By SUSAN JONES
More changes are coming to the Office of the Provost, which already has named vice provosts for student affairs and undergraduate studies this summer and seen the retirement of the chief of staff.
Over the past two weeks, Provost Joe McCarthy announced that Steve Wisniewski, vice provost for budget and analytics, is stepping down on or before July 15 to pursue new professional opportunities, and that Ariel Armony, vice chancellor for global affairs and director of the University Center for International Studies, is leaving Pitt to become provost and executive vice president at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., in the fall.
Lucy Russell, who had served as vice provost and chief of staff since December 2018, left in mid-June. She had announced in February that she planned to retire this summer.
The critical budget role in the office has already been filled by Donald Elliott, who started this week as vice provost for budget and institutional effectiveness. Elliott comes to the University from CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, where he served as chief financial officer for business operations. He also has worked at Eaton Corp., Lancaster County Commissioner’s Office, Dana Corp., TD Bank, Bank of America, Novant Health, and Wesley Spectrum Services. He has a master of business administration and a bachelor of arts in economics, both from the University of Virginia.
"There are no new teams being created within the Office of the Provost," McCarthy said. "Instead, Donald Elliott's hire has allowed us to evolve the expertise within the ranks of the vice provosts. Don comes to the University with exceptional credentials and with deep and broad financial and organizational management/effectiveness experience. His new role is a large one and represents the opportunity to respond to the needs of deans and presidents to have strong in-house support in leveraging the potential of the University’s budget model. The roles of budget and analytics were combined a few years ago but it makes sense to revisit that structure and move forward with a decoupling of those roles."
While Elliott will supervise the budgetary aspects of the job, McCarthy said, "Data analytics remains key to our efforts — not just within the Office of the Provost but across the University. We will be evaluating and sharing more information about next steps as they evolve."
Wisniewski has been in the provost’s office since 2015 and also is a professor of epidemiology and co-director of the School of Public Health’s Epidemiology Data Center. He first came to Pitt as a graduate student, earning his Ph.D. in epidemiology in 1994. He joined Pitt’s faculty in 1998 as assistant professor of epidemiology.
“I want to thank Steve for his far-reaching contributions to the Office of the Provost, as well as his leadership of the data and business teams,” McCarthy said in an announcement. “Our office and the University as a whole have benefited greatly from his expertise during his time as vice provost, particularly with respect to managing complexities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty union negotiations for the initial collective bargaining agreement, the launch of the Pathways advising platform, the implementation of the budget ReSTART model, and more.”
Armony first joined the provost’s office in August 2017 as vice provost of global affairs. In July 2022, he was named vice chancellor for global affairs. He came to Pitt in 2015 as senior director of international programs and director of UCIS.
In his announcement, McCarthy highlighted Armony’s efforts: “He has successfully established top-ranked area studies centers in UCIS; spearheaded the comprehensive Global Plan for Pitt; and overseen numerous initiatives to grow international partnerships and engagement, including the creation of the global advisory council, and to foster real-world impact through global learning and research.
“He also sought out new ways to use technology to boost the student experience; established the Pitt Global Hub as an interactive resource to foster global citizenship, cultural awareness, and diverse communities; and centralized services for international students and scholars within UCIS.”
Armony also held faculty appointments in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs and in the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences’ political science department.
An interim leader will be named in the coming weeks and a search committee will be formed.
The previously announced new leaders in the provost’s office are:
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Carla Panzella, vice provost for student affairs, effective June 1. The former dean of students had served as interim since January.
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Lorraine Craven, interim dean of students. She also is assistant dean for student experience.
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Adam J. Lee, vice provost for undergraduate studies, who will transition to the Office of the Provost over the summer with the full-time appointment effective Sept. 1. He currently serves as executive associate dean in the School of Computing and Information .
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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