CHANGE-MAKER

Catherine Stecyk ’18 MBA has built a career on championing people who have bold ideas and the desire to transform the world. As director of Villanova’s Center for Research and Fellowships and the Presidential Scholars Program, she empowers undergraduate and graduate students to pursue life-changing academic and professional opportunities. In addition to overseeing the University’s largest merit scholarship program and student research programs, the former Fulbright Fellow also guides students through the application process for nationally competitive scholarships and grants, including Rhodes, Goldwater, Marshall and Fulbright scholarships.

In her work, leadership is a long game, measured not in awards won but in the people who students become and the lives they go on to change. “This is four years, but what about the next 40 years? I can’t cure diseases. I can’t improve issues of governance or build devices that will save people’s lives, but the students we help can,” says Stecyk. “Seeing what our alumni go on to do is incredibly rewarding.”

With a deep belief in students’ potential, Stecyk helps them understand that they don’t need to be perfect to make a difference. “You just need to care about an issue and begin.” Her impact lives in each student who leaves her office not only believing they can change the world but also realizing they already have what it takes to start.