University Times

Mark A. Nordenberg was formally installed as Pitt's 17th chancellor during ceremonies at the University's honors convocation on Feb. 28 in the Carnegie Music Hall.

During the ceremony, Provost James Maher also presented Nordenberg with a medallion marking his designation two years ago as a Distinguished Service Professor. Following is the address Nordenberg delivered. Thank you so much, Jim. Being named a Distinguished Service Professor was one of the great honors of my professional life. As you have so generously noted, for many years — long before moving into my current position — I worked hard to serve my students, my discipline, and my school, as well as broader University and professional communities. It is gratifying to receive, in such a very special form, the message that others believe those efforts were conducted with some measure of effectiveness. And, of course, this presentation also is far more meaningful because it has been made by you — a good friend and valued partner, who is playing such an important role in moving this great institution forward.

Hopefully, the fact that I actually was named a Distinguished Service Professor more than two years ago and am just now getting around to accepting my medallion will not be taken as a sign that the provost and I lack respect for academic ritual. To the contrary, we simply have been too busy to participate in a lot of ceremonies. Practical considerations of that same type contributed to the decision to include my formal investiture as chancellor as one element of today's convocation, rather than scheduling a separate event. However, two other factors loomed even larger in that determination. The first was my personal preference to fold the ceremonial marking of this leadership change into a program celebrating achievements that have brought distinction to our University. I am privileged to be recognized in the company of today's alumni, faculty, staff and student honorees. The second was Chairman Connolly's belief that if my "acceptance speech" was scheduled near the end of an already-full program, my remarks would have to be of a somewhat manageable length. Soon, we will know whether or not he was correct.

My arrival in Pittsburgh, nearly 20 years ago, certainly was lacking in ceremony. My wife, my 3-year-old daughter and I drove into town — carting all of our worldly possessions in a U-Haul truck. I had accepted a one-year appointment here at Pitt as a visiting assistant professor — which excited me but which I understood, even then, put me on one of the lowest rungs of the "academic ladder." When we parked our rented truck in front of our rented Squirrel Hill house, strangers emerged from nearby homes to help us unload — displaying the kind of friendliness and kindness that remains a distinguishing characteristic of this region. In the law school, I found a community that included caring and sharing senior colleagues; bright, hard-working and ambitious peers; and students eager to make investments in learning worthy of the special educational opportunities Pitt was presenting to them. Within a matter of months, I was invited to move into the tenure stream, giving me the chance to earn the right to join the law faculty on a more permanent basis. I eagerly accepted, and for the last 20 years never have had a sustained desire to be any other place.

Of course, there are those who would say that Pitt kept the pace of my life sufficiently hectic that I never had much chance to reflectively consider whatever might have been the available alternatives. On the faculty side, I moved through the academic ranks in a rather conventional fashion. But administratively, in the course of a decade, I served as associate dean, acting dean, and dean of the School of Law — as well as interim provost and interim chancellor of the University.

Becoming acting dean and then dean of the law school dramatically changed the direction of my professional life. Particularly because those appointments came at a relatively young age and put me in a visible position, on campus and in the larger community, they also were the kind of "heady advancements" fraught with ego-related risks. Fortunately, my wife and children always have served as an imposing counterweight to the unwarranted sense of self-satisfaction that professional successes sometimes can breed. As dean of the law school, I also used to carry in my wallet a carefully clipped copy of a letter that had been written to the sports editor of the old Pittsburgh Press. The author had an equally intense dislike of lawyers and of Three Rivers Stadium. His publicly advanced solution was to bulldoze our School of Law, making no provision for its relocation, and to reconstruct Forbes Field on the cleared site. Whenever I began to feel at all taken by the importance of my work, I would pull out my wallet and reread that letter for its wonderfully humbling effect.

The "chancellorial counterpart" of that old letter is a pair of passages from a well researched and well written Pittsburgh Magazine article published just last fall. The portions of the article to which I refer quite clearly convey the sense that my assorted new responsibilities look a lot more like the duties associated with a big job than the trappings of a lofty position. The author began with a now-slightly-dated list of things I would have to quickly do.

Attract new students. Keep current students. Renovate buildings. Build buildings. Attract more state funding. Attract more federal grants. Hire chief fund-raiser. Hire athletic director. Hire vice chancellor for health sciences. Promote research. Improve efficiency. Make friends. Influence people. Pursue excellence. Generate jobs. Invigorate regional economy. As if that collection of assignments, standing alone, was not sufficiently daunting, the author, Jim Davidson, continued by describing the environment in which these goals would have to be achieved.

Like it or not [he said], Nordenberg lives with the day-to-day administrative pressures of a CEO. But unlike them, he has to work in a fishbowl, subject to a constant evaluation of his skills as an administrator, fund-raiser, scholar, fiscal watchdog, lobbyist, visionary and spokesman for a large public institution with a bad football team.

Having now been exposed to those observations, some of you may wonder exactly what it is that my family and I have come to celebrate with you today.

Even beyond the fact that the article's descriptions are somewhat overdrawn, the answer to that question is obvious. Whatever the challenges to be overcome, our University's cause is noble, and the satisfactions that flow from advancing that cause provide a very special form of both personal and professional reward. Among other things, we are the major provider of top-quality higher education in this region. And we are one of the nation's major producers of pioneering research. And with each passing year, our role as one of this area's leading institutional citizens becomes more and more substantial. In short, we have come a long way since Mr. Brackenridge founded the school that he hoped would become a "candle lite" in the forested wilderness 210 years ago. Pittsburgh grew — as he had anticipated, though in ways he never could have predicted. And so did its University.

Our progress has been particularly pronounced in the three decades since we became a state-related university. Some of the important measures of our success are well known to many of you, but they bear repeating — not just by me today, but by all of Pitt's family members and friends, in some appropriate form, each and every day of the year.

* In the last three decades, this University has conferred over 180,000 degrees — most of them to Pennsylvania residents and more than 40 percent of them reflecting the graduate-level learning experiences so often essential for success in today's increasingly competitive world.

* In the last 30 years, this University has earned international recognition for the world-class quality of its programs in disciplines as diverse as transplantation surgery and philosophy; was accepted for membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities; became one of the top 20 institutions in the country in terms of the federal research dollars it attracts; and now annually imports into this community roughly one-quarter of a billion dollars in sponsored project support.

* And in the last 30 years, this University has sponsored a significant number of outreach programs dealing with a broad range of health and social issues; has emerged as a dominant economic force in the western part of the state; and has been identified in the minds of many as the linchpin for regional economic revitalization.

This progress-over-time is impressive, important and exciting. But one of the main messages of today's convocation is that our University's story — which is keyed to the development of human potential and the expansion of human knowledge — never can be adequately described in purely aggregate terms. Instead, our institutional success is a collection of individual and group achievements — the kind of accomplishments produced when talented and committed people are nurtured and supported within an academic community that encourages them to explore and to grow. In recognizing such achievements today, we are reminded of Pitt's proud past. We also receive insight with respect to its future. And most of us, I suspect, respond to the personalization of our progress with the kind of warm feelings reflective of the fact that this is an institution that brings a lot of heart to its celebration of the mind.

It is one thing, for example, to talk about 180,000 degrees and quite another to see, in the flesh, the individuals whose development has in some way been enhanced by the experiences symbolized by those pieces of paper. And in this ceremony, we see examples of the best that our programs have produced — from such truly distinguished graduates as Dick Ferguson and Bill Strickland to the current generation of high achieving students, some of whom, we know, will live up to the proud example of their predecessors when they become our representatives in the "real world." In looking to the future, then, we must reaffirm that the responsibilities we owe to those currently enrolled as students rise to the level of a very special trust. And I use the term "trust" quite deliberately, because the obligations to which I refer have less to do with narrow notions of consumerism than they do with the old-fashioned ideals of teaching as a profession. Those involve doing all that we can to create an overall learning environment in which a student willing to expend the necessary effort can maximize his or her potential.

Quite clearly, that means achieving, monitoring and sustaining the highest levels of quality in all of our instructional programs. It means encouraging and supporting teaching in the best and broadest sense, which includes meaningful student contact beyond the formal classroom hour. And it means perpetuating what has been a long-standing feature of the Pitt tradition — providing access, and all of the advantages that such access brings, to those for whom a university education will be a first-in-the-family experience.

One of the beneficial by-products of this gathering is that we see, through the power of example, that the ideal not only can be, but has been, achieved. We see that in the cases of individual faculty members whose work as teachers is being honored. We see that in the overall efforts of one important instructional unit, the Honors College, which has elevated the development of student potential to new heights. And, of course, we see it in the example of our graduates who have taken what they learned here, added to it, and contributed so much to the lives of others.

This gathering also highlights the power of positive example with respect to the research and scholarly contributions of our faculty — in the humanities, in the health sciences, in the natural sciences, in the social sciences and in the professions. The breadth of our involvements and the high level of our performance is evidenced by the accomplishments that we recognize today.

Most basically, it is our research program that distinguishes us from other colleges and universities. There are roughly 3,600 institutions of higher learning in this country. Each and every one of them is involved in instruction, but fewer than 200 also sponsor a real research program. Pitt is among the best of those that do.

The processes and products of that research enterprise fuel much of the intellectual excitement on this campus. It does make a difference, even for undergraduate students, to study at an institution in which knowledge is being created. It is the understandings born of scholarly efforts that equip Pitt faculty members to teach and mentor graduate-level students. It is principally through our research that we touch the lives of those at a distance. And increasingly, our research also has become a source of hope for those committed to building a strong economic future for our region. All of that, of course, depends upon the quality of our work.

In the years ahead, nothing is more important than maintaining the quality of our top programs. Sustaining strength, whatever challenges that might present, is a clearly preferable alternative to rebuilding or building from scratch. We also must find ways to elevate those programs with the demonstrated potential to attain similarly high levels of performance. That job is essential, and it will not be easy.

Our resource environment never has been as rich as those found at many other institutions. As a result, achieving currently high levels of performance and respect has required unusual measures of selflessness and commitment and creativity. That is not likely to change. But we have dealt with that challenge before.

And as we think about the steps required to attain a more favorable funding position, we need to recognize that this will take a long-term and broad-based effort that involves feelings not only about Pitt but also about higher education. More specifically, * We can no longer assume that everyone understands, appreciates and supports what we do. The value of our work is so obvious to us that we generally have felt no compelling need to justify it. For us to persist in that pattern would be a serious misjudgment. In fact, shaping a strong public sense — grounded in fact — that investments in higher education are an essential part of building a strong social future is a project deserving of our most skilled instructional efforts.

* We can no longer ignore legitimate requests for greater accountability. Everyone else in today's world is subject to such demands. If we act as though we are immune, others will prove us wrong. And as long as the measures employed are fair and we are effectively discharging our responsibilities, the results should provide yet another means for us to advance our cause.

* We can no longer resist serious consideration of what may be necessary changes in the ways that we discharge our responsibilities. Though I cannot quote his exact language, I think it was Winston Churchill who said that universities can develop plans to change the world more quickly and easily than they can alter the ways in which they transact the most mundane aspects of their own business. In the years ahead, I suspect we will find that change sometimes is an essential part of preserving those things that we hold most dear.

One of the defining "contextual changes" that will affect us for as far as I can see is the evolving relationship between the University and its home communities. Our role in Pittsburgh has become more prominent both because of our own growth and because the city itself is less populous and prosperous than it was when I arrived two decades ago. Similar patterns exist in the communities that are home to our regional campuses. In the 1990s, nurturing regional roots has become both a matter of self-interest and a form of social responsibility. None of our home communities can thrive without a strong University of Pittsburgh. And neither can we achieve our potential without vibrant communities surrounding our campus homes.

However, even as "institutional neighborliness" assumes greater significance, some of our most exciting new possibilities almost certainly will be found in opportunities abroad. Given Pitt's long-standing commitment to international partnerships, we should be particularly well positioned to take full advantage of the still-shrinking world in ways that will add richness and strength to our programs. In fact, Pitt's geographic "paradox" may be that building regional and international strength is the key to pushing ourselves even higher in the national rank of major research universities. And cementing our position as one of America's great public universities must continue to be our overarching goal.

* We need to become an even more popular destination-of-choice for students at all levels. And the student recruitment successes of the recent past suggest we are moving in that direction.

* We need to develop instructional and research programs of even greater distinctiveness and higher quality. Again, we have a strong foundation upon which to build, and our demonstrated ability to cross traditional disciplinary lines already has emerged as a huge advantage in organizing the "teams" that will produce future progress.

* And we need to make certain that our graduates can position themselves to have a significant impact in the "real world." Here, too, our past record is strong. However, different approaches — in programs and placement — may be required in a time characterized by more constrained opportunities and a rapidly changing work world.

One of our most distinguished medical school faculty members occasionally visits my office — but virtually never to talk about his own work. Instead, we most frequently chat about the more general University condition. In discussing Pitt's proud history in the field of medicine, he has offered the assessment that on more than one occasion in the now-somewhat-distant past we were poised to move into a position of true, long-term institutional greatness — only to fall short and then to fall back and then to begin the process of climbing back up the ladder. In his judgment, we are approaching that moment of truth again and this time should do all that we can to secure a place of more permanent, world-class prominence. Though medicine is an area of special strength for us, the position of the larger University is not dissimilar. Think of all the colleges and universities in this country and ask how many really do have a combination of assets that includes better students? and more accomplished faculty? and stronger programs? and more capable staff? and more attractive facilities? and home communities better suited for the educational enterprise? I would submit that the list is rather short. While we surely do not have it all, we do have a lot for which to be grateful. And if we build effectively on what we have, there can be no doubt that the best is yet to come.

I still consider myself, first and foremost, to be a teacher. And one of my favorite quotes about that aspect of my life's work comes from Henry Adams, who once said: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." That inspiring description of potentially limitless impact really could be applied more broadly to virtually every dimension of our University work. I feel very lucky to have been permitted to contribute to that work, from a variety of positions, during the last two decades. And, of course, I feel especially blessed to now have the chance to contribute as chancellor. It is a very special opportunity for me because of my love of this University. And it is special for me because of you — the people of Pitt. Working together, we do have the chance to accomplish wonderful things. It will not often be easy — but it will be satisfying, and it will be fun. I thank you for being here today, and I certainly do look forward to sharing an exciting future with you.