Humphrey named senior VC
Kathy Humphrey
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher has appointed Kathy Humphrey senior vice chancellor for engagement and chief of staff. Humphrey had been vice provost and dean of students for the past nine years.
Kenyon Bonner has been named interim vice provost and dean of students. He has been director of student life for the past 11 years and associate dean of students for the past seven. In that capacity, he has been responsible for managing educational, social and experiential-learning programs for Pitt students.
G. Reynolds Clark, who has served as the chancellor’s chief of staff for nine years, will continue at the University as vice chancellor and special assistant to the chancellor until his retirement this summer.
Kenyon Bonner
In her new position, Humphrey will concentrate on both internal and external relations, focusing on facilitating business engagement, strategic initiatives and partnerships, and government interaction at all levels. She will be working closely with senior management to position the University to have maximum impact in the region, the commonwealth and beyond, Gallagher’s announcement said.
Units reporting to Humphrey will include Community and Governmental Relations, University Communications and the Office of the Secretary.
G. Reynolds Clark
Gallagher said: “Kathy Humphrey has been an effective and transformative leader in Student Affairs and I am excited that now she will be addressing broader University initiatives that cut across issues and disciplines and which will enable Pitt to be more effective in meeting the big challenges that should be the business of a major research university.”
Humphrey said that she is excited about the opportunity to be involved in helping move Pitt forward in new directions, but acknowledged that she will miss the day-to-day interaction with students. She emphasized, however, that she is not leaving them behind. “While I won’t have daily interaction with students, I am confident that all that I do will contribute to enabling Pitt to continue to provide the best collegiate experience in the world, an experience that prepares them to live lives of significance,” she said.
Humphrey’s honors include the YWCA Tribute to Women Leadership Award (in education) and selection as one of the New Pittsburgh Courier 50 Women of Excellence. She also received the University of Pittsburgh African American Alumni Council inaugural Sankofa Award, and has been chosen the Pitt Administrator of the Year the past four years by the student body. Most recently, she was one of 32 women from 13 countries chosen to participate in the International Women’s Forum Leadership Foundation Fellows Program.
Active in the Macedonia Baptist Church, Humphrey is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh and serves on the boards of directors of the Pittsburgh American Red Cross and the Three Rivers Adoption Council and was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation to serve on the Advisory Council for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Prior to joining the Pitt administration, she was vice president for student development at Saint Louis University for six years.
Humphrey earned a BS in education at Central Missouri State University, an MA in higher education administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a doctorate in educational leadership at Saint Louis University. She has a faculty appointment in Pitt’s School of Education.
Of Bonner’s appointment as interim head of Student Affairs, Provost Patricia Beeson said: “I am confident that Kenyon, together with the strong and dedicated staff in Student Affairs, will continue to support an exceptional student experience.”
The chancellor noted that Clark has postponed retirement twice previously, especially to aid in transitions. “Pitt is indebted to Renny, as I am personally, for his willingness to provide invaluable assistance, especially in periods of transition,” Gallagher said. “He has more than earned the right to retire, and he will do so with our immense gratitude.”