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September 14, 2006

PEOPLE OF THE TIMES

Two senior Pitt officials have been promoted.

G. Reynolds (Renny) Clark, vice chancellor for Community and Governmental Relations, has been promoted to a newly created position, vice chancellor for community initiatives and chief of staff in the Office of the Chancellor.

Paul A. Supowitz, associate vice chancellor for commonwealth and local governmental relations, has been promoted to vice chancellor for governmental relations.

In his role as chief of staff, Clark will add a senior-level staff presence and will have primary responsibility for coordinating activities in the Chancellor’s office.

“Renny has played a key role in strengthening and expanding the linkages between Pitt and neighboring communities, while also fostering mutually beneficial relationships between public officials and the University community,” said Chancellor Mark Nordenberg. “In his new role, Renny will continue with this increasingly important work and also will take the lead in coordinating the many other activities in which the Chancellor’s office is directly involved.”

The University’s community relations staff, under the leadership of Assistant Vice Chancellor John M. Wilds, will continue to report to Clark. Clark also will have oversight responsibility for Pitt’s Institute of Politics.

Clark, who is mayor, fire chief and emergency management coordinator of Franklin Park Borough, joined Pitt in 2000 after a 33-year career with Westinghouse Electric Corp., where he served as chair of the Westinghouse Foundation and executive director of the staff services functions, among other roles.

He serves on the boards of a number of civic and cultural organizations. In addition, he chairs the Oakland Task Force and is vice chair of the Pittsburgh Public Service Fund, the local consortium of not-for-profit organizations and institutions that currently is providing special funding to the City of Pittsburgh.

As vice chancellor for governmental relations, Supowitz will oversee the University’s interaction with all levels of government — federal, state and local — and will report to the chancellor.

Assistant Vice Chancellor Jeanne C. Stoner, who leads the University’s federal governmental relations efforts, will report to Supowitz in his new position.

Supowitz joined the University in 1997 in the Office of General Counsel after eight years of private law practice at the firm of Klett, Lieber, Rooney and Scholling, where he specialized in international programs, copyright, software and database licensing, student affairs, environmental matters and computer issues.

He joined the Office of Community and Governmental Relations in 2002. He earned his J.D. at Pitt’s School of Law in 1989.

Supowitz will continue to serve as associate general counsel for the University on matters relating to environmental health and safety and government relations.

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Among those faculty at Pitt’s Schools of the Health Sciences whose work has been acknowledged recently with awards and accolades are the following:

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA) named John O’Donnell, director of the nurse anesthesia program at the School of Nursing, as Program Director of the Year. The recognition is given annually by the AANA for substantial contributions to the profession of nurse anesthesia in scholarship, education and leadership.

O’Donnell, who also is the associate director for nursing programs at Pitt’s Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation, Education and Research, was recognized for his incorporation of human simulation into nurse anesthesia education.

O’Donnell has helped to develop numerous simulation-based courses for certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) students and practicing providers at other institutions. He also has mentored other faculty members on the use of simulation in CRNA training and practice.

Nursing faculty members Lora E. Burke, Susan M. Cohen and Marilyn Hravnak will be among 55 nurse leaders who will be inducted as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing Nov. 11.

Fellows are chosen for their contributions to nursing and health care, with specific consideration given to work that has broad implications for health policy affecting all Americans.

Burke is a professor in the Department of Health and Community Systems. Cohen is an associate professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Development and Hravnak is an assistant professor of acute and tertiary care and coordinator of the school’s acute care nurse practitioner program.

Melissa Somma, assistant professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, recently was appointed by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy as a liaison to the Pharmacist Services Technical Advisory Coalition. PSTAC has been key in working with the American Medical Association’s current procedural terminology (CPT) editorial panel to create and approve three CPT billing codes for pharmacists to use to bill third-party payers when providing medication therapy management services.

Katherine L. Wisner, professor of psychiatry, obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences, and epidemiology, has been named president-elect of the Marcé Society. Her term will run until 2008; she will serve as president from 2008 to 2010.

The Marcé Society is an international society for the understanding, prevention and treatment of mental illness related to childbearing.

Wisner serves as director of the women’s behavioral health care program at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.

The Arthritis Foundation, western Pennsylvania chapter, will present its Physician Achievement Award next month to Thomas A. Medsger Jr., Gerald P. Rodnan Professor of Medicine and chief of the rheumatology division at the School of Medicine.

Medsger was chosen for the honor based on his leadership and dedication to arthritis care and research, particularly his work in the area of systemic sclerosis, or scleroderma. In addition to his other duties, Medsger serves as director of Pitt’s scleroderma research program.

Myrna Silverman, professor emerita in the Department of Community and Behavioral Sciences at the Graduate School of Public Health, was selected as the recipient of Presbyterian SeniorCare’s 2006 Samuel K. McCune Award for Distinguished Service. The award recognizes Silverman’s exceptional services in support of aging-related concerns and for significant positive impact on the lives of elderly Americans.

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Tom Youngs has joined the University as purchasing services manager.

Youngs has more than 15 years of experience in purchasing, most recently as the chief purchasing officer for Allegheny County. He also has held senior purchasing positions at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Mellon Bank and the aviation supply office of the Department of the Navy.

Youngs has held leadership positions with professional organizations such as the Institute of Supply Management, the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing and the Pennsylvania Public Purchasing Association. He is a certified purchasing manager and a certified public purchasing officer. He earned a BA in economics from the State University of New York at Albany, and a master’s in public management from Carnegie Mellon.


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