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July 8, 2010

Trustees name Beeson provost,

Maher provost emeritus

Patricia E. Beeson gets a standing ovation at the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting after being elected Pitt’s new provost and senior vice chancellor. Applauding her selection are, from left, G. Reynolds “Renny” Clark, vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff in the Office of the Chancellor; Beeson’s husband, Werner Troesken Jr., a professor in the Department of Economics, and Angie Maher, wife of outgoing Provost James V. Maher. Beeson’s appointment takes effect Aug. 15.

Patricia E. Beeson gets a standing ovation at the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting after being elected Pitt’s new provost and senior vice chancellor. Applauding her selection are, from left, G. Reynolds “Renny” Clark, vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff in the Office of the Chancellor; Beeson’s husband, Werner Troesken Jr., a professor in the Department of Economics, and Angie Maher, wife of outgoing Provost James V. Maher. Beeson’s appointment takes effect Aug. 15.

Pitt’s Board of Trustees bestowed on Provost James V. Maher the title of provost emeritus and elected Vice Provost for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies Patricia E. Beeson Maher’s successor as provost and senior vice chancellor, effective Aug. 15.

At its June 25 meeting, the trustees ended speculation over a replacement for Maher, who announced in November that he intended to step down after 16 years as provost to return to the Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty. (See Nov. 12, 2009, University Times.)

In presenting a resolution for Beeson’s election, Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg cited Beeson’s record of experience as well as her abilities, commitment and devotion to the University, which he said “position her to significantly contribute to Pitt’s continued rise within the ranks of the country’s top public research universities.”

Nordenberg said Beeson is known around campus as a “distinguished colleague who has made distinctive contributions to the strength and progress of the University as a faculty member and as an administrator.”

An economics professor whose scholarly work focuses on regional and urban economics, Beeson came to Pitt as an assistant professor in 1983. She was tenured and promoted to associate professor in 1990 and became a full professor in 2000.

Beeson’s first administrative appointment came in 2001 when she became associate dean for undergraduate studies in the School of Arts and Sciences. In that role she guided the implementation of a new undergraduate curriculum that, Nordenberg said, “further developed an academic culture in which students are more fully engaged with faculty in the scholarly activities of the University.”

In 2004, Beeson joined the Provost’s office as vice provost for graduate studies. Two years later, she also assumed responsibility for undergraduate studies, which traditionally had been a separate position.

In her combined role, Beeson has been responsible for graduate and undergraduate studies across the University’s 16 schools and four regional campuses — encompassing more than 400 academic programs and nearly 35,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. She has served as chair of both the University Council for Graduate Studies and the Provost’s Advisory Committee for Undergraduate Programs.

Beeson has played a lead role in Pitt’s assessment efforts and strategic planning and has been active at national and state levels on issues of assessment and accountability, Nordenberg said.

In addition to close ties with Pitt’s Management Information and Analysis office (formerly the Office of Institutional Research) related to her assessment and planning responsibilities, Beeson is the principal Provost’s office contact for the School of Arts and Sciences, the Swanson School of Engineering, the Katz Graduate School of Business, the College of Business Administration, the University of Pittsburgh Press, the Office of Measurement and Evaluation of Teaching, the Office of the Registrar and the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid, the chancellor said.

“It’s a real honor to be elected to be the provost of such a great institution,” Beeson said. “It’s particularly an honor to have been chosen to succeed someone who has been such an exceptional provost and who has contributed so much to the growth of this institution.”

At the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, left, presented Provost James V. Maher with a framed copy of the resolution in which the board expressed appreciation for Maher’s service and bestowed upon him the title of provost emeritus.  With Nordenberg and Maher is Board of Trustees chair Stephen R. Tritch.

At the June 25 Board of Trustees meeting, Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, left, presented Provost James V. Maher with a framed copy of the resolution in which the board expressed appreciation for Maher’s service and bestowed upon him the title of provost emeritus. With Nordenberg and Maher is Board of Trustees chair Stephen R. Tritch.

In introducing a resolution of appreciation for Maher’s service, Nordenberg praised Maher’s role in the University’s growth.

“His extraordinary contributions from that important leadership position have played a key role in moving our University through what has been an extended period of truly exceptional progress,” Nordenberg said as a precursor to the board’s resolution of appreciation and a standing ovation for Maher.

“Jim’s service has been characterized by high academic ambition, well-reasoned and carefully crafted financial discipline and an uncompromising commitment to Pitt. As he prepares to step away from the daily responsibilities of this high office, we obviously want to thank him for all that he has done, wish him the very best in all that lies ahead and look forward to the contributions that we know are yet to be made.”

In a teleconference following the full board meeting, the trustees compensation committee set Beeson’s salary at $325,000 per year.

The committee took no action on the retention incentive pay plan set by the board in 2002.

Under the initial five-year plan, designed to encourage four members of Pitt’s senior leadership team to remain at the University, trustees awarded Nordenberg $75,000 a year through June 30, 2007, if he remained in his position through that date. Provost James V. Maher, Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran and Arthur G. Ramicone, vice chancellor for Budget and Controller, each were awarded bonuses of $50,000 per year under the same conditions.

In December 2006, the compensation committee voted to extend the retention pay plan on an annual basis. Absent committee action to alter the plan, it continues indefinitely.

Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill clarified that the provost’s retention bonus is not attached to the position, but specifically was for Maher.

In other trustees business:

In his report to the board, Nordenberg cited some preliminary statistics on the Pittsburgh campus’s incoming freshman class for fall 2010 — a group that he said will be drawn from the largest applicant pool in the University’s history. The campus had 22,569 applicants for the fall freshman class, surpassing last year’s record of 21,737.

Preliminary figures indicate that the SAT scores of students who have been admitted to the University and have paid a deposit average 1274, up from 1264 last year. Of this group, 51 percent are in the top 10 percent of their high school class, up from 49 percent last year.

The board approved the nominating committee’s recommendation to elect Tracey T. Travis to the board as a special trustee and to name former trustee H. Lee Noble an emeritus trustee for life.

Stephen R. Tritch was re-elected board chair and Suzanne W. Broadhurst and Robert M. Hernandez were re-elected vice chairpersons, all for one-year terms.

Re-elected to the board were special trustees Mary Ellen Callahan, Terrence P. Laughlin, Robert G. Lovett and Thomas J. Usher, alumni trustees F. James McCarl III and Keith E. Schaefer and term trustees Hernandez, Dawne S. Hickton, John A. Swanson, Burton M. Tansky and Sam Zacharias.

Zacharias was re-elected a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh Trust board.

Tritch was re-elected as a University director and first vice chairperson of the UPMC Board of Directors; Marlee S. Myers and Usher were re-elected University directors of the UPMC board.

Re-elected to one-year terms as University directors and members of the UPMC Board of Directors executive committee were: William S. Dietrich II, Ira J. Gumberg, Hernandez, Arthur S. Levine, Lovett, Myers, Nordenberg, Steven D. Shapiro, Usher and Zacharias.

The board approved an increase in computing and network services fee to $175 per term for full-time students (up from $150) and $100 per term for part-time students (up from $75) at all campuses. The fee increase will take effect this fall.

The board accepted the recommendation of the Pitt-Bradford advisory board’s executive committee to name UPB’s new residence hall the Sarah B. Dorn House in honor of Dorn, a UPB benefactor and advisory board member. Dorn is co-owner of Zippo Manufacturing Co. and W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery and is a director of the Philo and Sarah Blaisdell Foundation board.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


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