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October 23, 2014

Staff, faculty say thanks, in stone

benches1“It’s a kind of ominous feeling when you see your name etched in granite with dates after it,” Chancellor Patrick Gallagher quipped to his predecessor at the dedication of a pair of benches outside the chancellor’s office window.

About 50 people  — joined by one curious raptor who eyed the guests from a low-hanging tree branch — gathered Oct. 15 outside the Cathedral of Learning for the lighthearted, humor-infused ceremony to dedicate the bench plaza, given by the University Senate and Staff Association Council (SAC) in honor of Mark A. Nordenberg, chancellor emeritus, and his wife, Nikki Pirillo Nordenberg.

Joining Nikki and Mark Nordenberg, center, at the dedication of the bench plaza Oct. 15 were, from left: Provost Patricia Beeson, SAC President Rich Colwell, Provost Emeritus James Maher and University Senate President Michael Spring.

Joining Nikki and Mark Nordenberg, center, at the dedication of the bench plaza Oct. 15 were, from left: Provost Patricia Beeson, SAC President Rich Colwell, Provost Emeritus James Maher and University Senate President Michael Spring.

SAC President Rich Colwell, joined by Senate President Michael Spring, said: “No matter what we do, we could never thank Mark for all the work he’s done and how he’s progressed the University to where it is.”

Gallagher said: “It’s worth noting that the roots of the bench are very deep. In fact so deep that we hit a main power line on the campus,” referring to a July 23 subcontractor misstep that interrupted power to 10 campus buildings, leaving some darkened for multiple days.

“I know when Mark set about deciding what he wanted to do with his professional life after serving as Pitt’s chancellor for 19 years, he had a lot of choices before him. That could have included a return to private practice … maybe even an outside calling would have come including a position on the judiciary. … So we here at Pitt are fortunate that you chose instead to stay here and continue your career in academia here at the University of Pittsburgh.

“While it may not be a seat on the Supreme Court, we are very pleased that today Pitt is dedicating to Mark and Nikki a seat on the bench,” Gallagher said.

“I spent a lot of hours gazing out that window,” Chancellor Emeritus Nordenberg admitted. “That may create the wrong impression until I say I sat in that office seven days a week for 19 years, and occasionally you have to look up.”

Thanking the faculty and staff groups, he said, “This is a wonderful form of recognition. It’s special to me in large measure because I get to be recognized with Nikki. … I thank Nikki and I know you recognize Nikki for the support and understanding and patience that she extended to me, but also for the independent contributions that she made to life within the University of Pittsburgh.

“I don’t think there is anyone who did more to generate a sense of warmth and friendliness within the community. … So, to have her name engraved in stone here as a contributor to the progress that has been made for the last 19 years, and to the tone of the relationships that came to characterize the University, really is very appropriate, and it means a lot to me.”

Nordenberg said the benches outside his former office offer a great view of one of the crossroads of the campus. “You see all kinds of people, wandering by or hurrying by … And then on the weekends you look out this window … and see students playing touch football or Frisbee or cricket. And you look beyond them and see the most popular place in Pittsburgh to be married, so about every hour and a half there’s a new happy wedding couple out on the steps of Heinz Chapel getting on with their new lives.

“And so, everyone who sits on these benches as time goes on is going to really have a chance to experience life within the University in all of its richness,” he said.

—Kimberly K. Barlow

Filed under: Feature,Volume 47 Issue 5