University Times

Andrea L. Campbell, administrative assistant in the film studies program, died July 18, 2005, of cancer. She was 52.

Campbell joined the University staff in 1980 as an auditor and processor in the Invoice Audit department. She served as assistant manager of the department from 1987 to 1989, when she took a position as billing manager in Pitt’s Center for Instructional Development and Distance Education. Campbell worked there until 2000, when she transferred to the film studies program.

By all accounts, film studies was a dream job for Campbell, who on her resumé listed movies as one of her main interests.

Lucy Fischer, director of film studies, says Campbell’s interest in film dated back many years. In fact, after Campbell was hired in film studies, she told Fischer that she had been a student in her film comedy course years earlier. She took the class as part of her studies in English literature, earning her B.A. magna cum laude from Pitt in 1983.

Fischer said when Campbell took the film studies job five years ago, “she moved into her office and made it her own.”

Campbell’s office was very much a reflection of her interests, Fischer noted. Not surprisingly, film posters adorned the walls. She’d often come into work early and spend the time chatting with faculty and students about films. Her duties included setting up for film studies receptions and lectures; then she’d use her lunch hour to attend the lecture, Fischer said.

Art was another interest, evident in the art books that lined the shelves of her office. Campbell would often put her art interest to use when designing film studies invitations or the program’s newsletter.

Her office also hinted at what Fischer called her “great sense of humor,” with whimsical items such as her Charlie Chaplin finger puppet. “She was very youthful in her attitude, even with the illness,” Fischer said.

“On some level, she was an expert juggler,” Fischer said of Campbell, who had to schedule classes, order the right kind of equipment for different kinds of films, plan food for receptions and keeps tabs on the technical suitability of classrooms assigned to film studies. She also helped out with the student film club, Pitt in Hollywood. Whatever was needed, “she always pitched in,” Fischer said. “She was a great fit for the job.”

Campbell’s office also had the requisite photos of her two daughters, Mallory and Willa, as well as examples of their artwork. But she took it a step further, often bringing her older daughter to film studies events. “She was a very devoted parent,” Fischer said.

Fischer said there has been a “tremendous response” to Campbell’s death: “We were tremendously fond of her.” Film studies faculty plan to discuss how the program might honor Campbell’s memory.

In addition to her two daughters, Campbell is survived by her husband, Glenn R. Campbell; her mother, Lydia Natale Tierno; two brothers, Mark and Alan Tierno, and a sister, Anita Carson.