Joe Rudolph started his football career about 25 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. The Mon Valley all-star left a steel-mill town for a Big Ten scholarship to the University of Wisconsin. After graduation, he played in the NFL as a guard, one year for the Philadelphia Eagles and another year for the San Francisco 49ers. He went on to earn an MBA from the Tepper School of Business in 2004 and become involved in collegiate coaching. This year, he was named the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator of the University of Pittsburgh football team, which has claimed nine national championships and is among the top 20 college football programs in terms of all-time wins.
—Elizabeth Shestak (DC’03)
