Passings

Richard S. Welsh, a staff member with more than 25 years at Pitt – for the last 17 years as development manager in the Financial Information Systems department of the Office of the Chief Financial Officer – died Nov. 19, 2019.

Rich Welsh was born on March 1, 1963. After studying computer science at Pitt, Welsh’s first University job was student programmer in the housing services department in 1993. He was hired as a full-time programmer analyst there the next year, then joined Financial Information Systems in 2002, where he worked as a developer and manager. A statement from his department called Welsh “a well-respected, excellent leader and an innovative developer.”

Welsh’s work involved creating websites, including his department’s own website, and smaller applications, such as forms. His supervisor for most of his time in Financial Information Systems was Carol Zielinski, applications director.

“He always worked extra hard,” Zielinski recalled. “He would work at home to get things done. All his staff had respect for him, and he knew how to motivate people. There wasn’t anything he thought was beneath him.”

Approached to work on new technology, “whatever it was, he would figure it out,” she said of Welsh. “He worked day and night to figure it out. He was there for me, and he made my life easier as a manager.”

He is survived by his son, Richard H. Welsh; long-time companion Tina M. Stone; parents Richard K. and Laverne Welsh; siblings Shawn, Steven (Dana) and Lori McDonald (Larry); stepchildren David J., Brittney E. and Victoria A.; and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Bernard Fisher, pioneering breast cancer researcher and a distinguished service professor in the School of Medicine, died on Oct. 16, 2019, at 101.

Fisher advanced the understanding of the clinical biology of breast cancer and pioneered the design and implementation of large-scale multi-institutional randomized clinical trials.

He earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees at Pitt in 1940 and 1943, respectively, joining Pitt shortly after as the medical school’s first full-time Department of Surgery faculty member. In 1953, he established the University’s first Laboratory of Surgical Research and contributed to the development of transplantation and vascular surgery. He performed the first kidney transplant in Pittsburgh in 1964 and directed surgical research here in liver regeneration, transplant rejection and hypothermia.

In 1958, Fisher began to focus on cancer research, becoming a founding member (1958) and later chairman (1967-1994) of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). His subsequent research led him to challenge breast cancer treatment dogma that had prevailed since the 19th century — that patients were best treated with radical mastectomy. His studies in the 1970s proved that less extensive procedures — lumpectomies — had similar survival rates.

Fisher’s research also showed the value of adding systemic, adjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy and of employing tamoxifen for breast cancer prevention. “No clinical therapy should be determined by emotion or conviction — the determinant must be the scientific method,” Fisher said in a 2009 video interview shown at that year’s annual Pitt lecture named in his honor.

“Bernard Fisher was one of the great medical pioneers of our time,” said Chancellor Patrick Gallagher in remarks released by Pitt. “His research at the University of Pittsburgh fundamentally changed how clinicians treat breast cancer — and saved an untold number of lives along the way.”

Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine, called Fisher “a titan. His research improved and extended the lives of untold numbers of women who suffered the scourge of breast cancer. His work overturned the dominant paradigm of cancer progression and, to the benefit of all, demonstrated the systemic nature of metastasis. This work offered us great insight into the biology of all cancer.”

Fisher received numerous honors throughout his career, including the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, the American Association for Cancer Research Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cancer Research and an honorary doctorate from Pitt. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, he was appointed to the President’s Cancer Panel and the National Cancer Advisory Board and was the first surgeon to serve as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

He is survived by his three children — Beth Fisher (Dr. Harvey Himel), Joseph Fisher (Debra) and Louisa Rudolph (James) — five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Richard Doerfler, a practicing orthodontist whose teaching took students from anatomy to the business of practicing dentistry, died Sept. 18, 2019.

Doerfler earned his undergraduate degree from St. Vincent College in 1982 and graduated from Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine in 1986, where he was a teaching assistant. In addition, he received master’s degrees in anthropology and anatomy from Pitt, as well as a Master of Dental Science in Orthodontics degree from the dental school here.

He had orthodontic practices in Clearfield and State College, from which he travelled to the School of Dental Medicine beginning in 2001 to lend his expertise as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics.

“The residents enjoyed working with him and appreciated what he had to offer them,” said department chair Joseph Petrone, “particularly because it was seasoned with a private practice (perspective). He was teaching them what made him successful.”

When Doerfler sold his practice several years ago, he increased his commitment to teaching at Pitt, adding anatomy classes to his repertoire. But he was particularly valued by the residents, Petrone said: “He definitely mentored residents in their transition to their careers in the private sector,” advising them on everything from contracts to partnering in a practice, which is a complicated business decision.

“His mentoring role for the residents in that transition to the real world was really important,” Petrone added.

Doerfler started an endowed fund, the Orthodontics Residency Fund, to provide support for Pitt dental school residents’ travel and research. He received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award in 2019 for advanced education. 

He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Jane Gravatt Doerfler; his son, William Reed Doerfler; his daughter-in-law, Lindsey Saldin; and his daughter, Bethany Doerfler, as well as his mother, Barbara Doerfler, and siblings Linda (Joseph) Bartolacci, Judy (Angelo) Napoleone, James (Theresa) Doerfler, Mary (Thomas) Callaghan, and Bethany (Samuel Karow) Doerfler.

Memorial contributions are suggested to the Pitt Dental Medicine Orthodontics Residency Fund or to the St. Vincent DePaul Society.

— Marty Levine

Rosemary Scully, former chair and associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, passed away August 7, 2019, in Sun City West, Ariz., where she resided after her retirement. 

She joined the physical therapy faculty in 1972 and remained until 1992 when she retired. She served several in leadership roles including as chair and worked continuously to enhance physical therapy training at Pitt.

She successfully implemented innovative ways to incorporate clinical experts into entry-level and post-professional educational offerings by convincing the Pittsburgh Veterans Administration, Presbyterian University Hospital and the Center for Sports Medicine to create combined clinical/faculty positions. These models proved mutually beneficial by greatly enhancing the educational programs and strengthening clinical learning within the Department of Physical Therapy while providing teaching opportunities to practicing clinicians.

She also hired two orthopedic experts, Richard Erhard and Rick Bowling, both of whom put the Pitt on the map as one of the best orthopedic post-graduate programs in the country.

Scully grew up in Weirton, W.Va., where she developed her love of sports. At 14, Scully was one of the youngest women to try out for the women’s baseball league made famous in the movie “A League of Their Own.” She was not offered a baseball contract but did go on to earn a degree from West Virginia University in 1957 in physical education. She then completed the one-year physical therapy education program at Columbia University in New York City. 

She worked at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and later at Columbia Presbyterian, where she got a taste for education by becoming a supervisor for clinical education. She left New York briefly for a stint at Albany Medical College but was recruited back to NYC to work at Downstate Medical Center in a newly created physical therapy education program.

Scully met Pitt’s School of Health Professions’ founding dean, Anne Pascasio, at an American Physical Therapy Association district meeting, and was eventually convinced to return to her hometown region and join the physical therapy faculty at Pitt.

She was an expert in clinical learning. She studied the physical therapist-patient interaction in her doctoral work and consulted extensively as an educator. She co-authored a book entitled “Physical Therapy” and published several papers about physical therapy education.

She was a Lucy Blair Service Award winner and a Catherine Worthingham Fellow, recognizing outstanding achievement in practice, research or teaching. The award is the second highest given by the American Physical Therapy Association.

She loved all things sports but especially the Pittsburgh Panthers. She and her mother could often be found watching a baseball or football game on TV or playing with their amazing dog, Boomer. 

The Endowed Scully Visiting Scholar Program at Pitt was developed after Scully’s retirement to honor her mother and father. She felt that it was important to promote the excellence of the Department of Physical Therapy by inviting distinguished scholars to give a lecture and to meet with students and faculty for open forums and discussions. 

Donations may be made to Endowed Scully Visiting Scholar Program, University of Pittsburgh Department of Physical Therapy, 6035 Forbes Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15260.

This is an edited version of a remembrance of Rosemary Scully on the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences website.

Jere Gallagher, former associate dean in the School of Education known for her dedication and hard work in a sometimes-unheralded job, died Aug. 20, 2019, at 70.

John Jakicic, current chair of the school department where Gallagher was a faculty member — Health and Physical Activity — was a graduate student in the early 1990s and remembered Gallagher as a professor. “Talk about high energy!” he said. “Sure, there was a lecture, but she tried to get students actively engaged in their learning process, with hands-on activity, far before that became the way (of education generally).”

Jakicic experienced her administrative side as well, when he joined the faculty in 2002: “She was constantly advocating for students, student involvement, student experiences, both in and outside the classroom,” he said. “She always tried to be very fair and equitable to her students; when students had special circumstances, she would always find a solution to help students to thrive.” In administrative meetings, he recalled, “She was always the one who brought up, ‘Yeah, but what about the students?’ ”

Gallagher created the department’s Kinder Kinetics Program for kids ages 3-12 and ran it for a quarter century. It was designed to promote not just more physical activity but the right kind of healthy movement, especially among underserved children and those with physical and cognitive/emotional disabilities. After Gallagher’s retirement, the program was renamed Pitt’s Kids: Honoring the Vision of Dr. Jere Gallagher.

Alan Lesgold, former Renée and Richard Goldman dean (2000-16) of the School of Education, recalled her ability to adapt to changing academic trends. When child development was moved from the school’s Health and Physical Activities Department, for instance, Gallagher “worked extremely hard to assure that every one of her doctoral students was able to continue and complete the doctoral degree. I also never heard her complain that her own area of interest had been pushed aside.”

He also remembered her taking on fresh duties unasked: “She dramatically improved the quality of the alumni magazine … and turned it into the kind of alumni magazine that schools do when they're doing it right.”

He fondly remembered “how responsible and helpful of a person she really was. If there was a problem in the dean’s area, she was the one who kept our spirits up.”

In eulogizing Gallagher last month, Lesgold said: “She was a positive, uplifting spirit, and she cared deeply about the people she encountered and the University of which she was a beloved part.”

He noted that, as the child of Army officers, Gallagher moved often because of her parents’ careers and later chose to honor them by establishing an endowment in Pitt’s Office of Veteran Services.

“Career coaches counsel their clients not to become too useful, lest one get stuck in roles one is ready to outgrow,” he concluded. “Jere was far too altruistic to follow that principle; she was quite indispensable and helpful, even though there were seldom rewards for her efforts.”

Noted Jakicic: “In this day and age, where faculty in many universities jump from place to place, I think she found her place many years ago.” She felt a deep sense of loyalty, he said, “and tried to make this place a better place.”

Gallagher earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health and physical education from East Carolina University and a Ph.D. in motor development from Louisiana State University. She is survived by her husband of more than 30 years, H. Yale Gutnick; his children, Laura and Todd; and her sister, Salli Gallagher; as well as nieces and nephews.

Memorial gifts are suggested to the University of Pittsburgh Office of Veteran’s Services or the Department of Health and Physical Activity.

— Marty Levine

Frederick W. Crock, an echocardiologist teaching in the School of Medicine who died Aug. 16, 2019, is recalled by his supervisory colleague Jenifer E. Lee as “a consummate cardiologist and an outstanding educator.”

Lee, medicine faculty member and director of medical student education in the Division of Cardiology, remembered Crock as “Superman — that’s all I have to say. The bottom line is, Fred was perfect.”

Crock was one of the instructors of second-year courses for School of Medicine students focused on individual organs for 15 years. Students at all levels “really adored him,” Lee said. “He had a broad fund of knowledge,” and could communicate very complicated information in a very clear manner, she remembered.

Lee quoted a 2018 course evaluation for Crock that notes his “virtuosic mastery of his field and an infectious enthusiasm for both teaching and the subject matter,” calling him “an amazing professor.”

Crock won many teaching awards here. However, Lee said, “You would never know because Fred never talked about those things.” Cardiology trainees voted Crock outstanding teacher in 2005, 2010, and 2018, while medical students chose him for the same honor in 2010 and 2011 and medical residents in 2012. The school’s Alpha Omega Alpha Society awarded Crock its Charles Watson Teaching Award this year.

He also was part of a structural heart disease research team that Lee termed instrumental in introducing percutaneous catheter-based treatments for valvular heart disease at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital. As a substitute for traditional open-heart surgery, “that is really in the vanguard to what we are doing nowadays,” she said.

The pair worked together as non-invasive imaging cardiologists on staff at UPMC, and she remembered him being last in the office, helping to close up. “He was one of those guys who really loved what he did. … He was the kindest, most joyful person to work with.” Crock also volunteered as a lead cardiologist in the Birmingham Free Clinic on the South Side, which serves those without medical insurance, helping the organization to acquire specialty diagnostic equipment.

Crock was a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American Society of Echocardiography). He was born Feb. 7, 1952, in Greensburg and graduated from Indiana Area Senior High School in 1970 as president of his senior class. He received his bachelor of science degree from Pitt in 1974 and his MD from Temple University in 1978.

He trained in internal medicine at Mercy Hospital and was chosen as a chief resident. He then completed a cardiovascular fellowship under Pitt’s James Shaver before joining the teaching faculty at Mercy in 1984, when he also was appointed assistant clinical professor of medicine at Pitt. In 2004, he joined UPMC's Cardiovascular Institute and was promoted to assistant professor.

On May 14, 1983, he married Kathleen Nagy. He is survived by her as well as children Tyler, Kirsten and Marco, and siblings Mary Ann Crock, Kathleen Harrison (Mark) and Diane Daskivich (Bruce), as well as many in-laws, nieces and nephews.

Memorial donations are suggested to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the Birmingham Free Clinic (University of Pittsburgh, Institutional Advancement, Records Management, Attn: Tina Beckett, 128 N. Craig St., Pittsburgh, PA 15260), with donations allocated to the Birmingham Free Clinic in memory of Dr. Frederick William Crock, MD, FACC, FASE.

— Marty Levine

Jeanne Martin, known for her ability to deal effectively with all 31 Pitt arts and sciences departments as top assistant to several deans, died on July 29, 2019, just a few months before her 100th birthday.

In a note to Martin written by then-Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Dean Jerome Rosenberg during his tenure (1970-1986), he told her: “When people in other divisions speak wistfully of the smoothness with which things run in 1001 (Cathedral of Learning), they are paying tribute to you. I don’t need their judgment, however, because I know full well how valuable a person you are. I can’t imagine anybody who would have your flair for organizing a very complex office operation, solving the most delicate interpersonal problems among a large staff, anticipating and solving all problems affecting me personally and professionally, and maintaining a gentle disposition through all of this.”

“She was a wonderful colleague,” Rosenberg said earlier this month. “She always collected background information for issues I had to deal with. In fact, she often resolved issues before I had to deal with them. All of our constituencies trusted her. She was a pleasant colleague whom everyone liked.”

Martin attended Pitt as a business administration major, with additional studies at Duff’s Business College and the Grace Martin’s School of Business. Apart from one year working in the Department of Speech and Theatre Arts, Martin’s 26 years at Pitt (1962-1988) were spent in the office of the dean in what would become the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She started as secretary and retired in the late 1980s as assistant to the dean.

Peter F.M. Koehler, professor emeritus in physics and astronomy and Rosenberg’s successor as dean, took office in 1986 and found Martin poised to retire. “But I asked her to help me get started, and she graciously agreed to do that,” Koehler says. “It was one of the best decisions I ever made, because she knew that place inside and out.”

Martin assisted Koehler for an additional two years, giving him “a careful briefing” prior to his initial meeting with each school department, he recalls: “She was very pleasant, always polite. She was certainly the senior staff member and had tremendous connection with administrative assistants in the various departments.

“She was the consummate professional,” he adds.

W. Richard Howe, retired associate dean for administration and planning, and Linda Huchber, data analyst in the Dietrich School’s dean’s office, compiled a remembrance that notes: “Many of the FAS department chairs and administrative staff affectionately referred to Jeanne as ‘Dean Jeanne.’ She was recognized as the door keeper for the dean and knew when to open it and when to keep it closed. When ‘Dean Jeanne’ said that she would take care of a problem, the departmental chairs and staff had full confidence that they had been heard and that their concerns would be quickly and effectively addressed.”

The memorial letter adds: “Among her many formal and assumed responsibilities was her intense devotion to looking after the many FAS staff members. She felt a personal connection to all who worked within the extended Arts & Sciences umbrella. She was always ready to provide a departmental chair with just the right candidates to interview for jobs within her broad sphere of influence. She was a one-person human resources coordinator who evaluated individual performances and identified those staff members who were ready for promotions to more demanding and rewarding positions.”

Nancy Kasper, department coordinator manager in the social science division of the Dietrich School, remembers helping to organize a retirement dinner for Martin in the William Pitt Union ballroom with nearly 300 in attendance, “which was very hard keeping secret from her since everyone that ever came into the dean’s office always sat and spoke to Jeanne before their meeting with the dean…. Everyone had some sort of story they wanted to tell about their interactions with Jeanne, or they just wanted to express their gratitude for her help throughout the many years.

“About halfway through the reception, the dean made an announcement that, on behalf of everyone present and those that couldn’t attend, he wanted to thank Mrs. Martin — he very rarely called her by her first name — for all of her help over the past few years and he presented her with an envelope which contained a collective contribution so that she could take that trip to Alaska she’d been talking about. …  Jeanne thanked everyone, said she’d miss us, and wouldn’t have traded her time at the University for anything — but now she was going to take that trip.”

In retirement, Martin did indeed travel extensively, but also continued to serve the school through its temporary employment pool. As Howe noted, “Jeanne was the glue that held the Arts and Sciences together. She was an organizer extraordinaire, a marvelous communicator, possessor of an infectious sense of humor and good will and a beloved friend to all who came in contact with this wonderful lady.”

— Marty Levine

Stanley William “Bill” Stezoski — a rare staff member named research assistant professor in recognition of his vital work in the Safar Center for Resuscitation Research — died on July 8, 2019 at 84.

Stezoski arrived at Pitt in 1955 and became the right-hand laboratory aide to Peter Safar, the pioneering resuscitation medicine professor in the School of Medicine. Patrick M. Kochanek, now Safar Center director, saw Stezoski at work beginning with Kochanek’s arrival at Pitt in 1986.

“He was Peter Safar’s key technician,” Kochanek recalls. “He was just an amazingly great technical resource. Papers he’s been on have been cited a thousand times.”

Stezoski was essential to the success of Safar’s early research that simulated intensive care unit conditions, including 24/7 care, in animals, leading to the creation of today’s ICUs.

“Bill was critical for overseeing the research team of doctors,” Kochanek says — work that led next to a 15-year clinical brain resuscitation trial involving 20 centers worldwide. “It was the laboratory research that set the stage for those studies.”

Stezoski was in charge of assisting Safar’s trainees at every level, from medical generalists and specialists to graduate and undergraduate students: “He was the go-to guy in the labs. He was savvy at finding out what your role should be … and inviting young people so they felt like they belonged. Bill was there in essence to hold their hands and guide them through the details.

There were many visitors and funding agencies touring Safar’s labs, including top officials of the Department of Defense, looking for demonstrations of success, Kochanek says. Faced with such pressure, other research teams might have chosen a routine experiment as a demonstration, but not Stezoski and Safar: “Bill and Peter, they never took that approach. When they had guests coming, they went for the most exciting possible study. It was amazing how Bill Stezoski led those studies and they never seemed to fail. That level of capability was instrumental to the success of Peter Safar. It was a reflection of Bill’s confidence and capability in laboratory research.”

Stezoski retired in the mid-2000s. “He was a University of Pittsburgh guy through and through and always revered Pitt,” Kochanek says.

He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Cheryl; children Brad (Stacey), Jason (Sharon) and Bret; grandchildren Gabriel, Quinn, Amelia, Chance, and Audrey; siblings Vern and Theresa; and many nieces and nephews.

— Marty Levine

Elizabeth Baranger, credited with helping to institute high-quality graduate programs throughout Pitt as vice provost for graduate studies, died May 30, 2019.

Former Provost James Maher was her colleague in the Department of Physics and Astronomy beginning in 1970, before Baranger joined him in the provost’s office. “She was a very well-known and well-respected nuclear physicist before she became an administrator,” he notes.

As vice provost, Baranger worked closely with the deans of all Pitt schools, Maher recalls, “to make their graduate programs as good as we could make them. The high quality of graduate programs throughout the University is certainly a wonderful legacy.”

He also describes her as “a very generous colleague, never really looking for credit for herself, even though she deserved lots of it.”

Baranger earned her B.A. in mathematics from Swarthmore College in 1949 and her Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University in 1955, joining Pitt that year as an instructor after two years as a research associate at California Institute of Technology. Apart from a brief stint at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1969-1973), she spent all her career here. She became dean of graduate studies for the arts and sciences upon her return, then moved to the vice provost position in 1989. She retired in July 2004.

During her long Pitt career, Baranger was a liaison to the Provost’s Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns, “one of several of her activities aimed at improving the status of women at Pitt,” a University Times article noted upon her retirement. She was only the second woman physics faculty member when she joined the University and the first female member of the provost’s senior staff.

She also pushed graduate programs into the Internet era, encouraging online applications, theses and dissertations and the modernization of Pitt’s graduate studies website.

As she retired, Baranger was honored with the Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Organization Elizabeth Baranger Teaching Awards for graduate student teachers, given annually to a pair of recipients in each of the social sciences, natural sciences and humanities.