Pitt alum named as vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion

Clyde Wilson Pickett, a Pitt alum and experienced chief diversity officer locally and nationally, will start in July as Pitt’s next vice chancellor for diversity and inclusion, succeeding Pamela Connelly.

Pickett earned his doctor of education degree at the School of Education and has headed diversity programs at the Community College of Allegheny County and, most recently, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, which has 54 campuses.

In selecting Pickett, the University in a release cited his past as “an administrator and scholar with considerable experience translating theory into practice,” as well as his “expertise in strategic planning and Title IX,” the federal statute, recently revised, governing campus rules against sexual harassment.

Among his accomplishments, the University also highlights Pickett’s role “developing initiatives at Ohio Northern University, where he served as director of multicultural development and director of new student orientation, that resulted in a 43 percent increase in retention of students of color and consulting on projects that increased the University’s population of students of color by 7 percent.”

— Marty Levine