MANSFIELD, PA— Steve Crawford, vice chair of the Mansfield 
University Council of Trustees and a 1981 Mansfield graduate, will be the speaker at MU’s 150th Commencement on Saturday, December 13 at 1 p.m. in Decker Gymnasium.
“Steve is a leader with a long history of public service and service to Mansfield,” MU President Fran Hendricks said in making the announcement. “We look forward to hearing Steve’s story of commitment to leadership and helping others that he will share with our newest graduates. We are honored to have Steve speak at our Commencement.”
Crawford is the managing vice president of S. R. Wojdak & Associates, one of the most prestigious and long standing government relations firms in Pennsylvania. He manages a staff of 11 government affairs professionals, representing fortune 500 companies, large medical institutions and nonprofit arts and cultural institutions. The Motion Picture Association of America, Microsoft, Drexel, Temple, Scranton and Wilkes Universities, the American Red Cross and the Pennsylvania State Police are a representative sample of those served by the firm.
Crawford joined Wojdak in March of 2011, after a career in public service that spanned 25 years at the highest levels of Pennsylvania state government. He left state government after serving as chief of staff to Governor Ed Rendell. Crawford served as the top adviser to the Governor and managed the day-to-day activities of the executive branch of state government, including 18 cabinet agencies and the Governor’s Office. Prior to that post, Crawford served as the governor’s secretary for Legislative Affairs.
Crawford came to the Governor’s Office from the House of Representatives where he served on the executive staff since 1991. He was the executive director of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, leadership executive director to the Majority Caucus Chairman and senior advisor to the Democratic Caucus. Crawford dealt with a broad variety of issues such as food safety, nutrition, health care and economic development.
He previously served in the Administration of Governor Robert P. Casey. As a deputy secretary of Agriculture, he was responsible for all policy development and legislative affairs of the agency. He also managed rural economic development issues, marketing, and land preservation programs. During his tenure, Pennsylvania established the nation’s most successful farmland conservation program.
He began his career in legislative relations as a director of Government Relations for one of the largest trade associations in the state: the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. There, he dealt with controversial issues including the rewrite of laws dealing with hazardous chemicals in the workplace, immigration, and tort reform.
Crawford is on the Board of Directors for Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children and was a founding board member and benefactor to Camp Victory, a camp for critically ill children in his home town of Millville, PA.
Crawford graduated from Mansfield with a degree in Political Science in 1981. He is the 2011 recipient of the Elsie Burke Service Award which recognizes outstanding leadership, loyalty and service to Mansfield University.