University Times

Former Chancellor J. Dennis O’Connor will leave Pitt in January to accept the newly created job of provost of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

O’Connor will begin his new job “shortly after Jan. 1,” a Smithsonian spokesperson said. As the Smithsonian’s chief programs officer, O’Connor will be responsible for central planning, integration and oversight of the Smithsonian’s museum activities, and research and education activities at its museums, the National Zoo, libraries, archives and research centers in the United States and around the world.

In leaving Pitt, O’Connor will forego a Board of Trustees-approved severance package that would have provided him with the following:

* A paid sabbatical leave from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 1996 at $221,500, his salary at the time he announced his resignation in April.

* The option of returning to Pitt’s biological sciences department in January 1997 as a tenured professor at an annual salary of $177,200.

* The fifth and final payment of an $8,000 per year annuity for his wife Anne.

* University payment of the O’Connors’ moving expenses. As part of the severance deal, the O’Connors were permitted to remain at the chancellor’s residence on Devonshire Road through the end of December 1995. Pitt had agreed to pay the couple’s moving expenses, but only if they re-located within western Pennsylvania.

“All of his [O’Connor’s] University compensation will cease upon his starting the new job” at the Smithsonian, said Pitt Director of Communications Ken Service.

O’Connor was unavailable for comment last night as the University Times went to press. In a written statement issued by the Smithsonian, the former chancellor said: “I am looking forward to meeting the Smithsonian’s challenges with a great deal of excitement and anticipation, especially the opportunity to work with the institution’s outstanding people who present its collections to the public, conduct research and create its special events and education programs.

“The secretary [Smithsonian Secretary I. Michael Heyman] has stated that the Smithsonian must leave the Mall and reach out to the American people where they live,” O’Connor continued. “Since everyone cannot come to the Mall, one of my responsibilities will be to see to it that our boundaries are co-terminus with the nation’s boundaries.” In announcing the appointments of O’Connor and the Smithsonian’s new general counsel this week, Heyman said in a written statement: “These two outstanding individuals are excellent administrators and leaders. They will play critical roles in helping to guide the Smithsonian through present-day challenges and to take full advantage of future opportunities.” The Smithsonian is the world’s largest combined museum and research complex, with 14 museums and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and two museums in New York City. Its annual budget is $480 million, of which $371 million is a direct appropriation from Congress. The Smithsonian employs 6,700 persons in Washington and New York and at research facilities around the world. More than 25 million visits are made to its museums each year.

O’Connor’s successor at Pitt, Interim Chancellor Mark Nordenberg, said the Smithsonian job “reflects well on the record of accomplishment that Dennis has built as a scientist and as an administrator, and I’m sure that people on campus will wish him well as he undertakes these new responsibilities.” The University Times could not reach trustees chairperson J. Wray Connolly last night for comment.

University Senate President Keith McDuffie said: “I think it’s for the best. I’m pleased for Dennis that he’s got this opportunity and I think it will be better for him and for the University this way. Going back to teaching, especially at a salary so out of sync with those of his colleagues, might have created some tension and hostility toward him within his department — although I’d prefer to think that wouldn’t have happened.” A Chicago native, O’Connor earned his bachelor’s degree at Loyola University, his master’s from De Paul and his Ph.D. from Northwestern. Before becoming Pitt chancellor in August 1991, O’Connor was vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Before that, he was North Carolina’s vice chancellor of research and graduate studies and dean of the graduate school. O’Connor also was dean of the life sciences department at UCLA.

He resigned as Pitt chancellor five months ago, reportedly after losing the confidence of key trustees. O’Connor’s severance package, approved by the trustees in June, was condemned by a number of faculty and staff members. Especially controversial was the package’s stipulation that O’Connor’s salary as a biological sciences professor would remain at $177,200 (two-thirds of his chancellor pay) until the average salary of full professors in the department reached that level. While the biological sciences department has refused to release its salary averages, the mean annual salary of a full professor in the natural science division of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences was $69,247 last year.

— Bruce Steele