Global Competitiveness Awards Recognize Leadership Excellence

Individuals all over the world have found ways to step forward to help lead their countries, communities, and citizens through major economic, technological, and industrial transitions that bring higher levels of competitiveness and greater opportunities.

Every year since 2016, the GFCC recognizes these energetic doers, builders, and agents of change through the Global Competitiveness Awards. This year, during Forging the Future: The Intersection of Health, AI and Tech, in Pittsburgh, the GFCC bestowed four special awards.

Joan Gabel, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and the first woman to lead the institution since its founding, received an award for her Inspiring Leadership, Action, and Impact in Cultivating the Talent, Technology, and Infrastructure Shaping the Future Innovation Economy.

Chancellor Gabel guided the university through a bold, metrics-driven strategy that has propelled Pitt into the top tier of global research universities in the world. Under Chancellor Gabel’s leadership, the university has set records in enrollment, graduation rates, research expenditures, and post-graduation placement.

Charles Kiefel AM, Chancellor Joan Gabel, Deborah Wince-Smith and Chad Holliday.

Charles Kiefel AM, Dr. Harris Pastides and Chad Holliday.

Charles Kiefel AM, Chad Holliday, Dr. Mehmood Khan and Deborah L. Wince-Smith.

Charles Kiefel AM, Chad Holliday, President Farnam Jahanian, and Deborah Wince-Smith.

Dr. Mehmood Khan, CEO of the Hevolution Foundation, received the award in recognition of his Visionary Leadership in Advancing Global Health Research and Innovation. Dr. Khan’s remarkable journey began in medicine, but he took multiple leadership roles at multinational corporations that transformed how these organizations approached science, innovation, and human well-being.

Today, as CEO of the Hevolution Foundation, Dr. Khan leads the world’s largest philanthropic funder of healthspan science — a fundamental wording he has crafted.

Dr. Harris Pastides, President Emeritus of the University of South Carolina, received the award for Transformational Leadership in Higher Education, Research, and Innovation. He presided over record-setting enrollment at the University of South Carolina, a billion-dollar capital campaign, and the awarding of more than 117,000 degrees.

Under his leadership, the South Carolina Honors College became the number one public honors college in the United States, and dozens of programs achieved national distinction. But his greatest legacy lies in his championing of access, affordability, and innovation in education.

Finally, Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University, received the award for Transformational Leadership in Higher Education, Research, and Innovation .

At CMU, he has overseen extraordinary growth in research, attracting more than $600 million annually, and has led the most ambitious campus transformation in the university’s history — a billion-dollar investment in facilities and research infrastructure.He has also spearheaded the most successful fundraising campaign in CMU’s history, raising more than $2.5 billion.

"The Global Competitiveness Awards recognize these exemplars of action — leaders who forge coalitions across industries and sectors, who advance science, innovation, and education, and who elevate human progress through vision and determination," says GFCC President, Deborah L. Wince-Smith.

Learn more about the Global Competitiveness Award.