Chip Wirth

Gilbert J. Wirth, Jr. (Chip) has been an advisor to the University of Notre Dame’s Bon Sel Initiative (BSI) for the past 15 years.  Chip —working alongside technical advisors from Cargill— assisted in the supervision of the design and construction of the project’s salt processing plant in Port au Prince, Haiti. In addition to his work with the GC-DWC’s Social Enterprise Initiative through the BSI, he is involved in several additional projects to serve the people of Haiti. Chip is one of the founders of the Maison Fortune Orphanage Foundation, a project that supports 230 underprivileged youth in the town of Hinche. He also worked with the University of Notre Dame Haiti to found the University’s Bio Science Program, a first-of-its-kind program in Haiti.

Chip serves as an advisor to the University of Notre Dame’s Student Consulting for Non-Profit Organizations and assists students in their work to support the efforts of the BSI. He also serves as an advisor and business partner to the University’s Global Center for the Development of the Whole Child, attempting to create novel economic development opportunities to fund and sustain Haitian Catholic elementary schools.

Chip graduated from Old Dominion University with a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He spent the next 8 years in the power generator business at Dominion Resources. In 1988, he and his wife, Patty, founded Wirth Development Corporation, a residential developer of single family homes and rental apartments. He and Patty currently reside in Chesapeake, Virginia.