Taylor Halsted Villanova

Villanova University undergraduate Taylor Halsted has devoted a great deal of his life to philanthropy. As a high school student, he served on a committee for dodge ball tournaments to raise funds for The American National Red Cross, made winter hats for those in need, and arranged benefits for Nicaraguan children featuring his own guitar and harmonica performances. Additionally, he traveled to the British Virgin Islands to serve as an environmental volunteer for Lifeworks, which earned him the President’s Volunteer Service Award. In 2007, Taylor Halsted performed as a counselor at Prep@Pingree in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, helping seventh and eighth graders with math, science, and sports. During that period, he also joined Villanova University as an engineering intern to help the school in a project that led to its first green roof. He returned to Prep@Pingree the following summer as a Program Director who developed educational and athletic activities, as well as field trips, for urban middle school children. Since beginning his collegiate education, Taylor Halsted has continued to help others around the world. In 2010, he acted as a Project Management Consultant for Villanova University’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders - USA. As part of his work, he developed plans to irrigate an underdeveloped rural village in Nicaragua. As Philanthropy Chair of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at Villanova University, Taylor Halsted arranges campus-wide events to help raise awareness and money for a variety of causes. He recently led a fundraising campaign that successfully raised thousands of dollars in support of a new school and new home for orphaned children in Ghana. Taylor Halsted already completed his minor in business in the summer of 2010 with the Villanova Summer Business Institute. After he finishes obtaining his Bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Civil Engineering with minors in Philosophy and Engineering Entrepreneurship, he wants to give back to the global community. While interning at Choate Investment Advisors in the summer of 2011, Taylor Halsted earned three Bloomberg Essentials Certificates -- Commodity Essentials, Equity Essentials and Fixed Income Essentials. Taylor Halsted’s plans for the future include receiving an MBA so that he can unite his education in business and engineering to create long-lasting environmental projects that benefit the world.