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March 8, 2018

Faculty, Students Recognized at Pitt’s 42nd Annual Honors Convocation

Brian Primack at Honors Convocation

University Honors College Dean Brian Primack delivers the convocation address at the 42nd annual Honors Convocation. “Consider how you can have what I think is the most influence on the future by helping the next cohort of people in our Pitt community to succeed,” he said.

Sit. Move sideways. Move into the future.

Brian Primack focused on these directions toward success in his remarks to about 1,300 faculty, students and guests in attendance at Honors Convocation on Feb. 23 at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.

Primack, dean of the University Honors College, served as the keynote speaker at the 42nd annual event, which highlighted the academic and leadership accomplishments of more than 4,000 faculty and students.

Primack — who is also the Bernice L. and Morton S. Lerner Endowed Chair; the director of the Center for Research on Media, Technology, and Health; and a professor of medicine, pediatrics, and clinical and translational science — pointed to a human tendency to focus on the future and advised the awardees to adopt the series of what he described as “complementary, different directions”:

Sit. Reflect on your accomplishments.

“Even while we are thinking about the next thing, we will be most effective if on a day-to-day basis we are in a state that is more one of gratitude and pride,” he said.

Move sideways. Broaden your skill set.

Primack offered examples such as astronaut John Glenn’s launch into the political arena and TV chef Julia Child’s former career as a CIA spy.

“Some sideways movement can help keep us fresh, marketable and satisfied,” he said.

Move into the future. Guide your peers to achieving what you have accomplished.

“In addition to starting on your next journey, help others start theirs,” said Primack.

Following Primack, Patricia E. Beeson, provost and senior vice chancellor, and Kenyon Bonner, vice provost and dean of students, addressed student accomplishments related to academics and leadership, respectively. Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and the John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine, lauded faculty honors.

 

Contact:
Katie Fike, kfike@pitt.edu, 412-624-1085

 

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher at Honors Convocation

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher speaks at the 42nd annual Honors Convocation. During the ceremony, he identified the occasion as a milestone and not as an end. “This is not the end. This is not how the impact of a university is measured,” he said. “It’s measured in making the world a better place through knowledge.”

 

Patricia Beeson at Honors Convocation

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson addresses an approximate estimate of 1,300 faculty, students and guests at the 42nd annual Honors Convocation.

 

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson (second from left) gathers with (from left) University trustees Roberta A. Luxbacher, Deborah J. Gillotti and Martha Hartle Munsch before the processional into the 42nd annual Honors Convocation.

Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Patricia E. Beeson (second from left) gathers with (from left) University trustees Roberta A. Luxbacher, Deborah J. Gillotti and Martha Hartle Munsch before the processional into the 42nd annual Honors Convocation.

 


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