National Parks Conservation Association President Theresa Pierno to speak at 2024 Maryville College Commencement
Jan. 26, 2024
Theresa Pierno, the president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, will deliver the commencement address to Maryville College’s Class of 2024 during a ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, May 4, in Humphreys Court, located between Anderson and Fayerweather halls on the MC campus.
During the ceremony, Pierno will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree from the 205-year-old liberal arts college.
“As Maryville College endeavors to connect even more with our opportune location at the doorstep of our most visited national park, Theresa Pierno is a most fitting Commencement speaker,” said Maryville College President Dr. Bryan F. Coker. “She has dedicated most of her life to public service and the protection of public lands, and she certainly exemplifies what we hope for our graduates — in the words of our founder, ‘to do good on the largest possible scale.’ I hope our graduates will be buoyed and inspired by her message, as they venture into a world that truly needs the liberal arts education they have received here at MC.”
As president and CEO of the NPCA, Pierno joined the organization in 2004 as vice president of regional operations, a role in which she doubled the field program to include more than 60 staff members in 24 offices across the country. Established in 1919 as the National Parks Association, the nonprofit watchdog group works to ensure the protection and preservation of national parks through organizing “program and policy experts, committed volunteers, staff lobbyists, community organizers and communications specialists to inform and inspire the public and to influence decision-makers to ensure that … national parks are well-protected.”
While that includes traditional threats such as mining, logging and hunting, recent years have brought about a whole new slate of concerns, Pierno said.
“We have already passed the point where our fragile planet can sustain life on Earth as we know it, and if things don’t change, in just a quarter-century from now, we’ll be at the point where it would require three Earths to sustain us,” she said. “Of course, we have just one, and it’s never been clearer that protecting our environment and natural resources is the same thing as protecting ourselves. When you consider that we are already living in an age defined by a changing climate, it’s more important than ever.”
As the NPCA’s former chief operations officer, she helped recruit and train staff members, spearheaded the development of strategic priorities with a focus on land and water use policy, and oversaw several successful fundraising efforts that ensured the organization’s financial health. She also established the NPCA’s Next Generation Advisory Council, “a group of young rangers, civil servants, public land use advocates, educators, students and activists” who seek to carry advocacy efforts into the future.
“It’s imperative to engage young scholars in the fight to protect our planet,” she said. “Every endeavor is strongest when it can harness both the wisdom of experience and the energy and optimism of youth. Because the 2024 graduates of Maryville are entering — and in many ways, inheriting — a world marked by turmoil, it may feel like they have to carry a bit of the weight of the world on their shoulders, even as they are trying to establish their own lives.
“But they also carry an enormous amount of power to create the solutions and demand the policies that can create a brighter and more sustainable future. And these students have amazing opportunities with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the world’s most biologically diverse ecosystems, right in their backyard. Their awareness, engagement and commitment give me hope.”
As president and CEO, she’s brought her previous both her pre-NPCA experiences — serving as vice president and Maryland executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and on the executive staff of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, as well as co-founding and chairing America’s Great Waters Coalition — and her work within the association to build stronger ties with younger and more diverse allies. Ensuring that young people not only understand the urgency of conservation but have a passion for it and the resources through which to pursue it are critical, and the opportunity to deliver the Maryville College Commencement address is an extension of that work, she said.
“The invitation to speak to the Maryville College Class of 2024 was truly an honor,” she said. “Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of those gems that I can — and do! — return to again and again, as I find something new there every time. And that includes getting to know more about communities like Maryville that have such a close connection to it. Our parks and their gateway communities are uniquely connected, both economically and in helping to honor the geography, history and culture that make places like the Smokies so special. I’m so pleased to have the opportunity to visit and, at least for a short time, to be part of your community.”