Letter from TACF Board Chair to Announce Resignation of President & CEO Dr. William Pitt

Published February 11, 2025
William Pitt
TACF President & CEO Dr. William Pitt

Dear Members and Friends of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF),

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I write to inform you that Dr. Will Pitt, President & CEO of our organization, will resign his position effective February 14.

In the past year and a half, Dr. Pitt has been instrumental in guiding the organization through a challenging transitional period, leading TACF’s decision to withdraw from the Darling 58 breeding program while strengthening ties between the organization’s state chapters and national office. We are enormously grateful for his contributions and wish him well in his future endeavors.

As we undertake the search for TACF’s next leader, Bruce Levine has agreed to serve as interim CEO, after a unanimous vote from the Board. A member of TACF for nearly three decades, Bruce has been an instrumental leader in the Maryland Chapter, longtime member of TACF’s Board of Directors, and chair of our Chapters and Science & Technology committees. He has been researching chestnut blight fungus at the University of Maryland since retiring in 2016 from a 26-year career in diplomacy.

All of us at The American Chestnut Foundation extend our warmest congratulations to Bruce and best wishes to Will.

Warm Regards,

Elizabeth Kramer signature

Dr. Elizabeth Kramer
Chair, Board of Directors
The American Chestnut Foundation

Sara Fitzsimmons in 2005 with Jim Gage, Dr Phil Arnold, Dr Robert Gregg

2005
Sara Fern Fitzsimmons with Jim Gage, Dr Phil Arnold, & Dr Robert Gregg

2006, Sara Fitzsimmons pollinates at Stockers

2006
Sara pollinating at Stockers, PA

Sara rating cankers at Thorpewood

Sara rating cankers at Thorpewood, MD

Sara at the 25th Annual TACF meeting

2008
Sara at the 25th Annual TACF Meeting

Sara and the Graves tree

2009
Sara in the PSU Graves Orchard

Sara Fern Fitzsimmons in the Glenn Swank stump, 2009

2009
Sara in the Glenn Swank stump, PA

Sara at the International Chestnut Symposium, 2012

2012
Sara at the International Chestnut Symposium

Sara in Vermont

2014
Sara with Harmony Dalgleish and the Berlin American chestnut in Vermont

Kendra and Sara in the field

Sara and Kendra Collins working in the field

Sara presenting at the 2022 TACF Spring Meeting

2022
Sara presenting at TACF’s Spring Meeting

Sara (in the rocker) with TACF staff at the Fall Meeting

2023
Sara (in the rocker) with TACF staff at the Fall Meeting

Sara Fern Fitzsimmons

2024
Sara in the Penn State greenhouses