By SHANNON O. WELLS
On April 3, 2023, Pitt’s Board of Trustees unanimously selected Joan Gabel, president of the University of Minnesota’s System and Twin Cities campus, to be the University’s 19th chancellor.
As the board officially installed Gabel — the first woman to lead Pitt — almost exactly one year later, what was then an abstract sense of renewed possibility is now a dynamic vision of the University’s future, unfolding in real time.
“Joan Gabel joins an institution with the distinguished and impactful history of achievement at a time when the field of higher education is rapidly changing,” said Pitt Board of Trustees Chair Lou Cestello at the installation ceremony held April 5.
“Indeed, when the whole world is rapidly changing, we're at a moment in history when visionary ideas and strong leadership are essential for the future of institutions like ours,” he added. “Joan Gabel provides both.”
Cestello spoke as part of the Faculty Honors Convocation, an annual ceremony to recognize the achievements and advancements of faculty members, held at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
“Moreover, as the first woman ever selected to lead this 237-year-old institution we hold so dear, (Gabel) embodies the transformational change that the world needs now,” he continued. “And with her election in April 2023 by the Board of Trustees, a mere one year and two days (ago), she has hit the ground running to advance that transformational change.”
Cestello cited the launch of the Finish Line Grant program on Gabel’s hundredth day as chancellor to “promote greater access and affordability to her students” to the development of the strategic Plan for Pitt 2028 — which the Board of Trustees approved April 4 — as among Gabel’s key initiatives since taking Pitt’s leadership reins from former Chancellor Patrick Gallagher on July 17.
“The University of Pittsburgh has a long history of appointing accomplished and visionary leaders,” Cestello said. “That tradition continues today. Our University's Board of Trustees is honored to officially install Chancellor Joan Gabel and welcome her into this incredible community.”
In her address, Gabel linked the legacy of achievements, distinctions and setbacks-turned-opportunities along Pitt’s 237-year road to recent triumphs and the bold future goals outlined in the Plan for Pitt.
“I've learned that there's a widely held belief that I agree with — and many of you've heard me say this before — the reputation here is very, very strong — but the reality is even better,” she said. “And we want to close that gap. We want the world to know about the amazing things that we're doing …
“And we want to accelerate our momentum by leaning into our distinct strengths and taking the right chances and investing in people and ideas and initiatives that only we can accomplish. The kinds of things that are only possible at Pitt,” she added. “Things we must name and acknowledge, to push ourselves to continue our momentum towards even higher levels of excellence.”
Gabel hearkened to the University’s origins in a log house near the Point in downtown Pittsburgh, “back to the hopes of (Pitt founder) Hugh Henry Brackenridge and the 21 incorporators and trustees of the University’s charter who dreamed of a seat of learning in Pittsburgh for their children.” That story, she added, includes the Great Fire of 1845, “which left behind ashes of the University Hall on Third and Cherry (streets).”
“And yet, even in those most desperate times, and despite calls then for the University to close, our forebears ensured that classes would continue. And it should be no surprise then how that toughness and that resiliency and that spirit have been forged into our DNA,” Gabel said. “Because when Pittsburgh and society have needed something, we literally have risen from the ashes to give it to them.”
The gathering for the Faculty Honors Convocation, poised on what Gabel called the “forward edge of our University's history,” represents an ongoing momentum that’s accelerated “with sincere appreciation to my honorable predecessors, including Chancellor Emeritus (Mark) Nordenberg, who is here today with us.”
That momentum, she noted, includes record-level student demand, graduation and job-placement rates and research funding. Pitt is “nationally recognized as an employer of choice, with the distinction not only as higher education’s top university for community engagement, but also for our over $5.2 billion impact on the commonwealth.”
She added that 45 percent of Pitt students graduate “having no debt at all,” and 98 percent have a job or graduate school placement within six months of their degree. The University devotes $1 billion annually to research, she noted, “while ascending national rankings and patents and startups and leading the life sciences century with groundbreaking innovation with things like (proposed biomanufacturing facility) BioForge.”
Such distinctions, she emphasized, are far from guaranteed. “We don't inherit it. It's not a birthright, but it's achieved because we work hard here. We create and we channel, and we have the best of human potential here,” she said.
Gabel acknowledged it was an honor for her installation to be combined with the Faculty Honors Convocation, and to be recognized alongside the “amazing work of our faculty.”
“(I am) so honored to join our faculty who are being recognized today, and we’re all in for a treat as we will soon hear about what our faculty have accomplished and the inspiration and impact of their work, what they do with our students, what they do for their peers, what they do in support and in partnership with our staff.”
Attending the ceremony were her husband, Gary — “as you might imagine, he puts up with a lot,” she said — the couple’s children and her father. Gabel also welcomed distinguished guests, as well as “our broad community of alumni, friends and supporters from around the commonwealth and around the world who are here in person or streaming this event.”
Provost Joe McCarthy called the honors convocation an opportunity to focus “on the absolutely outstanding accomplishments of our faculty and students.
“In this way, it's time to share in their achievements and to celebrate them more fully,” he said, noting that since Pitt’s founding in 1787, “our commitment to having an impact through the work of our faculty, students and alums has been unwavering, and the results can be seen in almost every aspect of human welfare, as well as the economic and intellectual vitality of our local and global communities.
“This ceremony honors both academic accomplishments and leadership of individual members of our community,” he added. “I congratulate all who are to be recognized today.”
To see faculty names and their honors and recognition, visit the 2024 Faculty Honors Convocation Honorees webpage.
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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