University Times

Edison Montgomery, who served the University under six chancellors and may hold the record for the number of different Pitt administrative positions held, died April 1, 2011. He was 93.

Friends and colleagues remembered Monty, as he was known, as an engaging personality who was a particularly effective administrator.

Long-time friend Leonard Plotnicov, professor of anthropology, remembered Montgomery as a genuine gentleman. “He did not have to cultivate that, it came naturally to him. He was really a Renaissance man who was highly adaptable to many positions. He had both ability and flexibility, and the Pitt administration took advantage of that, putting him in those posts that needed a dependable administrator.”

Plotnicov recalled his days as chair of the anthropology department in the 1970s when Montgomery was his staunchest ally.

“If I was having some sort of institutional difficulty I would go right to Monty,” Plotnicov said. “He would listen and I could trust him to be straightforward. He was honest and forthright and he pulled no punches: He’d let you have it, if you deserved it. He was respected for both his intelligence and wisdom. Monty was somebody really special, a model to be emulated.”

Jerome Rosenberg, Pitt’s research integrity officer who came to Pitt in the 1950s, said, “Monty was good-natured and he had a wide range of interests, including a keen interest in the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society. He forged a relationship between the University and the society that remains today. He also could be a bit of a curmudgeon. He asked a lot of tough questions, and did not accept facile answers. When I was dean of FAS (Faculty of Arts and Sciences), he was somewhat of an adversary over budget matters on occasion. But we got through it. He could be tough, but I believe he always stood up for the right things.”

Provost Emeritus James Maher said, “I had many wonderful interactions with Edison, at first because we served together for many years on the [University Senate] University Press committee, and then later on with various things during the end of his University service. He was a wonderful man and I found it delightful to deal with him in everything. I really felt privileged to work with him.”

Andrew Blair, vice provost for Faculty Affairs, first became acquainted with Montgomery in the early 1970s, when Blair joined the faculty and administration at the business school.

“I first got to know Monty in early 1971. He was an exceedingly able senior administrator who served the University in an amazingly wide variety of capacities, both before and after his official ‘retirement,’” Blair said. “We always had a cordial, friendly relationship and I especially enjoyed his cultivated manner and dry wit.”

Alan Lesgold, dean of the School of Education and long-time faculty member, said, “I do recall continued amazement at the number of different administrative roles Monty filled with great success. He certainly was an important figure in Pitt’s transition to greatness.”

According to Pitt’s institutional historian, the late Robert C. Alberts, Montgomery’s first contact with Pitt was in 1953 as a principal associate of the New York City-based Crisp, McCormick and Paget (CMP) Management Engineers, consultants  commissioned by Pitt trustees and then-Chancellor Rufus Fitzgerald to perform a comprehensive study of Pitt’s administrative structure.

That project led Montgomery to a decades-long career in Pitt administrative affairs.

In 1956, Montgomery was hired by then-Chancellor Edward Litchfield as director of personnel. One year later, his duties were expanded to include program analyst, budget director and executive assistant to Walter Vieh, then-assistant chancellor for business affairs. Vieh also had been part of the CMP management survey team.

In 1959, Montgomery was promoted to director of institutional planning, and in 1961 he was given the title of special assistant to the chancellor for planning and general affairs. On occasion, he even served as acting chancellor, during the times Litchfield was away from the University. From 1962 to 1966 he served as acting vice chancellor for the health professions.

Montgomery left the University in 1966 to become the inaugural president of the Interuniversity Communications Council (also known by its trade name Educom), an organization of some 80 North American universities that dealt with problems of communications in higher education, particularly the use of computers and new technology.

Montgomery was persuaded in 1967 by then-Chancellor Wesley Posvar to return to Pitt as vice chancellor for budget and finance, with the additional title of director of communications programs, a new post.

In the latter position, Montgomery headed the University’s libraries, the Computer Center, the Knowledge Availability Systems Center and the Health-Law Center.

In 1971, he was named associate vice chancellor for the health professions, and later deputy senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences emeritus. In 1979-80 Montgomery served as acting senior vice chancellor for Health Sciences for 18 months, filling in for Nathan Stark while he served as undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Carter administration.

At various times, Montgomery also served in other administrative posts, many on an interim basis while Pitt searched for permanent executives.

He was interim dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs twice, as well as interim dean of the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and interim director of the Office of Institutional Management Development.

In 1983, Posvar asked Montgomery to come out of retirement to devise a new strategy for fiscal planning and named him special assistant to the chancellor; he served in that capacity until 1991.

In 1992, he was named interim vice provost for planning and in 1993 he served as interim executive vice provost. He was special assistant to the dean of the College of General Studies, 1993-2000.

He also served on many search committees.

Prior to Montgomery’s role at the CMP firm, he had been an administrative planning officer and director of personnel for 12 years with the U.S. Maritime Commission, followed by three years with the federal Office of Price Stabilization.

A native of Denver, Colo., Montgomery earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of California-Berkeley in 1938.

He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha honor societies. Montgomery was executive committee secretary of the Pittsburgh chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, 1985-2000.

In 2003, Pitt’s Xi chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society named an award for Montgomery, which is given annually to the member of the junior class judged to be best at fulfilling Phi Beta Kappa’s ideals of intellectual scope and academic attainment.

Outside the University, Montgomery served for many years on the boards of Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania, the Central Blood Bank of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Board of Education and Ellis School.

He also served on several state-appointed health boards, and was a founder of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth; his son Douglas; his daughter Katherine, and two grandsons, Andrew and Alexander.

An on-campus memorial service is in the planning stages.

—Peter Hart