After working more than three decades in corporate communications, West Virginia University P.I. Reed School of Journalism alumna Betsy Klebe Dziedzic is helping students who are traveling down the same career path.
The Jim and Betsy Klebe Dziedzic Career Development Fund was established by her and her husband to assist strategic communications majors who intern in corporate or business communications positions. Dziedzic established the fund to encourage students to gain hands-on experience in strategic communications in a business environment.
Dziedzic is the former vice president of corporate communications at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., where she worked for 32 years. In her role as vice president, she had global responsibility for media, financial, crisis, employee and marketing communications; reputation management; public relations; brand management; visual communications and communications technology.
“Understanding business is fundamental to a communicator’s success,” Dziedzic said. “The way to experience the breadth of strategic communications is directly within a business. A corporate internship allows the intern to learn about business and to understand how strategic communications can drive business results.”
Dziedzic joined Air Products in 1980 in the human resources department, where she held positions of increasing responsibility in compensation, diversity and human resources operations. In 1992, she was named director of quality within the company’s Process Systems Group and expanded that role in 1994. She became director of global corporate communications in 1999 before being appointed the department’s vice president.
Dziedzic retired earlier this year but remains active in her field and with her alma mater as a member of the School of Journalism’s Visiting Committee. She also is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society and the board of directors for Discover Lehigh Valley, past chairman of the Conference Board’s Council on Corporate Communications Strategy, and past first vice-chairman of the board of directors of the State Theatre for the Performing Arts of Easton, Pa.
She received a B.S. degree in journalism from WVU in 1979. Dziedzic, a third-generation Mountaineer, was born in New Castle, Pa., and now resides in Easton, Pa., with her husband. They have two children.
The gift was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University. The $750 million comprehensive campaign being conducted by the WVU Foundation on behalf of the University runs through December 2015.
