Dr. Don Altieri has spent his life serving students and fellow faculty and staff at various colleges, but while he retired in 2003, he has hardly slowed down.

Altieri grew up near Philadelphia in Havertown, Pennsylvania. He moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, when he was a junior in high school after doctors recommended it for his father’s arthritis. Altieri helped his father with his small businesses and graduated from St. Petersburg High School.

EDUCATION

Altieri spent two years at St. Petersburg Junior College and is a proud community college graduate. He earned an undergraduate degree in science education from the University of Florida and taught in Orlando for six months before going to Gainesville to earn a master’s degree while teaching high school science full-time.

After he earned his degree, Altieri worked at the university’s college of education teaching at P.K. Yonge, a school part of the university’s college of education. He followed that degree with his doctorate in science education, which he also earned at the University of Florida.

Altieri worked in colleges in North Carolina and Florida before moving back to North Carolina to become the president of Anson Community College before South Piedmont Community College was formed, making him the last ACC president and first SPCC president.

WHY HE’S NOTABLE

Altieri retired in 2003 and lives in Wadesboro, where he is involved with and a past president of the Wadesboro Rotary Club, is a member of Uptown Wadesboro, Inc. and United Way, and is an elder of First Presbyterian Church in Wadesboro, in addition to many other activities.

Among many other awards, he was presented with the prestigious Order of the Long Leaf Pine award by Gov. Mike Easley in 2003. The Rotary Planetarium and Science Center Wadesboro was named after him.

FAMILY

Altieri has been married to his wife, Barbara Allen Altieri, for 60 years. They have three grown children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

“My biggest supporter is Barbara,” he said. “She’s always right by my side, and she worked to help me get through all those classes I had to get through. She actually typed my dissertation for me, because it was back in the day when we were still doing them on typewriters. One of the jobs she had while I was in school was she was a secretary in the university’s college of agriculture. She helped me figure out how to do all of the graphs. She’s been there for me all through these 60 years.”

COMMUNITY

Altieri has been a Rotarian for 30 years and is a Paul Harris fellow, was the District 7680 Distinguished Rotarian and was the first Planetarium Star Award recipient. He earned the Dunlap Covington Community Service Award from the Anson County Chamber of Commerce and has earned awards through the Anson County Boy Scouts of America.

He was named president emeritus by the Board of Trustees of South Piedmont Community College in 2003, in addition to many other awards for his community service.

He serves on several local boards and committees, including the board and marketing committee for the Anson County Chamber of Commerce, the board of Anson Economic Development Corp. and the Centralina Workforce Development board.

“I think if you live in a community, you’ve got to be part of it,” he said.

MOTIVATION

“I think I pretty have a divergent view of things, a curiosity about things,” Altieri said. “I remember when I was a kid growing up in Philadelphia we had the Franklin Institute and I would go when I got a chance. I’ve always been curious about science and nature.

“I think as I look back, I’ve always had a strong work ethic and a strong commitment to my Christian ethic, how I feel about that, and I think those are things that have guided me. And trying to make a difference: that’s what I’ve loved about my community colleges work. I felt that almost every day, we made a difference in someone’s life.

“One of the things that was kind of a rewarding moment was especially in my early years at Anson Community College, when it was small and we knew the students. They walked across the stage and got their degree, we shook their hands and gave them a hug, and you knew you had made a difference in their life.

“I am also motivated by being able to find solutions to problems.”

PROUDEST MOMENT

“From a personal standpoint, it was getting my doctoral degree, because it was a long process. I kind of worked through all of my degrees, and by the time I started working on my doctorate, we had three kids and I was working full-time. I knew that if I wanted to stay in community college work, a doctoral degree was pretty important. I was the first in my family to go to college. It took several years of doing it part-time and squeezing in classes with kids, so it was a pretty important moment.

“And certainly the birth of our children, every time. Those were proud moments. And I think being the first president of a community college, too. Here more recently, I think what really threw me was that I did all of this work, and with everybody’s help, create the Rotary Planetarium and Science Center. That made me feel really good when they named the science center after me. That was a real surprise; I didn’t expect it and I didn’t look for it. I just worked with the Rotary Club to make sure they had hands-on science. That was an exciting thing and certainly meant a lot to me personally.”

BIGGEST INFLUENCE

“Of course my parents, they have been an influence. Neither of them graduated from high school, because they were raised at time when they went to work at 14, 15, 16 years old, but one thing they always stressed was the importance of education. I heard that time and time again: ‘You’ve got to get a good education, that’s important.’

“Almost anybody can say this, but I had great teachers in high school and good teachers in community college who were there for me and were pretty important influences in my life.”

HOW HE UNWINDS

“I love to read. I used to run 5Ks and I like to walk. I enjoy fishing at the pond near by house, and all of my grandchildren have learned to fish. I also like to travel with Barbara.

“I used to do repairs and furniture restoration when my wife had a business. I would fix up items for resale. I still have a shop and do some things of that nature.

“Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time with my grandchildren, and my two youngest were over for Thanksgiving. Also, some of these projects involved with, I enjoy those and getting something done.”

FUTURE GOALS

“I think I really want to try to spend time with my great-grandchildren, because they are so far away (in Texas.) I’ve been out to see them one time, but they just keep growing, so we’re ready to do that.

“It’s been an interesting life. Barbara has been very supportive as I get involved in all of these things.”

Reach reporter Imari Scarbrough at 704-994-5471 and follow her on Twitter @ImariScarbrough.

Imari Scarbrough | The Anson Record Dr. Don Altieri remains active in Anson County civic life following his 2003 retirement as president of South Piedmont Community College.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_IMG_3012.jpgImari Scarbrough | The Anson Record Dr. Don Altieri remains active in Anson County civic life following his 2003 retirement as president of South Piedmont Community College.
Former SPCC president Altieri reflects on career

By Imari Scarbrough

iscarbrough@civitasmedia.com