Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges or universities in the region with about 100 full-time and part time faculty members. History Founded in 1866 as a coeducational institution, Thiel College started as a result of a meeting between the Rev. Dr. William Passavant and A. Louis Thiel. At the Lutheran Church Pittsburgh Synod convention in Greensburg in 1869, it was decided that Thiel Hall would become a college and serve western Pennsylvania. Thiel College began its corporate existence on September 1, 1870. It was originally located in Philipsburg, now Monaca. It moved to Greenville in 1871. On August 1, 2016, Susan Traverso left her position as provost of Elizabethtown College and became the 20th and the first female president of Thiel College. Today, Thiel is home to about 110 full- and part-time faculty members. According to the US Department of Education, the school has just under 1,000 students in attendance. In 2016 and 2018, Forbes Magazine rated Thiel among the top ROI colleges in the U.S. In 2018, Colleges of Distinction recognized Thiel overall for the third consecutive year, and its Business and Education programs were singled out for their excellence for the second straight year. Thiel College awarded Amelia Earhart an honorary degree in 1932. In his book “The Search for Amelia Earhart,” author Fred Goerner said, “The most satisfying recognition, however, came from her father’s alma mater, Thiel College of Greenville, Pennsylvania in the form of an honorary Doctor of Science degree.” Thiel was also the first institution to grant an honorary degree to Fred Rogers in 1969. Rogers’ address at Thiel was titled "Encouraging Creativity." According to the Fred Rogers Archive, the presentation was so popular that to meet the requests for it, they had copies printed in advance for immediate distribution. In his address, he admonished educators and society in general for forcing conformity on children and encouraged understanding and tolerance as children endeavored to find their gifts. Thiel College also presented an honorary degree to Richard M. Nixon in 1959, when he was U.S. vice-president. Campus Thiel is situated on a wooded 2000-acre campus in the small western Pennsylvania town of Greenville, which is about halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. Thiel has an enrollment of around 790 students. The student body is 56%