The Hill School is proud to say that the Governor-Elect of Pennsylvania is a Hill School graduate of the Class of 1967.

Tom Wolf spoke to Hill students and faculty on campus last spring — not so much as a campaigner, but as an invited guest for the School’s series of activities related to the year-long “Integrity” theme. In his March speech, he shared stories about life experiences that allowed him to use leadership skills nurtured at The Hill School. (He is pictured here with members of Hill’s Honor Council.)

Wolf’s “real world” leadership has been demonstrated in scenarios that ranged from serving as a Peace Corps worker in India and teaching political science at M.I.T., to leading his family cabinetry business after learning the business from the ground up while working as a fork lift operator.

At that time, Wolf talked about how treating people well is a key to success. Such an attitude is important regardless of others’ backgrounds — a character trait that is emphasized in The Hill’s mission statement and its core tenets, which call for “principles of honesty and genuineness, courtesy and respect, and gratitude and concern for the greater good,” as represented in The Hill School motto, “Whatsoever things are true.”

In an election follow-up article in the Pottstown Mercury (at bit.ly/1y8Kh0E), Headmaster Zachary G. Lehman commented that The Hill is “certainly impressed with Tom’s background… and, naturally, as a school we will be very eager to see how he tackles the issues facing our state. We wish him only the best.”

Wolf, a Democrat, made history by being the first person in 40 years to defeat a sitting Pennsylvania governor.

He also is the second Hill School graduate to become a governor, joining Robert David Carey, Hill 1896, who served as Wyoming’s 11th governor from 1919-1923 and also was a U.S. Republican Senator from 1930-1937.