Pierce ’80 Highlights Sig Values as Old Master
John Pierce ’80 was one of five Old Masters who took part in the 2025 anniversary program celebrating the 75th year of Old Masters (OM) and the 10th anniversary of the Rising Professionals (RP) program. The combined program included five Old Masters and five Rising Professionals and was held November 9 – 12, 2025.
Old Master John Pierce ’80
Old Masters and Rising Professionals engage with the Purdue student body by guest-speaking in classrooms, personally meeting with student organizations, eating meals with distinguished faculty, and sharing some of their most valuable experiences in the campus-wide panel called Echos of Excellence.
As part of the 75th anniversary celebration, the committee invited back all former OMs. One of those who returned was Greg Harbaugh ’78, a 2004 Old Master. John noted, “It was nice having some quality time with one of my mentors, Greg Harbaugh, along with our wives. Both John and Greg, as undergrads, had been OM hosts and on the OM central committee.
A Focus on Defending Clients
John earned his B.S. in Economics from Purdue in 1980, followed by a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1984. He is currently a white-collar criminal defense attorney at Liles Parker in Washington, D.C. John began his career in federal criminal law as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving for fourteen years across three offices: San Diego, Washington, D.C., and Alexandria, Virginia. For the first eleven years, he primarily prosecuted violent and organized crime, later shifting his focus to health care fraud during his final three years in public service.
In private practice for the last 25 years, John’s focus is on defending doctors and other professionals in fraud investigations and prosecutions, although he occasionally represents those being prosecuted for violent or organized crimes.
John and his wife, Roxana, (center) with his Old Masters hosts.
Emphasizing the Importance of Leadership
John remarked, “Being selected as an OM was a real honor. Delta Delta has such a rich tradition of contributing to the success of OM. For this year’s program, I spoke in my three classroom sessions about the student’s role in leadership. One of the four pillars of leadership taught each summer at the Krach Transformational Leadership Workshop revolves around values-based leadership, which I stressed during my classroom and panel discussions. I want all Purdue students to take advantage of leadership training opportunities they may receive. I had several opportunities to stress how important it is to maintain values during all elements of leadership throughout life.”
A Trip to 202 Littleton
Wednesday afternoon included a visit to 202 where John compelled the brothers gathered to meet John to sing the Sweetheart song to the very deserving female hosts in his group and to John’s wife, Roxana. John answered the brother’s questions, discussed his career, and took the time to extol the virtues of the leadership training available through Sigma Chi and the importance of taking full advantage of these opportunities.
John concluded by noting, “I am proud to say that several undergrads are taking part in Old Masters and served as hosts. I hope they will continue with the Delta Delta tradition of seeking positions on next year’s Central Committee.”
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