9 Pitt faculty, staff and alumni make Pittsburgh Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list
Nine Pitt affiliates were named to Pittsburgh Magazine’s 2025 40 Under 40 list.
Pittsburgh Magazine, in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, has recognized more than 900 high-performing, high-impact professionals under the age of 40 who are achieving success for themselves and the region through their leadership and commitment to excellence. Winners are selected from a pool of hundreds of nominees from the Pittsburgh area, looking for evidence of professional accomplishments, demonstrated leadership and community contributions.
Two current faculty and staff were named to the list:
- Sophia Choukas-Bradley is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology.
- Jamilah Ducar (EDUC ’22G) leads Pitt’s Office of Engagement and Community Affairs.
Seven more alumni were selected to the list:
- Jessica Gurley (SOC WK ’10, ’12G)
- Sara Innamorato (BUS ’08)
- Jaleah N. Robinson (A&S ’08; EDUC ’10G)
- Katie M. Shipp (LAW ’13)
- Rhonda Strozier (SOC WK ’17, ’19G)
- Ryan Rydzewski (A&S ’09)
- Marissa Escajeda (SPIA ’19G)
All winners will be honored at the 40 Under 40 Celebration dinner on Nov. 21 at Rivers Casino Event Center.
— Nick France
2 Pitt teams earn Mid-Atlantic Emmy nominations
Two Pitt teams have been nominated for Mid-Atlantic Emmys for mini documentaries produced during the past year.
Staffers from Pitt’s Office of University Communications and Marketing earned a nomination in the short-form human interest category for “Pitt-Bradford Lacrosse: 1,000 Years in the Making.”
The nominated piece is based on a Pitt Magazine story by April Johnston, who also served as producer. The team was led by Jumoke Davis, who served as a producer and writer on the piece. Christin Bongiorni was cinematographer for the project and Adam Kilburn served as producer, editor and drone operator.
The short film focuses on the Pitt-Bradford lacrosse team — which marked its NCAA Division III debut season this past spring — and how its student-athletes have worked to celebrate the deep cultural roots of lacrosse while growing the new program and representing the Pitt community.
3 Pitt campuses among this year’s Colleges of Distinction
Three Pitt campuses were recently named 2025-26 Colleges of Distinction, a recognition of their engaged and successful students, excellent teachers and vibrant communities.
Colleges of Distinction is an online guide for college-bound students that recognizes student-centered schools that traditional rankings may often overlook. Its selection process includes a sequence of detailed interviews with the schools and in-depth research.
Pitt's main Oakland campus and its Bradford and Johnstown campuses were each recognized among Pennsylvania and public colleges, along with the overall 2025-26 rating. The Pittsburgh campus also earned an international distinction.
Along with being honored for its programs in business, education and nursing, Pitt-Bradford was recognized for career development for its comprehensive four-year plans, advising and resources like the Academic Advising Center, Academic Coaching and Tutoring Center and Career Services. The Bradford campus was also recognized for being a community dedicated to equal opportunity for all students, faculty and staff.
Pitt-Bradford was also named one of only five Pennsylvania Affordable Colleges of Distinction, a recognition based on a low net price, strong financial support, low median debt among graduates and many more affordability metrics.
The Johnstown campus received specialized recognitions for its programs in business, education, engineering and nursing as well as career development. Colleges of Distinction also noted Pitt-Johnstown’s partnership with the Windber Research Institute, which gives students priority access to internships and other health sciences programs focused on breast cancer and disease prevention.
Pitt team receives grant from the National Institute of Mental Health
Jamie Hanson, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, and colleagues have been awarded $3.3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to study early life adversity.
Pitt co-investigators on the award are Jennifer Silk, a professor in the psychology department, and Dana Tudorascu, associate professor in the School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. The team will also collaborate with George Slavich, UCLA professor and founding director of the Laboratory for Stress Assessment and Research.
The NIH funding will support the research team in studying how early life adversity — including experiences such as physical abuse, child neglect and exposure to violence — impacts positive emotions and brain development in adolescents aged 13-16. The research will use different brain imaging tasks and smartphone-based tracking to understand how adverse childhood experiences affect brain circuits involved in positive emotions and depression risk. The study focuses on positive emotions rather than just negative ones and measures emotional responses as they unfold over time both in the lab and in daily life.
A research scientist in Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center, Hanson studies how children and adolescents learn about their environment, how brain circuitry involved with learning may be impacted by early life stress and how these brain changes may confer risks for negative outcomes. Silk studies the development of affective disorders in adolescents as well as the intersection of neurobiological risk factors and social experiences.
— Elizabeth Rangel
Susan Shea, assistant professor of surgery and bioengineering, collaborates on a red blood cell research
Imagine if red blood cells could become a drug-delivery system. In addition to the oxygen and carbon dioxide that the cells regularly transport across the body’s organs and tissues, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will use a $5.4 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop techniques and technologies for inserting drug molecules into red blood cells.
Susan Shea, an assistant professor of surgery and bioengineering who is also a part of Pitt’s Trauma and Transfusion Medicine Research Center, will work with Carnegie Mellon scientists in engineering and robotics on the 21-month research through DARPA’s Red Blood Cell Factory program. That program aims to determine if it is possible to create a medical-device system to deliver biologically active components, such as proteins and peptides, via red blood cells.
Shea will lead the blood testing and blood sourcing parts of the joint project, working with Carnegie Mellon’s Derin Sevenler and others to study any potential effects of loaded red blood cells on normal blood-clotting function.
“To support the breakthrough technology at the heart of the program, our integral contribution will confirm red blood cells loaded with drug molecules remain safe and effective,” Shea said. “This essential component will help bridge the gap to real-world use by validating the performance of loaded red blood cells.”
Shea and her team also will provide insight into blood handling and storage as well as collect blood for loading and testing.
Pitt’s 2024-25 United Way campaign raises $700K to support neighbors in need
More than a thousand people across Pitt’s five campuses came together to raise $702,615 for the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania through the University’s 2024-25 campaign.
“I’m so proud of what we’ve accomplished together,” said Kelly Gilliam, director of Pitt’s United Way Campaign. “This campaign isn’t just about raising money, it about showing up for our community with love, generosity, and compassion. Every dollar, every volunteer hour, every effort makes a real impact to our communities.”
Across Pitt’s five campuses, 1,675 people contributed to the campaign — through virtual and in-person volunteer opportunities, financial donations, vacation time donations and automatic payroll rollover deduction donations. University employees donated 1,325 vacation hours, totaling $61,167. More than 800 people gave through automatic payroll rollover, contributing $203,261.
Notable volunteering efforts during the year included the 2025 Build a Bike event, where volunteers built 600 bikes for local children, and the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, through which Pitt Business students offer free income tax assistance to residents.
Pitt retirees raised $99,154, with their continued support for the United Way Campaign helping more than 109 local organizations to serve people across the Southwestern Pennsylvania region.
The 2025-26 Pitt United Way campaign begins Oct. 1 and will be co-chaired by Lina Dostilio, vice chancellor for external relations, and Dwayne Pinkney, executive senior vice chancellor for administration and finance and chief financial officer.
— Nick France
Dietrich School language Professor Todd Reeser will conduct research through France’s Gender Institute
Todd Reeser, a professor in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ Department of French and Italian, was named as a 2025 chair by France’s Institut du Genre.
As a chairholder, Reeser will collaborate on teaching in the University of Paris system, one of the institute’s 34 partner institutions, and conduct research for a new book.
The Gender Institute is a scientific interest group founded in 2012 by the Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
Reeser, also associate dean for faculty affairs in the Dietrich School, conducts research at the intersection of French and gender and sexuality studies. He previously served as director of the school’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program.
Amino acid study led by Department of Medicine's Laura Mike published in Nature Communications
A new Pitt study published in Nature Communications uncovers how a common amino acid plays a pivotal role in regulating the mucoid phenotype of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKp), a highly infectious strain of bacteria responsible for severe community-acquired infections.
Led by Laura Mike, assistant professor in Pitt’s Department of Medicine, and Brooke Ryan, of the University of Toledo, have found that arginine, an amino acid abundant in certain human tissues, can control whether hvKp adopts a sticky, mucoid state — a key factor in the bacteria’s ability to evade immune defenses and cause serious illness.
HvKp has gained notoriety for causing life-threatening conditions, even in healthy individuals. A hallmark of these infections is the bacteria's mucoid phenotype, which makes colonies appear glossy and sticky due to changes in capsular polysaccharide (CPS) chain length. Until now, the environmental cues triggering this mucoidy were poorly understood.
“We are now considering whether simple dietary changes could reduce one’s risk of infection or improve infection treatments,” said senior author Laura Mike. “These findings open up the possibility of reducing bacterial virulence without relying on traditional antibiotics.”
Given the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant hvKp strains, understanding and interrupting its mucoidy regulation could provide a promising new therapeutic strategy. Instead of killing the bacteria outright, potentially leading to an increase in antibacterial resistance, therapies could instead focus on disrupting hvKp’s ability to become mucoid and thereby evade immune defenses, suggesting that the arginine-ArgR may become a critical target in developing next-generation treatments for hypervirulent bacterial infections.
Other Pitt authors on the study included Drew Stark, Grace Shepard, Emma Mills, Saroj Khadka, and Daria Van Tyne.
New study by Jeremy Levy published in Science Advances
In 1999, Pitt chemist David Waldeck joined an investigation into how electrons scatter from chiral molecules. Instead of isolated molecules in the gas phase, the research team created organized films of chiral molecules and made a discovery that launched the field of chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS): electrons that measured more than a thousand times larger than expected and showed dramatically different spin orientations.
A quarter century later, co-senior author Jeremy Levy , a Distinguished Professor of Condensed Matter Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, reunited with the University of Oxford’s Andrew Daley — a former Pitt professor and early Pittsburgh Quantum Institute collaborator — to steer a study that combined chemistry, quantum physics, physics, biology and organic systems. The pair developed, in essence, a programmable platform that could provide new ways to explore electrons in chiral systems, such as DNA, amino acids and proteins.
The research group was able to sculpt electron pathways into arbitrary spiral geometries at the nanoscale, creating artificial chiral systems where every parameter can be precisely controlled. Their results, published last month in Science Advances, reveal surprising quantum phenomena and offer new routes to explore the underlying mechanisms behind effects like CISS.
“What sets our work apart is that we can literally sketch chirality into existence with nanometer precision,” said Levy, who is also founding director of the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute. “The most striking discovery is the quantum interference patterns: As electrons travel through these artificial spirals, they undergo coherent oscillations that create a distinctive fingerprint in the conductance. These oscillations reveal the underlying spin dynamics in ways impossible to see in natural molecules. Unlike fixed biological structures, we can dial the pitch, amplitude, even the handedness in real-time — it's like having a tunable knob for one of nature's most mysterious properties.”
The team’s approach builds on a technique the Levy group pioneered in 2008, with a twist: Researchers used a conductive atomic force microscope tip to “write” electronic circuits, while modulations resulted in a new technique that represents an advance in quantum control.
“This is just the beginning,” Levy continued. “We've created a quantum playground where we can test theories about chirality that have been challenging to verify in biological systems. Now we can explore segments with varying pitch, opposing chirality and different endpoint polarities — all factors believed to be crucial for understanding how nature uses molecular handedness. Our ultimate goal is to decode the quantum rules that make chiral molecules so special for life.”
Melissa Libertus selected for Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society fellowship
Melissa Libertus, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, was named to an inaugural cohort with the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS).
The yearlong research fellowship will allow the scientists — Libertus is among only five nationwide — to work closely with ARIS leadership on their projects, participate in the center’s programming and share their experiences and tools both locally and in professional circles. They will present their projects at the 2026 ARIS Summit.
“This is a great honor and excellent opportunity for me to learn about additional ways to share my research and its importance with the public. I look forward to working alongside the other fellows and ARIS members,” said Libertus, who is also a research scientist in Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center.
“My research focuses on the development of mathematical thinking in young children and the way that parents can support their children’s learning. Math skills are an important predictor of academic achievement, but also career success and lifelong well-being. Sharing the important research findings in this area with parents, early childhood educators and pediatricians is the goal of this fellowship year for me.”
— Chuck Finder
Rory Cooper speaks at UN about AI-powered assistive technology
PItt's Rory Cooper spoke at the United Nations as part of the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, on July 9. The esteemed Pitt innovator discussed how artificial intelligence is being deployed to fuel collaboration and improve the lives of people with disabilities, along with the challenges and ethical considerations of using AI in rehabilitation engineering.
Cooper’s talk highlighted several pieces of technology developed in the Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), a joint venture between Pitt and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Cooper is the founding director and VA Senior Research Career Scientist at HERL and serves as Pitt’s assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM-health sciences collaborations.
The presentation featured a wheelchair that can traverse bumps, curbs and icy surfaces while keeping its user upright, a board game that teaches players about community mobility for mobility device users, a virtual coachthat helps teach wheelchair users to use powered seat functions in real time, and the affordable, light-weight and fashionable Kirigami wheelchair.
Cooper has been using applied science to aid disabled veterans and other wheelchair users — both groups in which he counts himself — for more than 30 years. In addition to directing HERL, Cooper was elected to the National Academy of Engineering Class of 2024 and named to the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association’s Executive Committee the same year. In 2023, he was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation and was inducted into National Inventors Hall of Fame.
AI for Good is the United Nations’ leading platform on artificial intelligence to solve global challenges. The summit is organized by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with over 40 UN Sister Agencies and co-convened with the Government of Switzerland.
— Nick France
Tia-Lynn Ashman named distinguished fellow of Botanical Society of America
Distinguished Professor of Evolution and Ecology Tia-Lynn Ashman has been named a distinguished fellow of the Botanical Society of America (BSA), the highest honor bestowed upon the society’s professional members.
A faculty member of the Department of Biological Sciences in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Ashman was recognized for her contributions to plant science, mentoring and global scientific collaboration. She has amassed more than 220 publications and 21,000 citations, advancing the field of evolutionary ecology of plant production.
Her nomination letter for the award read: “A defining characteristic of Tia-Lynn’s approach to science is her ability to see both the big picture and the fine details with remarkable clarity. She is a visionary, pushing the boundaries of scientific inquiry while maintaining exceptional rigor in her work. This is exemplified by her pioneering research on the floral virome, where she identified novel viral interactions and placed them in the broader context of plant ecology and evolution.”
Ashman was also recognized for her work in mentoring and community-building. She has led major international collaborations and working groups on topics like pollen limitation, emergent sex chromosomes and pollination in biodiversity hotspots to help advance not only understanding of the field, but also the careers of future generations of scientists.
“Her former students and postdoctoral researchers now thrive in academia, government and science communication roles, often citing her high standards and unwavering support as pivotal to their success,” said the BSA announcement.
Ashman was recognized as part of the new class during July’s Fellows at the Botany 2025 conference in Palm Springs, Florida.
— Nick France
Princeton Revies: Pitt is a Best Value College for 2025
Pitt yet again is ranked among the nation’s best value colleges, according to the Princeton Review.
Out of more than 650 colleges and universities surveyed, Pitt landed among the top 50 public Best Value Colleges with a high return on investment. The rating is based on the University’s academic strength, affordability and career prospects for graduates.
Princeton Review also ranked Pitt among the top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact, based on student responses to questions about community service, student government, sustainability efforts and on-campus engagement.
The rankings are the latest in a series of accolades for the University this year, including a “New Ivy” designation by Forbes and a top 20 ranking among U.S. universities granted utility patents.
Five faculty members in PItt health sciences receive 2025 Ascending Star Awards
Five faculty members in the University of Pittsburgh schools of the health sciences received 2025 Ascending Star Awards.
Established in 2022 by Anantha Shekhar, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine, the awards recognize highly productive and creative mid-career faculty. Each awardee receives a $25,000 award and will give a research talk at 3:30 p.m. in Alan Magee Scaife Hall, room 3785.
The awardees and their talk dates are:
- Shari Rogal, associate professor of medicine, surgery, and clinical and translational science in the School of Medicine, presented on Aug. 28.
- Sonja Swanson, associate professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health, presented on Sept. 4.
- Alison Kohan, associate professor of medicine and immunology in the School of Medicine, will present on Oct. 3.
- Zachary Freyberg, associate professor of psychiatry and cell biology in the School of Medicine, will present on Oct. 23.
- William Evans, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will present on Nov. 7.
Dubenion named associate dean of student culture and community
Brian Dubenion, who most recently served as associate vice president for student success & dean of students at Lincoln University, has been appointed as Pitt’s inaugural associate dean of student culture and community
Dubenion, who starts in mid-August, will oversee student culture development aligned with institutional values, focusing on accountability, behavior management and community standards. He will lead student conduct processes, manage complex behavioral concerns and coordinate University-wide student support responses.
Reporting to Dean of Students Marlin Nabors, Dubenion will develop guidelines, procedures and educational initiatives promoting community well-being and restorative practices. He also will chair the behavioral intervention team, represent Student Affairs on the threat assessment team, and supervise the Fraternity and Sorority Life, Office of Inclusion and Belonging, PittServes, and Student Conduct departments.
Before working at Lincoln, Dubenion held leadership positions at Buffalo State University and Ithaca College, where he developed award-winning programs in student success, residence life and cultural engagement.
He was a first-generation college student, born and raised in Buffalo, and holds a master of science in student personnel administration and a bachelor of arts in psychology, both from Buffalo State University.
Pitt Athletics announces 2025 Hall of Fame inductees
Pitt Athletic Director Allen Greene announced the 2025 Pitt Athletics Hall of Fame inductees on May 14.
The eight-member class will receive enshrinement at a Sept. 26 dinner, presented by PNC. Then, on Sept. 27, the group will be recognized at Acrisure Stadium during the Panthers’ football game against Louisville. Read the athletes’ biographies.
The 2025 inductees are:
Jerry DeMuro (A&S ’77), men’s swimming
Jessica Dignon (A&S ’09), softball
Aaron Donald (A&S ’20), football
Bob Jury (CGS ’78), football
Wanda Randolph (A&S ’13), women’s basketball
Amanda Walker (A&S ’05), women’s track and field
Sam Young (A&S ’09), men’s basketball
Jack Anderson (A&S ’70), Pitt Band (contributor)
“Upon arriving at Pitt, I knew we had an incredibly rich athletics history,” Greene said. “Over these past six months, I’ve gained an even deeper appreciation for that longstanding tradition of Panther excellence.”
Find Hall of Fame Dinner ticket information online, by emailing events@athletics.pitt.edu or calling 412-648-8889.
Dean Nicola Foote named honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa
Nicola Foote, dean of Pitt's David C. Frederick Honors College, was named an honorary member of the prestigious academic honors society Phi Beta Kappa for her contributions since being named dean in 2021.
Under Foote’s leadership, the honors college received a generous naming gift from David C. Frederick, Pitt’s first Rhodes scholar. Admissions have climbed over 400%, the Frederick Honors College was ranked among the top honors colleges nationally and dozens of honors students have been nationally recognized for their achievements.
“Receiving an honorary induction into Phi Beta Kappa and having the opportunity to keynote the ceremony was one of the greatest privileges of my career,” Foote said. “Phi Beta Kappa has been considered the most prestigious honors society for centuries. Many of our own FHC students have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and it’s an incredible joy to join them in this honor.”
Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 to celebrate freedom of thought as well as academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Since, the organization has inducted 17 U.S. presidents, 42 Supreme Court justices, and over 150 Nobel laureates. Only 10% of U.S. universities, including Pitt, offer Phi Beta Kappa chapters, and only 10% of arts and sciences graduates at those universities are selected to join each year.
Afshin Beheshti represents Pitt Space in Harrisburg
Afshin Beheshti, director of Pitt's Center for Space Biomedicine, represented Pitt Space at the second annual Aerospace Day in Harrisburg on May 6.
Beheshti — also associate director at the McGowan Institute of Regenerative Medicine and a professor of surgery and computational and systems biology — joined government officials, representatives from NASA and industry leaders to discuss Pennsylvania’s future as a national leader in aerospace, aviation and defense.
The group was convened by Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, chair of the Pennsylvania chapter of the Aerospace States Association. They focused on a number of issues, including workforce development and training, also a mission of Pitt’s Space Biomedicine program, which aims to establish a robust educational environment to prepare the next generation of researchers.
In addition to the roundtable, Aerospace Day featured astronaut and Pennsylvania native Warren “Woody” Hoburg, and a hands-on lunar lab, courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Moonshot Museum.
Graham Hatfull elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society
Graham Hatfull, Eberly Family Professor of Biotechnology and HHMI Professor in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, has been named a Fellow of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences and an organization of international scholars. Up to 73 new fellows are selected each year out of a pool of 800 candidates.
Hatfull's lab, which focuses on the potential role of mycobacteriophages that kill bacteria and halt deadly infections that are otherwise resistant or unresponsive to antibiotics, contains the largest refrigerated catalogue of these phages in the United States, if not the world.
In 2022, the lab co-authored three research papers about phages’ success in patients with deadly infections. Hatfull also received a lifetime achievement award from the European Society of Mycobacteriology in 2023, and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2024.
Additionally, Hatfull’s work on the SEA-PHAGES program with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has encouraged college professors around the country — including at Pitt and Pitt-Greensburg — to bring innovative research into classrooms.
Hatfull completed his undergraduate studies in biological sciences at the University of London and graduate studies in molecular biology at the University of Edinburgh. Following postdoctoral research at Yale University and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, he joined the University of Pittsburgh in 1988.
— Nick France
Mark Nordenberg receives first Jim Roddey Leadership Award
Pitt Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg is a recipient of the inaugural Jim Roddey Leadership Award, honoring the legacy of a Pittsburgh business leader, civic leader and Pitt emeritus trustee.
Roddey was a businessman and the first elected chief executive of Allegheny County. After serving as a U.S. Marine Corp captain, Roddey moved from North Carolina to Pittsburgh and rose to leadership roles in business and in civic leadership, serving on at least 40 nonprofit or municipal boards. At Pitt, he was a special trustee from 1993 to 1995 and term trustee from 1995 to 1999. He died on March 7, 2024.
Roddey was known for his ability to unite people from all backgrounds and for his public service and civic engagement, and the award honors local leaders who share those qualities — Roddey himself chose the award’s inaugural pair of recipients: Nordenberg and lawyer Laura Ellsworth (LAW ’83).
Nordenberg’s Pitt career spans close to 50 years, including as dean of the School of Law and as chancellor of the University from 1996 to 2014. In his time leading Pitt, Nordenberg oversaw a period of growth and of advancing Pitt’s prominence among American universities, as well as building key partnerships.
A committed public servant as well as an academic leader, Nordenberg has chaired a number of committees and served on the board of foundations and several of Pittsburgh’s largest employers. In the wake of the Tree of Life attack, he played a key role in the launch of the Collaboratory Against Hate and the Eradicate Hate Global Summit.
Nordenberg now holds the position of Distinguished Service Professor of Law as well as serving as chair of Pitt’s Institute of Politics and director of the Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law and Public Policy. He has received numerous awards, including being named Pittsburgher of the Year by Pittsburgh Magazine, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Ellsworth also has a Pitt connection: After graduating from the School of Law, she went on to become a trial lawyer for over 40 years. Her civic contributions include serving on the board of organizations such as the Heinz History Center, United Way Women’s Leadership Council and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
The pair was honored at an event on May 21 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.