Provost Ann Cudd, who started at Pitt last fall, will be continuing the “Year Of” program started by her predecessor, Patricia Beeson, with the Year of Creativity.

“Creativity unites all of the University’s intellectual and artistic endeavors, from neuroscience to sculpture, from legal scholarship to computer science, from music to pharmacogenomics,” Cudd said in a statement. “No single virtue better describes what humans do best than creativity. I look forward to a year devoted to encouraging the creative spark in all of us.”

A committee of faculty, staff and students is being formed to coordinate the Year of Creativity. 

Jeanne Marie Laskas, professor of English and founding director of Pitt’s Center for Creativity, and Kit Ayars, the Center for Creativity’s director of strategy and partnership, will co-chair the steering committee. 

The Office of the Provost will provide matching funds to support events and projects related to creativity.

The “Year Of” initiative focuses attention on one area related to the University for the course of the school year. Programs started during past years have continued and grown.

Previous “Year Ofs”:

2018-19: Pitt Global

2017-18: Healthy U

2016-17: Diversity

2015-16: Humanities

2014-15: Sustainability