The University of Pittsburgh Office of Economic Partnerships has been awarded the Association of Public and Land-grant University (APLU) Innovation and Economic Prosperity award. The award recognizes exemplary initiatives spurring innovation, entrepreneurship and technology-based economic development. Winners are limited to universities that have conducted internal studies examining its local and regional economic engagement and have been designated by APLU as Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities. The University of Pittsburgh first earned the designation in 2014. Sixty-four institutions have been named IEP University designees since the program was launched in 2012.
In its announcement of the award, the APLU praised Pitt for work with the Brookings Institution and Pitt’s Immune Transplant and Therapy Center, noting the latter as "one of a host of innovation hubs the university is launching across the city to support pathbreaking research and business development."