People Archives - Page 14 of 21 - Pittsburgh Quarterly

“Reviewing the following excerpts from some of the 40 first–person profiles I created for the magazine over the past 10 years was an emotional experience for me. How many people get to choose from among the most prominent individuals in their hometown and spend time with them learning their life stories? Some have passed on …

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Obituaries

Dantry, Dunn, Wertz, Gentile, Jannetta, Lee, Campbell

by PQ Staff

Jay Dantry, 87 Dantry was a leading light of Pittsburgh’s literary scene through his bookstore, Jay’s Bookstall, which he opened in 1959 and ran until it closed in 2008. The eclectic store on Fifth Avenue in Oakland attracted giants from the literary world for readings and signings including Margaret Atwood, E.L Doctorow, Stephen King, John …

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American Spirit

James Dean

by Kate Benz, photography by John Altdorfer

Half of James Dean’s body is under the hood of a ’63 Chevelle that’s missing all of its doors, a portion of his 50 years hanging over navy blue work pants as he twists awkwardly, trying to get the right angle. He’s in the middle of grinding a piece of metal, orange-tipped sparks cascading overhead …

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Profiles

Esther L. Barazzone, Educator & Administrator

by Jeff Sewald

I grew up in Bluefield, W.Va., a town of about 16,000, which had no “wrong side” of the tracks—because it was all tracks, for trains moving coal out of southern West Virginia. I lived there with my mother, stepfather and three brothers. Three out of four of my grandparents were immigrants—from Italy, Belgium and Ireland—and, …

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Obituaries

Allison, Massaro, Olander, Harris, Kaiser, Murdoch, Burke, Copetas

by PQ Staff

Susan Allison, 75 A longtime resident of Erie and Sewickley Heights, “Susie” Allison helped her husband, Craig, build a number of businesses, including Tollgrade Communications, which became one of Pittsburgh’s most successful public companies during the dot-com boom under the leadership of their son Chris. She later devoted her energies to philanthropy, focusing on adoption, …

Allison, Massaro, Olander, Harris, Kaiser, Murdoch, Burke, Copetas Read More »

Arrivals

Taylor, Ocampo, Pearson, Bennett, Hansen, Hissrich, Schörnich, Block

by PQ Staff

In March, James Taylor will become the chief diversity and inclusion officer at UPMC. A native of Rochester, N.Y., he comes to Pittsburgh from Charlotte, N.C., where he previously was the chief learning and diversity officer of Carolinas HealthCare System. He received his undergraduate degree in applied psychology from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and …

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Profiles

J. Kevin McMahon, Arts & Culture Executive

by Jeff Sewald

It’s not a secret, but I actually was born in Pittsburgh. I don’t talk about it, not because I’m not proud of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh is great. But in Pittsburgh, if you say you were born here, everybody expects you to know everything about it. When I was a little kid, my family moved, so I …

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Arrivals

Howard, Bairnsfather, Hand, Li, Riley, Fullerton

by PQ Staff

Christopher Howard will become president of Robert Morris University on Feb. 1. A native of Plano, Texas, Howard comes to Pittsburgh from Farmville, Va., where he has been president of Hampden-Sydney College since 2009. Howard previously was vice president for leadership and strategic initiatives at the University of Oklahoma, and has worked for General Electric’s …

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Obituaries

Bron, Gaffney, Conniff, Waldman, Ebbert, Ellis, Robertshaw, Miller, Walsh, Blum

by PQ Staff

Klaus Bron, 86 Dr. Bron was a pioneering visionary in interventional radiology and angiography. After studying the nascent field of minimally invasive angiography in Sweden, he came to Pittsburgh in 1964 and .became chief of vascular and interventional radiology as well as chief of radiology at Presbyterian University Hospital. His work created the conditions that …

Bron, Gaffney, Conniff, Waldman, Ebbert, Ellis, Robertshaw, Miller, Walsh, Blum Read More »

Arrivals

Dorfman, Ranjan, Schaffner, LeBlanc, Barnes, Tourangeau, Salgado

by PQ Staff

Eric Dorfman is director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He comes to Pittsburgh from Whanganui, New Zealand, where he was director of the Whanganui Regional Museum and Ward Observatory. Previously, he was executive director of Eklektus Inc., a company that developed and implemented major exhibitions for clients such as The Australian Museum and …

Dorfman, Ranjan, Schaffner, LeBlanc, Barnes, Tourangeau, Salgado Read More »

Profiles

Jeff Broadhurst

by Jeff Broadhurst

Eat’n Park started out back in 1949 as a very small restaurant on Saw Mill Run Boulevard. Larry Hatch started it, and believe it or not, on the first day, he opened at breakfast and closed before dinner because he was too busy. He couldn’t keep up. Those of us in the restaurant business wish …

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Obituaries

Hillman, Lenchner, Spruill, Peters, Faison, Danforth, Hoffstat

by PQ Staff

Elsie Hillman, 89 The irreplaceable and irrepressible first lady of Pittsburgh, “Elsie” combined vision, commitment, enthusiasm and means with a common touch. Those qualities and a sense of humor and fun helped her spearhead and support political, civic, cultural and philanthropic initiatives for more than 60 years. She headed both the Allegheny County and Pennsylvania …

Hillman, Lenchner, Spruill, Peters, Faison, Danforth, Hoffstat Read More »

Profiles

Patrick D. Gallagher, University of Pittsburgh Chancellor

by Jeff Sewald

I don’t recollect ever wanting to manage a large organization. But I’ve always enjoyed managing things. In fact, my management experience started when I was very young. As a junior in high school, I joined a volunteer organization called Amigos de las Americas [Friends of the Americas], which was a non-denominational, youth-based organization modeled after …

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Profiles

Barbara Baker

by Douglas Heuck

2015 marks the 25th anniversary of Barbara Baker’s leadership as president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. On this occasion, Pittsburgh Quarterly posed a series of questions to Baker, a doctor of veterinary medicine with an MBA, about her tenure and the future of the zoo. What brought you to Pittsburgh and …

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Obituaries

Murray, Alexander, Wolfenstein, Mickle, Levin, Legato, Gordon, Snyder, Pavlovich, Dauler, Anderson

by PQ Staff

John Murray Jr., 82 From 1988 to 2001, Murray was the high-profile President of Duquesne University, who led the Catholic institution through a major revitalization, raising more than $200 million during his tenure. The former dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Murray was Duquesne’s first lay president and continued teaching in Duquesne’s …

Murray, Alexander, Wolfenstein, Mickle, Levin, Legato, Gordon, Snyder, Pavlovich, Dauler, Anderson Read More »

Arrivals

McElwaine, Assad, Frizzell, Bagley, Sferra, Armony

by PQ Staff

On June 1, Andrew McElwaine becomes the senior program director for sustainability and environment at The Heinz Endowments, where he will be responsible for environment grantmaking and building the foundation’s sustainability- related work. McElwaine returns to Pittsburgh from Washington, D.C., where he was president and CEO of American Farmland Trust. McElwaine previously served for six …

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Arrivals

Cassotis, Suresh, Nolan, Poole, Zimmerman, Moerdyk

by PQ Staff

Christina Cassotis is the chief executive officer of the Allegheny County Airport Authority. She comes to Pittsburgh from York, Maine, where she was managing officer of consultant ICF International’s airport services practice; in her 16 years with the firm, she held a variety of posts. She began her career in transportation with the Massachusetts Port …

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Profiles

Allan H. Meltzer, Economist, professor, author

by Jeff Sewald

As a kid, I moved a lot around Boston, where I was born. My mother died when I was 5, after which I lived with my grandmother. When I was 9, my father remarried and we became suburbanites, moving to Westwood, Mass. Practically no Jews lived there other than me, my dad and my sisters. …

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Obituaries

Aldisert, Van Dusen, Standish, Budway, Geibel, Hilliard, Stewart

by PQ Staff

Ruggero J. Aldisert, 95 Aldisert was a distinguished jurist who served on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The son of an Italian immigrant, he volunteered for service with the U.S. Marines during World War II, seeing action in the Pacific theater as a battery commander on Johnston Island and the Marshall Islands and …

Aldisert, Van Dusen, Standish, Budway, Geibel, Hilliard, Stewart Read More »

Arrivals

McLay, Johnston, King, Maziarz, Gillespie, McGovern, Lau

by PQ Staff

Cameron McLay is Pittsburgh’s chief of police. He comes to Pittsburgh from Madison, Wis., where he served as a leadership development consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police after retiring from his career as a captain of the Madison Police. McLay has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Colorado State University and …

McLay, Johnston, King, Maziarz, Gillespie, McGovern, Lau Read More »

Profiles

Ted Pappas, Impresario

by Jeff Sewald

How did I find myself in Pittsburgh? That’s a complicated question. I was born in Tampa to Greek immigrant parents, so my first few years were spent in Florida surrounded by a very Greek community. (There are more Greeks there than you might think.) Then we moved to Gary, Ind., where my father worked as …

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Profiles

Chuck Bunch

by Evan Pattak

The early 1990s seemed like a halcyon period for PPG Industries, one of Pittsburgh’s most venerable and best-known companies. Its three business pillars—coatings, glass and chemicals—each was producing about one-third of the firm’s revenue, a tried-and-true formula that promised decades of success. Then came the revolution. Thanks in part to market forces that included globalization, …

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