Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel has been elected chair of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Council of Presidents.
The Council of Presidents — composed of the chief executives of the 251 member colleges and universities and systems — develops a working agenda and programs for the organization.
“When it comes to increasing access and equity for students, meeting workforce needs and engaging in meaningful research and community engagement, there is no more important voice for our public research universities than the APLU,” Gabel said in a statement on Pittwire. “I am proud to support this work and our shared efforts to elevate advocacy for, and impact of, our public and land-grant universities.”
Gabel’s election took place at the APLU annual meeting, from Nov. 12 to 14 in Seattle. Also at the annual meeting, the APLU named Pitt winner of the 2023 C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award for work on the Pittsburgh Study program.
The Washington D.C.-based membership association includes public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems and affiliated organizations spanning across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, six U.S. territories, Canada and Mexico.
Gabel serves on multiple boards, including the Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board and as academic vice chair for the Council on Competitiveness, a nonprofit focused on increasing the U.S.’s competitiveness in the global economy by bringing together leaders from academia, business, labor and government.
In a new video released by the Council on Competitiveness, Gabel shared her perspective on education’s critical role in keeping America thriving in a new global economy.
“If we were to think about priorities and areas of focus, it’s generally not changed that much even in a very highly disruptive technological time: It’s people and ideas,” Gabel said in the video. “Are we creating the right educational environments that allow for innovation and thought?”
She delivered her remarks at the Gallup World Headquarters as part of an initiative by the council to sustain the last half century of innovation in the U.S. into a new, rapidly shifting economic era.