Apr 10, 2023 4 min read

Stephanie Urchick has no fear of flying, and that’s a good thing, considering all the traveling that will be on her agenda in the months ahead.

Just this past week, Urchick was due to travel to Missouri, and, from there, make her way to up to Canada. With the presidency of Rotary International looming in her future, she’ll be racking up frequent flier miles and getting her passport stamped over and over as a leader of the service organization that has 1.4 million members in 200 countries and geographic regions.

“The travel starts the minute you become part of the president’s line,” Urchick explained from her Canonsburg home. “The travel is extensive, but for me it’s the best part of the job. I love meeting the family of Rotary.”

As of July 1, 2024, Urchick will assume the presidency of Rotary International, having been selected last summer by the service organization’s nominating committee. A member of McMurray’s Rotary, she will succeed Gordon McInally of Scotland, who will become president this July 1.

Urchick will become the second female president in Rotary’s history – the current president is Jennifer E. Jones, a Canadian communications executive. A member of Rotary since 1991, Urchick has served as a Foundation trustee, chaired the Foundation’s centennial celebration committee and led the strategic planning committee. More recently, she has been on Rotary’s election review and operations review committees.

While in Rotary, Urchick has traveled to Vietnam to help build a primary school, to the Dominican Republic on a mission to install water filters, and to Ukraine to mentor new members of Rotary. She also coordinated a grant project for the Rotary Foundation in Poland.

Urchick explained she was first drawn to Rotary three decades ago because she was divorced and “looking for fellowship.”

“I had no idea,” she explained. “Nobody in my family had ever been in a service club. … It was fellowship, but ultimately I got hooked on the service, the opportunities I have to change people’s lives all over the world.”

A graduate of Monessen High School, Urchick holds degrees from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Duquesne University and the University of Pennsylvania. She has a wide-ranging background in education, consulting and entertainment – when Urchick was younger, she was the singer in a polka band. While her Rotary duties now take up most of her time, she had operated the McMurray business Doctors at Work LLC, a consulting and training company.

That a new president is chosen so far in advance is unusual for any kind organization; after all, the president of the United States takes office a mere two-and-a-half months after the election. Why does Rotary do this?

“The amount of preparation and planning is absolutely phenomenal,” she explained. “The day after I was selected, the phone calls started. It’s just an amazing amount of planning.”

Five years ago, Urchick chaired Rotary’s strategic planning process, and that helped nudge her toward seeking Rotary’s presidency.

“As I started to watch that process develop and look at the things we were able to change at the corporate level, I suddenly felt if we could get that message into all of our clubs around the world, that’s the real secret to a thriving future,” she explained. “That’s what propelled me to put my name forward.”

During her tenure, Urchick hopes to expand the reach of Rotary and increase its impact. Across the world, Rotary is involved in such endeavors as disease prevention and peace promotion. She hopes Rotary can play a part in finally eradicating polio around the world. She also would like to see Rotary add 100,000 new members.

Her plans are ambitious, “but Rotarians are up to the challenge,” Urchick said. “We want to make lasting change in the world.”