By SUSAN JONES
The June 23 Board of Trustees meeting was filled with mutual admiration and appreciation — including video tributes and the renaming of a piece of Pitt property — as Chancellor Patrick Gallagher and Provost Ann Cudd attended their last board meeting as Pitt’s leaders.
The only disruption in the lovefest came from a group of four protesters who were escorted out by Pitt Police after interrupting Gallagher’s presentation to demand resources and dedicated space for LGBTQIA members of the Pitt community (see related story).
Gallagher kicked off the compliments by praising Cudd’s five-year tenure at Pitt and saying she “has had a powerful and lasting impact on this university,” particularly through the Pitt Success program that matches Pell grants for low-income students. Cudd is leaving Pitt as of June 30 to become president of Portland State University in Oregon.
“In my view, the bottom line is that Pitt is simply better off thanks to Anne’s leadership and effort, and I want to thank you for that,” he said. “I’m incredibly proud of you and what you’ve been able to accomplish. I’m excited for you — a little bit worried, but mostly excited — as you take on the helm of another university. They’re lucky to have you. … On a personal note, I just want to say thank you for being such an invaluable part of my team and for being such a great colleague and friend.”
Gallagher, who will step down in July when Joan Gabel becomes Pitt’s 19th chancellor, went on to thank his leadership team, the Board of Trustees and the whole Pitt community.
“Being the chancellor of the University is obviously an extraordinary, extraordinary privilege and honor,” he said. “But if you look at it that way, I think you miss a key part, because the chancellor role is actually a touch point in a larger leadership team. The simple truth is that everything that has happened over the past nine years has happened because there is a group of people that are dedicated to stewarding and ensuring that this remarkable institution not only stays where it is but adapts and grows and improves and gets better. And so I would just want to acknowledge that team that I was part of.”
He noted that he could not have been an effective chancellor without the full support of the Board of Trustees and the support of the University community.
“The actions of the University, the most important things that happen, happen because of where the students and faculty are working together. That’s where the mission is. And it’s the role of the administration to support them and to hold them on the highest possible platform we can.”
He concluded his remarks the way he started them nine years ago. “It has been the honor of my career to have enjoyed your trust, your understanding and your support. And to the Pitt community. I will simply say, we’re here because of you and we could not be what we are — this amazing University — without you. So thank you.”
Honoring Gallagher
“The end of an era, particular one that has been as impactful and successful as that of Chancellor Gallagher, is always difficult to accept,” said Board of Trustees Chair Doug Browning. “This is indeed a bittersweet moment for the academy and many of us who have had the pleasure and privilege of working with the chancellor. … As I have said on many occasions, by whatever metric you choose to use, the chancellor’s stewardship of the university has been a success.”
A video tribute to Gallagher included everyone from board member and Steelers’ owner Art Rooney II to Pitt football coach Pat Narduzzi to former Senate Council President Chris Bonneau, who said he hopes the openness and ability to listen that Gallagher showed will continue in the next administration.
University Library System Director Kornelia Tancheva thanked Gallagher for everything he has done for the libraries and wished “best of luck as you start your teaching career. And I hope that you won’t forget to bring your students to the library.” Gallagher plans to take a year off before returning as a physics professor at Pitt.
Mellon Foundation Director Sam Reiman praised Gallagher’s ability to stick with an idea even when it’s not yet obvious to everyone that there’s something there, but also gave him a warning: “If you thought government was hard and you thought running a university was hard and if you thought building a life sciences cluster was hard — good luck with intro to physics and your freshman class. You’re going to need a lot of TAs, I can tell you that right out of the gate.”
A resolution of appreciation for Gallagher noted the progress the University has made during his tenure in several areas, including:
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Having record high admissions on the Oakland campus.
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Reaching the $1 billion mark in research funding and ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding.
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Launching the Community Engagement Centers and earning the Carnegie Foundation’s Classification for Community Engagement.
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Leading the physical evolution of Pitt’s five campuses, including creating dedicated offices to advance research, diversity, and sustainability; guiding Pitt-Titusville’s transformation into a workforce development hub; and shaping the University’s future through facilities like The Assembly, Pitt BioForge, and Victory Heights.
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Guiding the University through the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.
In honor of Gallagher’s service to the University and “in recognition of your steadfast commitment to supporting students and in line with your fondness for walking,” Browning said that the plaza on the Fifth Avenue side of William Pitt Union and the walkway leading to the mid-block crosswalk on Bigelow Boulevard will now be named Gallagher Plaza and Walkway.
“It’s not very often somebody comes back to their alma mater, to the town where you met your wife and got married and have these incredibly deep roots and then are asked to play a role that’s so deeply meaningful in the lives of so many people that go through here, but plays such an important, vibrant role in this region,” said Gallagher, who received his Ph.D. in physics from Pitt. “So once again, just thanks to all of you for making that happen.”
Honoring Ann Cudd
A video tribute to the outgoing provost also featured people from throughout the University community, including her predecessor Patricia Beeson, who taught Cudd when she was a graduate student in economics at Pitt. Cudd also has a master’s and doctorate in philosophy from Pitt.
Geovette Washington, Pitt’s chief legal officer, praised Cudd’s devotion to the research mission and thanked her for a trip they took to the University of Kansas, where Cudd was once a dean, to see a basketball game and visit the Naismith statue.
Joe McCarthy, who will serve as interim provost when Cudd leaves, thanked her for the opportunity to be vice provost for undergraduate studies and for the education and experience. He noted Cudd’s stamina when he recounted seeing her in the Cathedral of Learning stairwell with her gym clothes on.
“She told us that she was actually on her second Cathy, which I didn’t know what that meant until she explained that she was actually walking from the bottom of the Cathedral to the top and then back down and that was one Cathy,” McCarthy said. “I was impressed, because I personally would maybe take two floors of Cathy as my target.”
A resolution of appreciation from the Board of Trustees noted Cudd’s impact:
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Developing the Pitt Success Pell Match program, the largest restructuring of financial aid in the University’s history.
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Advancing diversity and inclusion at Pitt through multiple faculty cluster hire initiatives.
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Creating and implementing the strategies that helped the University to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Flex@Pitt instructional model.
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Hiring two regional campus presidents, five deans in the provost’s area, and four vice provosts; and chairing the search for the senior vice chancellor for the health sciences
Cudd said she was “overwhelmed with emotion, but want to say how appreciative I am of the board’s support.” She also thanked Gallagher for giving her this opportunity.
She said when she came to Pitt as a 22-year-old graduate student, she had never visited Pittsburgh before. “When I got here and I saw the Cathedral of Learning, I would say that I was just euphoric. And I thought, ‘How did I ever get here to this top graduate school?’ I thought I had really made it already. And to come back then, after I received such a great education that set me up for a great career as a philosophy professor, but to come back as the provost has really been the privilege and honor of my life.”
Other board actions
The board approved several new and re-elected trustees and voted to give Chair Doug Browning a second one-year term and Louis Cestello a third one-year term as vice chair.
The board also heard a report from the Property and Facilities committee on funds approved for the Pitt BioForge development, and a report from the Investment committee on the endowment distribution for the coming year.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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