Jeff Emanuel Named ZIPD Director 

Jeffrey Emanuel has been appointed director of the Zeigler Institute for Professional Development (ZIPD) in the Zeigler College of Business at Commonwealth University. Formerly director of the Foundation of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce, Emanuel’s career has been focused on experiential and lifelong learning.

“ZIPD gets to the heart of what makes people truly successful and happy in life,” says Emanuel. “It’s finding a career that aligns with your skills, passions and values that leads to true success. This program is about making students more well-rounded by building their career skills. They don’t know what they don’t know. Through ZIPD we help them strengthen skills employers seek the most – leadership, team work, communication, problem solving and professionalism. By attending the annual ZIPD conference and meeting with alumni and employer partners working in the field, we fill in those gaps.” 

Emanuel plans on strengthening the community service requirements and add wellness opportunities to the ZIPD program. 

Established through a gift from Terry ’76 and JoAnn Schultz Zeigler ’77, the Zeigler Institute for Professional Development (ZIPD) prepares students for professional success by supplementing coursework with real-world and experiential learning opportunities.

Emanuel was formerly manager of graduate medical education and med-peds residency coordinator at Geisinger Health System. While with the Chamber Foundation he used his experiences to created a leadership program for the medical residents and involved them in the community. He has also been employed by Lockhead Martin as an associate chemist and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as a quality analyst and laboratory assessor.

Emanuel is the secretary of the board of directors for Smart Futures, a nonprofit software development organization dedicated to providing an online career planning and portfolio platform that helps schools easily implement the career education and work standards within any classroom or virtually. He has also been involved with the Maria Joseph Continuing Care Community, the Danville Child Development Center, and the Young Life Ministry nonprofit organizations. 

Emanuel holds a bachelor’s degree in Geo-Environmental Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. In addition, he has a Talent Pipeline Management Certificate and is a Business Leads Workforce Policy & Program Fellow with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and has obtained Executive and Performance Leadership Certificates from Cornell University.