President of the Longwood Foundation to Speak at Commencement

Thère du Pont, president of the Longwood Foundation, will deliver the keynote address at Williamson College of the Trades’ Commencement at 2 p.m., Friday, May 31.

Du Pont will inspire the Class of 2019 as they receive associate in specialized technology degrees or craftsman diplomas and are sent into the world of work.

The Longwood Foundation was founded in 1937 by Pierre S. du Pont initially to support the operation of Longwood Gardens and the funding of various community projects and now accepts grant applications from nonprofit organizations benefitting the residents, environment, or culture of the state of Delaware and southern Chester County. Williamson College of the Trades has benefitted from their commitment to furthering education.

He currently serves on the boards of WSFS Financial Corp. and Burris Logistics and is an ex-officio member of the DowDupont board. At WSFS he is the lead director and chairs the Governance and Nominating Committee. He has been on DuPont’s board since 2006 where he chaired the Audit Committee for five years and has served as a member of the Science and Technology, Governance, and Compensation Committees. He is board chair of the Community Education Building in Wilmington, Delaware.

From 2007-08, he served as senior vice president, operations, and chief financial officer of drugstore.com, a leading online provider of health, beauty, vision, and pharmacy products. Earlier, he served as president and chief financial officer of Wawa, Inc.

He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration at Stanford University.