University Times

Philip Hopbell once went 17 years without missing a day of work.

“I enjoy my job,” says Hopbell, a 40-year Pitt staff veteran who is manager of central receiving services in Business Operations. “I’m often the first one here and the last to leave.”

Attitude is key, agrees Dwight W. Fong, a Pitt Book Center buyer who started at the bookstore as a clerk four decades ago. He always has wanted to work with books.

“Whatever you do, have an enthusiasm for it,” he says.

The School of Education’s Shirley J. Breitigam has been working at basically the same job since she first started 40 years ago. “I must be doing it right,” she quipped.

Nancy A. Robinson can recall in detail her first day of work here in 1965: “I remember clearly my first day at work as an assistant to the dean of humanities in 1001 in the Cathedral. I was typing something up and I misspelled Tucson. I had it t-u-s-c-o-n. The paper came back with it marked in red ink. I’ve never forgotten how to spell it.”

Director of the Nationality Rooms and Intercultural Exchange Programs E. Maxine Bruhns says her first office in 1965 was a broom closet on the 11th floor of Bruce Hall. It wasn’t all bad, she says. “What I remember most about my first day was the spectacular view of rolling hills and buildings and neighborhoods in the distance.”

And the grand-daddy of them all, Paul C. Magee, with almost 50 years of service to Pitt behind him, started here in 1955 as a test subject for an occupational environment research study while working on the part-time staff at the lab. “I like to say I started at Pitt as a guinea pig.”

These are some of the reflections of Pitt staffers who were honored this week at the annual long-term staff recognition ceremony, which recognizes milestone years of employee service.

With the occasional qualifier, these staffers, even after 40-plus years of service, continue to consider Pitt an exceptional place to work.

To wit:

William P. Reihl, a researcher IV at the Hillman Cancer Center, says, “My job is nothing special. I run tests in a lab. But it suits me because I’m quiet, and I have good co-workers. I don’t want to retire. I don’t even want to think about it. I want to work ’til I drop.”

Reihl particularly enjoys working at the Hillman Center, where his office moved when the center opened. “I worked in clinical pharmacology from 1965 to 2000, up in Scaife,” he says. “Moving here was great compared to the old buildings I was used to. We have everything we need. And it gave us a chance to set up the lab the way we wanted it.”

Sandra S. Bayus, who works in the Chancellor’s office supporting vice chancellors Randy Juhl and Vijay Singh, says, “My advice to people is to come to work at Pitt. If you do come, you’ll stay. There are so many wonderful people here.”

“My advice for staff members is to have patience,” says Magee, who works in biostatistics database management at the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). “There were times when I thought I would quit but didn’t, and I’m happy I stuck it out.”

“I can’t think of a better place to work,” Robinson says. “It’s exciting being part of a university.”

Robinson, whose early service here includes working in the linguistics department, transferred in 1980 to Allegheny Observatory where now she is business and operations manager. “There’s a little different feel to it being so removed from campus, but I enjoy the job tremendously,” she says.

She singles out George Gatewood of physics and astronomy, Alex Orbach of religious studies and Jerome Rosenberg, an emeritus faculty member now in the Office of General Counsel, as faculty who have had significant influence on her and were pleasurable to work with.

Robinson earned a Bachelor of Philosophy degree and a master’s in religious studies while working here.

Hopbell also took advantage of the University’s educational benefits. “I put my three daughters through school here. They all have Pitt degrees,” he says.

Hopbell, who began as a stock clerk in office supplies, also has worked as a mover and a receiver — “I’ve been a mover and a shaker,” he jokes — and now manages a staff of 19 at the Lexington Warehouse in Point Breeze.

“When I worked in receiving at Scaife Hall that included equipment, of course, but also some animals, rabbits, mice,” he recalls. “One day a box broke open and the mice were all over everywhere. They were walking around as if they owned the place. They didn’t know what they were in for, I guess.”

Hopbell said his most offbeat assignment came in 1989 when a group of Russians was visiting Pitt during Chautauqua at Pitt, an international discussion forum.

“I shuttled them around town,” he says. “We went to the steel mills, or what was left of them. I took them to the mall. I took them all over. They really were impressed and excited about Pittsburgh. I remember they talked so fast, the translator had some trouble.”

Hopbell says the biggest change he’s seen over time is the expansion of Pitt’s shuttle services, both on and off campus, as well as the agreement with the Port Authority for employees to ride fare-free. “In the old days, we had one shuttle — one — taking everybody up the hill [to the upper campus],” he says.

In 1999, Hopbell won a Chancellor’s Award of Excellence for Staff, partly in recognition of his volunteer service to the community, which included assisting Pitt’s annual Scouting for Food campaign, the medical school’s Christmas food drive, Toys for Tots and the Hand in Hand Festival.

Hopbell, who plans to retire June 30, continues to work in support of Pitt’s community efforts, such as the Race for the Cure and the various food drives.

“Pitt really does a lot for the community,” he says, “which is another reason I like working here. I think working at the University is different from the outside world. You meet a lot of great people who really care.”

Fong is another employee who has given back to the community. In the 1990s he rallied Pitt Book Center co-workers and other volunteers to rescue the 200-year-old Neill log house in Schenley Park from disrepair.

For Education’s Breitigam, another benefit of being at Pitt is the mutual regard among those with whom she works. “I know all of our faculty well, and they are wonderful people,” the student services specialist says.

Particularly rewarding in her job, she says, is the number of students who, after earning their degrees, return to thank her for her help, for example, in graduation preparation. “They really seem to appreciate what I do, and that makes me feel good,” she says.

Her memories include “being uptight when I interviewed at the office, which was on the 27th floor of the Cathedral then. In 1978, we also were the first people to move into Posvar Hall, which, of course, was called Forbes Quadrangle at that time. It wasn’t even finished when we moved in,” she says.

As for changes, Breitigam says, “Young people are so different now. If they come in and get a job, they start talking right away about how they want to leave. I was glad when I first got my job and I’m glad I still have it today.”

Bruhns, who has traveled the world as part of her job, has seen seven of the 26 Nationality Classrooms dedicated during her tenure as director. She remembers hosting a visit of U.N. ambassadors. “We met them in the Commons Room and took them to their country’s room,” she says. “Then it was a boat ride on the rivers followed by a ballgame at Forbes Field.”

Other famous visitors she’s met include the secretary-general of Poland — “I remember when he was leaving members of his party all kissed my hand. A friend of mine walked by and just stopped and stared as these five men were kissing my hand!” — the crown prince of Jordan — “I greeted him in Arabic. I was so proud of myself.” — and the Dalai Lama, who allowed her a private audience to bless items for the Indian Nationality Room.

“I’m not planning on retiring. I’ll just drop over in the Commons Room and they can take me right over to Heinz Chapel,” Bruhns jokes.

Like Bruhns, Fong has met his share of celebrities as part of his job. Among them, Fred Rogers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Leonard Nimoy and former Penguin Ulf Samuelsson have appeared at book signings in The Book Center. But not every day has been filled with excitement, and Fong says he’s often amused by people’s romanticized notions about work in a bookstore.

“They don’t know how much boring work there is. They think it’s all the interesting books and discussing great ideas with your customers. There’s a lot of paperwork. An inundation of paperwork,” he says. On the plus side, there are perks. “If you look in my apartment it’s piles and piles of books and magazines,” he says. “The lucky thing is there are a lot of freebies.”

GSPH’s Magee, who plans to retire at the end of June, remembers learning his trade on the old mainframe time-sharing computers of the 1960s.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve seen is that technology has changed a lot,” he says. “I also think there was a more collegial atmosphere in the old days. We would share our equipment with other departments; now I’m sure there’s very little of that around.

“I started in 1956 in the Department of Occupational Health, now called Environmental and Occupational Health,” he says. “We were up in the old Municipal Hospital (now Salk Hall). Of course, Dr. Salk was working there in those days. I never actually met him but we all knew he was working there doing very important research. He was an inspiration to me.”

Bayus also cited her place of work as ideal.

“My first job at Pitt was at the School of Social Work where I worked for six months,” she says. “Then I worked for 11 years in the Chancellor’s office under Dr. [Wesley] Posvar. That was my favorite time here at Pitt. When Dr. [Edward] Bozik went to athletics, I went with him and was there for 15 years. But when I went to athletics, I really had left my heart in the Chancellor’s office, so I was very happy to go back there, working for Dr. Juhl and Dr. Singh. I think the world of both of them. I really love my job.”

—Peter Hart & Kimberly K. Barlow