Meet our newest Big Pi recipients: Broadway producer Vivek Tiwary and French soccer team owner Vince Volpe, Jr.
At the 130th anniversary of Pi Lambda Phi, Vivek Tiwary (U Penn ’96) and Vince Volpe, Jr. (Lehigh ’80) were awarded the Big Pi Award for Lifetime Achievement, the highest professional honor for members of Pi Lambda Phi. The Big Pi is awarded to alumni Brothers who are held in high esteem by virtue of outstanding accomplishment which brings honor to the brother and Pi Lambda Phi.
Vivek Tiwary – Award-winning Broadway producer
Vivek Tiwary is an acclaimed producer of musical entertainment from Tony Award-winning Broadway shows to groundbreaking immersive experiences, a Grammy Award-winning record producer, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, and a media financier/investor.
Vivek began his career working for music labels including Mercury/PolyGram, MTV, and VH1. But he found sound and stage more appealing. In 2004, he produced his first Broadway play, A Raisin In The Sun, and established the Tiwary Entertainment Group.
And the hits kept coming. Vivek has either been a financier or producer on such groundbreaking work as Green Day’s American Idiot, The Addams Family, A Little Night Music, and both of Mel Brooks’ musicals, The Producers and Young Frankenstein. His productions have won 25 Tony Awards and 59 Tony nominations.
Vivek’s graphic novel The Fifth Beatle won numerous literary awards, including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award and two Harvey Awards. It has also been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives. Vivek secured unprecedented access to Beatles music for its TV adaptation, for which Vivek is writer and Executive Producer.
He is currently the lead producer of the Broadway hit, Jagged Little Pill, based on the Alanis Morissette album. The production won two Tony Awards, and Vivek won a Grammy for “Best Musical Theater Album” for producing the Jagged Little Pill cast recording.
Vivek said Pilam appealed to him because, “it was a very different fraternity. Band parties were unique and special. We regularly got noticed in news magazines as a unique venue to experience good music. We took pride in that recognition.”
He hasn’t forgotten his Pilam roots. At his office among stacks of graphic novels and Beatles paraphernalia is a poster advertising U Penn’s 1995 Spring Fling concert, which Tiwary orchestrated as an undergrad, booking Sonic Youth, The Roots, and George Clinton.
Vince Volpe – Owner of the oldest soccer team in France
Vince Volpe earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and German Literature at Lehigh. His lifelong career as an engineer was spent at Dresser-Rand, a global supplier of specialized equipment for oil, gas and power industries. He traveled extensively in his various positions, ultimately serving as President and CEO from 2000 to 2015.
Following his tenure at Dresser-Rand, Vince continued to influence the energy sector. He served 17 years as a member of the Board and ultimately Lead Director of FMC Corporation, and is Executive Chairman of Caribbean Distributed Energy, where he supports renewable and resilient power infrastructure across the region.
After retirement, he took a shot at a new “GOOOOAAAAL!” becoming majority owner and President of Le Havre, the oldest soccer (football) club in France.
By his own admission, Vince was not a lifelong soccer fan, but he always loved the competitive nature of sports, and after spending more than a quarter-century living in the Normandy region of France, he grew to love his adopted hometown of Le Havre. When it became clear that the Le Havre football club was in dire financial straits and no longer a top-tier team, Volpe stepped up to salvage it from possible collapse.
In a story line straight out of Ted Lasso, Vince hired former U.S. Men’s National Team coach Bob Bradley to take over as his club’s new manager. Bradley guided the team to a strong third-place finish in his first season, but unfortunately they lost a tiebreaker, and it wasn’t enough to be elevated.
It took a few more years, but Vince was focused on bringing the team back to their glory days. In 2023 the team won the League 2 championship and received a promotion to League 1, the top tier of French football.
Vince shared his new love for soccer with his alma mater, sponsoring trips to France for the Lehigh men’s and women’s soccer teams to scrimmage the Le Havre reserve teams as well as working out, practicing and learning the work ethic of a professional international team.
Most recently, Vince started Fox Innovation & Technologies in 2022 and presently serves as the Company’s CEO and Chairman. Fox’s mission is to reduce the energy consumption of large Rotating Equipment in industrial processes with the goal of reducing the overall carbon footprint by the equivalent of 1,000,000 autos annually within the next 10 years.
He also serves on numerous non-profit boards and is proficient in five languages.