Piantidosi earned his M.S. in accounting from Northeastern and says the combination of the Saint Anselm liberal arts core with a graduate degree is a ticket to professional success. “The well roundedness of a liberal arts education and the focus of a graduate degree is a heck of a deal. I encourage students to take that extra step,” he says.

Piantidosi oversees Deloitte’s Financial Advisory Services Group, which includes business lines in corporate fi nance, reorganization, forensics and dispute, and valuation. The fi rm employs 125,000 people worldwide, while Piantidosi’s unit comprises 2,500. His clients include UBS Financial, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Daimler Chrysler, and Sony.

In addition to his Manhattan office being a must-stop on the New York tour for business and economics students, Piantidosi also stays connected through the college’s NYC Business Roundtable. Last year he hosted fellow alum James O’Neill ’76, a president with Northrop Grumman, for a roundtable event that attracted 45 alumni.

When it comes to trustee business, Piantidosi is literally at the roundtable, engaged and informed. He is a vocal champion of the college’s goals to build scholarship support and to attract students from diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds. He believes in Saint Anselm’s ability to become a national leader in Catholic higher education and would like nothing more than for the college to shed its image as the nation’s “best kept secret.”

He also understands that Saint Anselm is up against some of the most affl uent schools in the country-schools with endowments three and four times the size of Saint Anselm’s $70 million. Financial resources translate into a school’s ability to offer student scholarships, new technology and faculty resources.

Piantidosi is on board and he encourages alumni to join the cause.

“It’s up to us as trustees, the Benedictine community, and the leadership of this college; it’s also up to the dedicated alumni to get it done,” he says. “Fr. Jonathan is a visionary leader and he has done remarkable things in his 16 years as president.” Piantidosi cites the success of the campaign that raised $55 million and the college’s plans for future governance as recent hallmarks of Fr. Jonathan’s leadership. “We cannot sit and let this opportunity pass us by. Now is the time.”

His advice to son Andrew is similar as he creates his own version of the Saint Anselm experience 35 years later. “You get out of it what you put into it. It’s a real special place.”

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