Skip to content

McClendon named chief learning officer at Penn State Health

Penn State Health has appointed Wesley Payne McClendon, an internationally recognized transformation and learning leader, as vice president and chief learning officer, effective Monday, Sept. 9.

McClendon will report to David Swift, the health system’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer, and will direct the overall strategy of Penn State Health’s learning and development programs. He will lead the human resources team that provides employee learning, and will also implement a “learn anywhere” framework for responsive e-learning platforms.

McClendon has more than 30 years of leadership development and learning experience, most recently as chief transformation officer, diversity, equity and inclusion, for Diversity Atlas in Melbourne, Australia. He applies a global leadership lens for learning and innovation to develop and align business, people and operations strategy to solve enterprise-wide challenges.

“Wesley is a remarkable leader who has used his talent and expertise to engage, support and strengthen teams in higher education, health care, professional services and nonprofit organizations around the world,” said Swift. “We’re thrilled to have him join Penn State Health to provide strategic, system-wide learning direction and goals.”

McClendon has held leadership positions at Grocon in Melbourne, Australia; DAR AL in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Edinburgh Institute in Scotland and Hong Kong; Mercer HR Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers in London, among others. He also is an adjunct professor at several universities, including Victoria Graduate School of Business, SP Jain School of Global Management and the Macquarie Graduate School of Management, in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia.

McClendon received both a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Human Resource Management and Industrial Labor Relations from Penn State.

If you're having trouble accessing this content, or would like it in another format, please email Penn State Health Marketing & Communications.