William P. “Pat” Getty

A native of Pittsburgh, William P. Getty is a graduate of Trinity College and Georgetown University Law School. He practiced law starting in 1970 with the Pittsburgh firm of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott and in 1999, became the President of the Benedum Foundation, an organization serving West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and the multi-state economic region centered on Pittsburgh. He retired as President of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation on October 15, 2018.

Getty’s career continues as a member of the implementation committee of the Tri-State Shale Coalition, which seeks to optimize economic development pertaining to shale gas, including downstream modern manufacturing. From its inception in 2006, Getty was a leader of Power of 32, a 32-county, four-state development project in the Pittsburgh economic region.

Until his retirement, Getty was a board member of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. He was also a founding member and past Chair of the Fund for the Advancement of the Minorities Through Education. He currently serves on numerous major advisory bodies in the region, including the boards of the West Virginia High Technology Foundation, Vision Shared, Imagine West Virginia, Vibrant Pittsburgh and the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, the Steering Committee of West Virginia Forward, the Governor’s Advisory Council on Rural Affairs in Pennsylvania, the Advisory Board of Pittsburgh Regional Indicators and the Policy Committee of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission. Getty is also a Fellow of the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics and the President of the Power of 32 Site Development Fund. 

Getty is an Emeritus Trustee and past Chair of Shady Side Academy, a member and Chair of the Board for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, a past board member of the Technology Collaborative and of LEAD Pittsburgh and a past member of both the West Virginia Jobs Cabinet and the Advisory Board of the West Virginia Teacher Quality Initiative.