University Times

Pitt nursing alumna U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho delivered the keynote address at the commencement ceremony.

Seizing on the theme of the University’s year-long celebration of the anniversary of its founding — “225 years of building better lives” — the keynote speaker at commencement urged 2012 graduates to have a positive effect in their chosen careers and spheres of influence.

“Don’t ever forget that your education here — your triumphs and your perceived defeats — has done more than made you smarter: It has made you stronger,” said Pitt alumna U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho. “It’s made you ready: Ready to face the challenges and opportunities that await you. Your education has made you ready to be an active contributor building better lives.”

A 1992 School of Nursing graduate, Horoho is the 43rd Army surgeon general and the commander of the U.S. Army Medical Command — the first woman to hold these positions.

Joining in the traditional processional at the April 29 ceremony were, from left, Dean Donald S. Burke of the Graduate School of Public Health, Dean N. John Cooper of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Dean Jacqueline M. Dunbar-Jacob of the School of Nursing and Dean Patricia D. Kroboth of the School of Pharmacy.

Just two years after she earned her nursing master’s degree here, Horoho was one of the first medical personnel to respond and triage the wounded when two aircraft collided in midair at Pope Air Force Base in 1994.

Then on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed a plane into the Pentagon where she was stationed, Horoho led the emergency responders who cared for the critically injured military personnel. She was honored by Time Life Publications for her actions on that day.

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, keynote speaker U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho and Provost Patricia E. Beeson pause for the playing of the National Anthem. A 1992 School of Nursing alumna, Horoho was awarded an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree at the commencement exercises. In all, Pitt conferred approximately 6,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees across its five campuses.

Horoho credited her Pitt training with preparing her for such traumatic events. “My education here at Pitt helped build the emotional armor I needed,” she told the Petersen Events Center crowd of Pitt graduates, their families and friends April 29.

“I don’t know precisely what each of you will face as you move on, but I do know this: You are going to be challenged in ways that you simply cannot imagine — professionally and personally. And I also know this: The experiences of your time here at Pitt, and your life experiences with your family and friends, will be far more instrumental in how you respond to the challenges that await you than you can imagine,” Horoho said.

At the 2012 commencement ceremony held April 29 at the Petersen Events Center, Juan Manfredi, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies, center, processed in full academic garb along with other administrators, trustees, faculty and staff members.

Each of the three words in Pitt’s 225th-anniversary theme — building, better and lives — carries significant meaning on its own, she said.

Building is an active word, she said. “It tells us that the job of creating and renewing doesn’t end. It never ends.”

Better, she said, “is a word filled with hope; filled with expectation and confidence that whatever we face, we can do better.”

Staff member Mark Burdsall, left, of Organizational Development, and Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences administrator W. Richard Howe, center, served as roving marshals at the 2012 commencement exercises. Roving marshals direct the flow of groups of graduates during the ceremonial processional.

Lives is a word to focus efforts toward, she said. “It’s not better careers, or better paychecks or better houses, but, rather, better lives. My challenge to you today is: Live a better life.”

The three simple ingredients of a better life, Horoho maintained, are service, health and relationships.

“Service doesn’t mean that you need to join the military, a service organization or a particular career field. Service does require that your work have meaning. It means making your company, your community, better because you are part of it,” she said.

To stress the point, she cited Theodore Roosevelt, who said: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

“This statement embodies the character of Pittsburgh — from the frontier spirit of 225 years ago to the city of today. This city was founded on that principle,” Horoho said.

Security was tighter at this year’s commencement as a result of over 130 threats on the Pittsburgh campus last term. The last threats were made April 21; no explosives were ever found.

The people who built Pittsburgh worked long, hard days “in a city that needed streetlights on during the middle of the afternoon to see through the smog from the smokestacks of the steel mills — in order to defeat Nazism and fascism,” she said. “That work had meaning.”

The same spirit lives on in a transformed Pittsburgh, now known “as an economic influencer in the fields of health care, education, technology, financial services and robotics,” Horoho noted.

Regardless of the field that the new graduates pursue — whether it’s the corporate world, the entertainment industry, the educational arena or a health care profession — “wherever you work, make it have meaning,” she urged.

The second ingredient to a better life focuses on the health of the individual and the community.

“I’m a nurse. I’ve lived most of my life in hospitals. Hospitals are not where health happens. It’s where you go when health doesn’t happen,” Horoho said. “There’s a health crisis in this country, not a hospital crisis. I strongly believe that our country must shift its focus from health care to health.”

People who attend to their health are stronger both physically and mentally and better equipped to face life’s unexpected developments, she said.

“You need to take charge of your health. It’s going to help you build a better life, and you can positively influence those around you.”

The caps get more colorful — and detailed — every year. Some even gave nod to the difficulties of the graduates’ last term: “Keep Calm & Hail to Pitt” became the motto of students during the recent bomb threats.

She said the third ingredient for a better life is relationships. “Relationships matter. Keep cultivating them, just as you did at Pitt,” Horoho advised. She cited a recent study that showed the single characteristic that distinguished the happiest 10 percent of the population from everyone else is the strength of their social relationships.

“My life was enriched in each of these ways during my time at Pitt,” Horoho said. “And, I will tell you that all of these things take work: to find the meaning in what you do; to focus on health as a personal goal; to sustain and expand your social relationship, not based on how many Facebook friends you have, but on meaningful, personal connections,” she said.

“You will be a stronger and more resilient person. You will be an important member of your community. You will build a better life.”

At the April 29 commencement exercises, the University conferred upon Horoho the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service.

Overall, Pitt conferred approximately 6,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees this year at its five campuses.

The four regional campuses held their own commencement ceremonies.

—Peter Hart

Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg welcomed the new graduates of the Class of 2012. “I have never looked forward to a commencement as much as I have looked forward to this one. Seeing the sun shining and the blue skies and everybody coming into the Petersen Center and the smiles on your faces says that all is right with the world,” Nordenberg said to wild applause.