University of Pittsburgh Archives - Pittsburgh Quarterly

On a Pedestal: Festival of Books, Contemporary Craft, Pitt’s Homewood Project Read More »

For the past couple of years, pandemic or not, Marshall Cohen has been meeting people and gathering support for his idea: the creation of a Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books. A literate city with the history of erudition that Pittsburgh has should have such an event, he reasoned. And after gaining some key support—from sponsors …

Regional News

Pitt Scientists Gain on COVID

by Jeffery Fraser

In February, University of Pittsburgh scientists began scanning their library of human antibodies for any that might have the potential to tame the novel COVID-19 virus. With some 1 trillion antibodies to sort through, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. They found one in less than a week using techniques that …

Pitt Scientists Gain on COVID Read More »

Sports

Pitt’s First Great Rivalry: Fordham and the Seven Blocks of Granite

by Richard “Pete” Peterson

When The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated selected their top ten college football rivalries, their lists featured neighboring state rivalries such as Ohio State-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma, and Florida-Georgia. The Sporting News list of top rivalries included the Pitt-West Virginia backyard brawl. Traditional rivalries for Pitt began over 100 years ago when they first started playing West …

Pitt’s First Great Rivalry: Fordham and the Seven Blocks of Granite Read More »

Profiles

Consensus Builder

by Jonathan Callard

Mark Nordenberg’s cell phone lights up. He smiles to see a call from Herb Douglas, the oldest living African-American Olympic medalist and a University of Pittsburgh alum. Douglas hails from Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood, where some community advocates raise questions about how residents will fare amidst the mammoth Hazelwood Green development project currently under construction. “Are …

Consensus Builder Read More »

Leadership

Focus on Leadership

Focus on Leadership Read More »

Five regional leaders address key elements and lessons of what it means to lead. What do you believe to be the most important ingredients of successful leadership? Susie Shipley, President, Pennsylvania and Ohio Valley Region, Huntington Bank Successful leaders know that culture comes before strategy, character before style and vision before direction. Successful leaders know …

Finley, McClendon, Castillo, Hill, Shiller, Newton, McKone

Finley, McClendon, Castillo, Hill, Shiller, Newton, McKone Read More »

On July 1, Macon Paine Finley will become head of the Ellis School. She comes to Pittsburgh from St. Louis, where she has been assistant head of school at the John Burroughs School since 2012. Her appointment comes on the heels of celebrating The Ellis School’s 100th anniversary. Before joining Burroughs in 2000, Finley served …

Honey, I Have an Idea… Read More »

Honey, I Have an Idea…

by Terry Miller

In May of 2013, Renny Clark and I arrived at the Hillman residence at 11 a.m. Our mission was to propose the creation of a forum for student civic engagement at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics and hopefully the seed of an endowment to support the forum’s work. Elsie responded with her typical …

When Applying to College

When Applying to College Read More »

What do you wish you could tell young people who are considering applying for college? Marc L. Harding, University of Pittsburgh If you know what you want to study in college, great… and if you don’t, please know you’re in the majority. This is the time to explore. Do you want to improve global health, …

Rogers, Hundorfean, da Silva, Finegold, Clouser, Dermody, Bartlett

Rogers, Hundorfean, da Silva, Finegold, Clouser, Dermody, Bartlett Read More »

Susan Rogers is vice chancellor for communications at the University of Pittsburgh. She comes to Pittsburgh from Dallas, where she was vice president for university advancement at The University of Texas at Dallas. Previously, she was associate vice chancellor for university relations in the office of advancement at the University of Arkansas and director of …

Engineering the Future at Pitt Read More »

Engineering the Future at Pitt

by Danielle Commisso

It was the early 1960s, and it was a different time, recalls John “Jack” Mascaro. Like many of his fellow baby boomers, the young student showed up to his engineering classes at the University of Pittsburgh sporting a sweater and a tie, while his professors wore suits. It was a time when engineering students were …

A Pittsburgh Masterpiece

A Pittsburgh Masterpiece Read More »

When Rachel Rosenberg arrived at the University of Pittsburgh from California as a freshman, she was immediately drawn to the cultural classrooms lining the Cathedral of Learning’s first and third floors: their alluring aesthetics, stunning architecture and meticulous attention to detail. “There’s nothing like this anywhere else,” she said. “They really set the University of …

The Year of Humanities

The Year of Humanities Read More »

A multicolored logo flashed over Heinz Field’s immense scoreboard on a bright fall day as a booming voice declared 2015-16 the University of Pittsburgh’s “Year of the Humanities.” The crowd of 45,000-plus fans cheered loudly. Whether they were celebrating the academic year proclamation or the fact that Pitt’s football team was beating up on the …

Arts

Arts Aligned

They’re situated on either side of Forbes Avenue in Oakland, almost appreciatively staring at each other in a figurative manner: A world-class university and a world-class art collection. On a daily basis, backpack-sporting college students and briefcase-toting college professors weave in and out of these historic institutions, along with the general public. But not until …

Arts Aligned Read More »

McElwaine, Assad, Frizzell, Bagley, Sferra, Armony

McElwaine, Assad, Frizzell, Bagley, Sferra, Armony Read More »

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 …

One Pitt, One Planet

One Pitt, One Planet Read More »

On a muggy September evening, a group of 30 University of Pittsburgh students harvested food on a green patch of land in Oakland surrounded by older brick buildings and urban hubbub. They picked tomatoes, green peppers, raspberries, kale, beets, turnips and grapes, filling large plastic bins in an effort to promote a sustainable future and …

High Tech + Higher Ed = ?

High Tech + Higher Ed = ? Read More »

Editor’s note: For this special feature, we invited the presidents of the region’s leading colleges and universities to respond to the following: Technology is presenting unprecedented challenges and opportunities for higher education. While Internet-based learning threatens the existence of some traditional, campus-based institutions, for many others, emerging technology provides opportunities to enhance learning in ways …

Gallagher, Fernandes, Barron, Finger, Suzik, Wilmer, Carey

Gallagher, Fernandes, Barron, Finger, Suzik, Wilmer, Carey Read More »

Patrick D. Gallagher will become the 18th chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh on Aug. 1. A native of Albuquerque, N.M., he comes to Pittsburgh from the greater Washington, D.C., area, where he has been serving as acting deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce and director of the National Institute of Standards and …

A Calling on Campus

A Calling on Campus Read More »

When Kathy Humphrey was born, she was already an aunt, part of a family of 11 siblings and, now, 86 nieces and nephews. As a girl, she not only loved school, she played school outside of classroom hours with her hometown friends in Kansas City, Mo. And when she couldn’t find friends to join her, …

A Vision for the Future Read More »

A Vision for the Future

by Douglas Heuck

Late last year, the University of Pittsburgh quietly marked an economic milestone when NanoVision Diagnostics became the 100th start-up company to launch through Pitt’s Office of Technology Management. The promising cancer detection system teams a decade of faculty research with an executive-in-residence, and so far the new company has attracted $1.5 million in investment. Beyond …

Profiles

Mark A. Nordenberg, Professor of Law & University Administrator

by Jeff Sewald

Minnesota is the ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes,’ and northern Minnesota, where I was born and raised, has more than its share. Because Duluth, my hometown, was built on a hill, we had a scenic view of Lake Superior from our home. To me, it was like an ocean. Duluth was a great place to be …

Mark A. Nordenberg, Professor of Law & University Administrator Read More »

Raising the Bar