“Inspiring.” “Collaborative.” “Empowering.” As alumni of the President’s Leadership Institute (PLI) recently filed into the Clyde V. Madren Conference Center for their annual reunion, each person wrote their name, their cohort year and a word that captured their PLI experience on a wooden block. Before long, the blocks formed an oversized tower at the front of the room that represented the “Brick By Brick” theme celebrating 10 years of PLI — building a foundation of faculty and staff leaders at Clemson University.
PLI enables participants to build individual effectiveness, understand the power of critical thinking and communication, learn directly from President Jim Clements and embrace their own ability to lead within the Clemson community. This year’s reunion celebrated the previous nine cohorts while looking ahead to meet the challenges facing higher education.
Nathan Long, associate vice president for IT customer services, completed the program in 2021.
“PLI gives you a bigger view of Clemson because it has representation from across all areas,” he said. “It helps show you how all the puzzle pieces fit together at the University.”
Chief of Staff Max Allen welcomed the more than 200 alumni before President Clements shared his PLI memories and answered questions. For his block, he chose a word near to his heart: mission.
“To me, it’s about the mission,” he said. “We’re changing lives, and we’ve done that for 136 years. Throughout everything, it’s always been about the mission — people working together for the greater good.”
Valerie Zimany, Chair of the Department of Art, completed PLI in 2020-21 and chose “uplifting” as her word. As faculty and staff worked through the challenges of Covid, Zimany drew upon the positivity found in the program’s monthly meetings.
“In that very uncertain time, I felt uplifted by the monthly PLI meetings, President Clements’ positive outlook, and our activities together,” said Zimany. “It helped me bring a forward-looking mindset back to my department colleagues and students. This year is also bringing its challenges, and I am grateful to have our reunion and feel that PLI magic to start Fall semester.”
The tenth cohort of 25 faculty and staff recently kicked off PLI for 2025-26.
