UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Tabitha R. Oman, Penn State’s chief ethics and compliance officer, has been appointed to the position of vice president and general counsel, following the approval of the University’s Board of Trustees on Aug. 15. Oman’s appointment follows a national search and will take effect on Aug. 21.
As general counsel, Oman will serve as Penn State’s chief legal officer, providing legal expertise and counsel covering all facets of University business, including the research enterprise, education and service activities, and athletics and health care operations, across all campuses.
Reporting directly to the president and the Board of Trustees, Oman will serve as a senior adviser and member of the President’s Council and lead the Office of General Counsel, which oversees all legal affairs for the University. The office also supports the Board of Trustees, president, administration, and faculty and staff in their official capacities regarding matters affecting Penn State.
“I am thrilled to have a leader of Tabitha’s caliber step into this role, as her legal expertise and sound counsel will unquestionably continue to steer the University in a responsible and ethical manner, consistent with Penn State’s values,” said Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi. “Tabitha is a highly respected attorney who understands Penn State and the complex issues facing not just our university but all of higher education. Tabitha’s strategic thinking, prudent advice, and collaborative nature will benefit Penn State significantly in the years to come.”
Frank Guadagnino has held the role in an interim capacity since October 2022, taking over for Stephen Dunham, who stepped down as vice president and general counsel on Sept. 30, 2022, after 10 years in the position. As previously announced, Guadagnino will remain in an advisory capacity until his retirement at the end of the year.
A national search for Penn State’s next chief ethics and compliance officer will begin immediately. Oman will continue to serve in the role until a successor is identified.
“I am honored to be named Penn State’s vice president and general counsel,” Oman said. “I look forward to working together with President Bendapudi, the leadership team, the Board of Trustees, and the outstanding Office of General Counsel team in pursuit of Neeli’s vision for Penn State and our common mission to serve our students and communities across the commonwealth. During my tenure as Penn State’s chief ethics and compliance officer, I have had the opportunity to partner with staff, faculty and administrators on key ethics and compliance initiatives. In my new role, I will strive to broaden and deepen those partnerships so that the Office of General Counsel remains a collaborative problem-solver, delivering the highest-quality legal counsel.”
Led by the vice president, with locations at University Park and the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and College of Medicine in Hershey, the Office of General Counsel’s team of attorneys helps to develop University policies; interprets and upholds rules and guidelines concerning University activities affecting compliance with federal and state laws and regulations; oversees the retention of outside counsel when needed; and collaborates with colleges, campuses and offices University-wide, including the offices of Risk Management and Affirmative Action, on a wide range of legal issues.
Among other responsibilities, Oman also will continue to have leadership oversight of a new chief ethics and compliance officer and the Office of Ethics and Compliance, which she has led since arriving at Penn State in March 2022.
As chief ethics and compliance officer, Oman has been responsible for the coordination of Penn State’s comprehensive portfolio of compliance efforts, including export control, youth programs, the Penn State Hotline, athletics integrity and NCAA compliance, and University ethics initiatives, among others. She has worked collaboratively with units across Penn State to grow existing compliance practices, reporting, policies and procedures, and training, while encouraging the highest ethical standards of conduct for administrators, faculty, staff and students. Most recently, she oversaw Penn State’s 2022 Living Our Values survey, the third in a series of surveys designed to inform the University’s continuing efforts to foster an accountable, ethical culture.
Prior to joining Penn State, Oman served as vice president, deputy general counsel and chief compliance officer at Axalta Coating Systems, where she led the company’s compliance and ethics, corporate affairs, and environmental, social and governance efforts. Specializing in compliance, ethics, anti-corruption, risk, sustainability and governance, Oman has served in a variety of roles over her nearly 30-year career spanning corporate and criminal law, government and foreign affairs.
As counsel for the Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice Group at the law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr in New York City, Oman led complex and high-profile government and internal investigations involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, personal misconduct, financial fraud and insider trading. In this role, she represented and counseled institutions and individual clients in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East on anti-corruption compliance risk assessments and on implementing effective global anti-corruption compliance programs.
During her tenure as a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State, Oman served as a special assistant to secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell and held postings at the U.S. Embassy in Port Au Prince, Haiti; the Bureau of European Affairs; and the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
Oman earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a juris doctor degree from George Washington University Law School. She is a member of the bar in both Pennsylvania and New York.