EASTON, Pa.(www.lafayette.edu), November 15, 2007 — As president and owner of Mariah Management Consulting, Bill Harding ’58 has his hands full on a daily basis. But the chemistry graduate still finds time to stay active in the Lafayette community by serving as president of the Florida Gulf Coast Alumni Chapter.
Harding, who has been chapter president for the last four years, believes he should set an example for other alumni by actively seeking ways to improve the chapter. His duties are many, and he relishes the opportunity to stay connected.
“My primary responsibilities are to keep the area representatives and alumni informed and motivated,” he explains. “To identify new areas where more local representation might be needed, to walk the walk by getting out and meeting people by being a host for at least one event per year, and to try to develop a strategy for expansion of the chapter.”
Leading by example, Harding hopes to encourage more alumni in his region to reconnect with their alma mater. And the self-starter isn’t accepting any excuses.
“Whatever your reason for not being involved, get over it,” he says. “The returns are very high. You’ll meet a lot of really top-notch people; you won’t be bored.”
This summer, Harding and his wife Colleen hosted Lafayette Day at the Beach at their home in Belleair Beach. Other events he has hosted include a telecast party for the Lafayette-Lehigh football game and a luncheon with President Dan Weiss. The chapter also organized an outing to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays baseball game that included a visit with team manager Joe Maddon ’76.
Harding credits his undergraduate education with giving him the flexibility to branch out in different fields as his career changed course.
“I studied chemistry at Lafayette,” says Harding, who earned a master’s degree from Drexel University in 1962. “I started in industry as a research chemist. I matured and grew in confidence as a student; that confidence allowed me to accomplish stuff I would have never believed possible years later.”
He picked up valuable lessons from his professors that served him well as he took on senior managerial roles.
“Dr. [William] Watt and Dr. [Bernard] Marklein could put excitement into the most boring of subjects,” he recalls. “There was a dogmatic, dictatorial professor who taught me what was a terrible management style, and started me on the path to becoming a pretty good participatory manager in industry.”
Harding learned quickly that his undergraduate years were his to use to maximum benefit, and he made sure he seized the opportunity.
“What you realized real early was that your future was in your hands. What you were learning was where to find the tools to take advantage of it, and the confidence to go for it,” he says.
Serving as chapter president allows Harding to give back to an institution that gave him a solid foundation in life.
“I am far more indebted to Lafayette than I can ever repay,” he says.
