From favorite food to motto to live by, Temple president Jason Wingard shares some of his favorite things
"Learn for life" is his motto and his favorite TV show to binge is "Better Call Saul." His choice vacation spot is Rio de Janeiro and his favorite exercise is mountain biking.
Jason Wingard, Temple University’s first Black president, was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in West Chester, the son of a school principal and superintendent. Before coming to Temple, he had leadership positions at two Ivy League universities, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, as well as Stanford, his alma mater. But he’s also worked in business, once serving as managing director and chief learning officer of Goldman Sachs, overseeing employee education and development programs.
He got his bachelor’s in sociology at Stanford, a master’s in education from Emory University, a master’s in technology in education from Harvard, and a doctorate in educational leadership from Penn.
For more than 20 years, he’s lived in Chestnut Hill with his wife, Gingi, and five children, Jaelyn, Jaia, Jazze, Joye, and Jaxen, one of whom is in graduate school, another in college, and a third an incoming freshman.
Here’s a look at some of his favorite things:
Favorite movie? Crash.
Favorite TV show to binge? Better Call Saul.
Favorite performing artist or band? Ledisi.
Favorite foods: meatloaf and Tastykakes.
Favorite vacation spot: Rio de Janeiro.
Books currently reading or most recently read: Their Life’s Work: The Brotherhood of the 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers by Gary Pomerantz.
Exercise of choice: Mountain biking.
Favorite professional sports team: USA Track and Field (He was the 1990 state champion in high school in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles).
Motto to live by: Learn for life.
If you had to sum up your leadership philosophy in a sentence, it would be: Prepare, relentlessly, for commitments and opportunity. Engage with dynamic and inclusive intentionality. Avoid mediocre standards of excellence: Be bold, be best.
Favorite teacher growing up and why: Mrs. Joan Flynn (fifth grade, Hillsdale Elementary) because she set expectations for me that exceeded my own.
What keeps you up at night: I rest in peace after I pray every night.
If you had all the money you wanted for Temple, you would: Fully subsidize all students.