The success of this partnership has become a model within the government and non-profit communities.

When he served as President and CEO of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, an organization of some 3,500 employees with an operating budget of $192 million, Dr. Wilburn moved this venerable institution in new directions. In addition to reversing a decline in attendance and finances through innovative and interactive on-site programming, he guided Colonial Williamsburg into the 21st century by reaching out into classrooms across the country with live, interactive broadcasts to millions of students in all 50 states. A very popular website and an intensive training program for teachers complemented these efforts. Donors responded to these changes and to an award-winning marketing campaign by doubling their support and enabling a successful $500 million campaign.

While at Gettysburg and especially at Colonial Williamsburg, Dr. Wilburn, together with his wife Pat, organized and hosted numerous dinners, meetings, conferences and events for royalty, current and former heads of state from all parts of the world, including four US Presidents, foreign ministers, ambassadors, governors, senators, business leaders and major donors.

Dr. Wilburn served as President and CEO of the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, PA from 1984 until 1992. Another distinguished institution, which for many years had stagnant attendance and membership, became alive by embracing Andrew Carnegie's vision that Art, Music, Science and Literature—represented by the four institutions that comprise the Carnegie Institute—could perform together as a “noble quartet.” Under Dr. Wilburn's guidance, membership tripled, attendance increased sharply and donations soared, as the community became part of the new vision.

Dr. Wilburn takes particular pride in two events that occurred during his tenure at the Carnegie Institute that changed the cultural landscape of Pittsburgh. First, the Buhl Science Center merged with the Carnegie Institute and a new $40 million Carnegie Science Center was built on the Allegheny River. Second, he led the founding of the Andy Warhol Museum by negotiating the gift of more than 1,000 paintings and drawings from the Warhol and Dia Art Foundations, and by raising the money to secure and renovate an historic seven-story building in downtown Pittsburgh for their display. In addition to the funds raised for the Warhol Museum, Dr. Wilburn led a successful $125 million Capital Campaign. In recognition of these accomplishments, the Vectors selected him as the “Man of the Year” in Pittsburgh in 1991.

Prior to the Carnegie Institute, Dr. Wilburn served as a cabinet member for six years for Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, first as Secretary of Budget and Administration and later as Secretary of Education. In addition to successfully negotiating contracts with each of 23 unions, he directed the creation and adoption of four consecutive balanced budgets with no tax increases, the first time that this had been accomplished since World War II. As Secretary of Education, he shepherded the implementation of the newly legislated State System of Higher Education, which he had helped shape as Secretary of Budget and Administration. High school graduation requirements were revised and significantly enhanced. This was the first major curriculum reform in 25 years. Teacher training standards were increased and the first statewide assessment system for students was put in place.

Governor Thornburgh tapped Dr. Wilburn for service in his Cabinet as a result of his accomplishments and reputation at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Assuming the university's presidency during serious labor strife that was reflected in a myriad of legal actions, he calmed the waters and enabled a burst of programs and facility expansion that had been frustrated by the years of labor problems. He also launched the first private fundraising campaign in the university's history: a campaign to preserve John Sutton Hall, a century-old structure that was—and is today—the heart of the campus.

To become President of IUP, Dr. Wilburn left a successful career in banking where he had held several positions at Chase Manhattan Bank, including Executive Director of the Asset Liability Management Committee. Prior to that, he held positions in the Defense Department and the White House working on policy development, most notably the legislation creating the all-volunteer armed forces.

Dr. Wilburn received his education at the United States Air Force Academy, earning a BS in Economics and Engineering; and at Princeton University where he earned Masters and PhD Degrees in Economics and Public Affairs.

Along with serving on more than two dozen non-profit boards and government boards and commissions, Dr. Wilburn also has more than 50 years of cumulative experience serving on corporate boards. He is currently on the Board of Directors at Harsco Corporation and Erie Insurance Company, and has served on the boards of Dravo Corporation and Crestar Financial Corporation. [close]