ADAPTED FROM PITTWIRE

Former Pitt Provost James Maher, who died Nov. 21 at his home in Squirrel Hill at 82, is being remembered by current and former University chancellors and provosts for his transformative work at the University. He also was honored with a moment of silence at the Dec. 5 Board of Trustees meeting.

Former Provost Patti Beeson, who succeeded Maher in 2010, said, “It is hard to capture in a few words the impact Jim had on the University and on those of us who had the good fortune to work with him. …

“In the mid-1990s, when the University was in desperate need of a strong academic vision, Jim Maher stepped up.  And over the next 16 years that Jim served as provost, Pitt was thoroughly transformed, from a good regional college into one of the country's most respected public universities, one that attracts the best students and faculty from across the globe.”

“Pitt would not be close to where it is today without Jim’s contributions,” said Chancellor-emeritus Mark Nordenberg, under whom Maher worked for 15 of his 16 years as provost.

Current Chancellor Joan Gabel echoed those sentiments, “His legacy is forever intertwined with the quality of the University, and it’s indisputable that Pitt would not be where it is today proudly serving Pittsburgh without his leadership, strategic forethought and passion for student success.”

For example, when Maher took on the role of provost, Pitt’s average SAT scores for first-year students in fall 1995 were 1110; they ballooned to 1264 by 2010. Similarly, overall University research expenditures stood at $235 million in fiscal year 1995. In fiscal year 2009, expenditures had reached more than $735 million.

When he stepped down in 2010, the Board of Trustees honored Maher for dramatically increasing enrollment and applications for admission, improving alumni outreach, promoting instructional innovation, adding substantially to on-campus housing and enriching the quality of student life, and enhancing overall research strength.

Former Chancellor Pat Gallagher told the Post-Gazette that he knew Maher as a mentor and “remarkable scientist.”

During his 47 years with the University, Maher maintained a role as a research scientist and faculty member in physics. He published numerous papers in the fields of nuclear physics and statistical condensed matter physics. He served as director of the University’s Scaife Nuclear Physics Laboratory, as a longstanding resident fellow in the University’s Center for the Philosophy of Science, and as a visiting scientist at world-class institutes in France, Denmark and the Netherlands.

After stepping down as provost, he was named a distinguished service professor of physics and senior science advisor.

Gallagher met Maher in the late 1980s, when the future chancellor was working toward his doctorate in physics at Pitt and Maher served as his thesis adviser.

Years later, Maher was involved in the search process that brought Gallagher back to Pitt as chancellor in 2014.

“He was the world’s nicest man,” Gallagher said. “It was like having a father here in Pittsburgh. When you knew Jim, you were part of his family.”

"Throughout his professional life, Jim Maher was entirely dedicated not only to academic excellence but to advancing Pitt's mission as a force for good in our region and across the world,” said current Provost Joe McCarthy, who was able to connect with Maher for advice several times as McCarthy moved into serving as provost. “His thoughtfulness and sincere interest in others, combined with the depth and breadth of his knowledge, was a recipe for positivity and progress. … I will always be grateful to him for sharing his invaluable perspective and wisdom with me."

As provost, Maher served as chair of the University Planning and Budgeting Committee and Pitt’s Council of Deans and as co-chair of the University’s Facilities Planning Committee. He oversaw the University’s schools (apart from the health sciences), the regional campuses and several major centers and areas, such as admissions, computing and information systems, student life and the University Library System.

“Jim was a great partner and a very close friend,” Nordenberg said. “He probably was the most knowledgeable person I have known. He also was a wonderful human being — deeply principled, with strong values, and someone who was both deeply thoughtful about the many issues that life brought his way and unfailingly respectful toward others.”

Maher grew in the Bronx. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Notre Dame in 1964 and his master’s degree and his doctoral degree from Yale University in 1965 and 1969, respectively. Before joining the Pitt faculty as an assistant professor in September 1970, he served as a postdoctoral research associate in the Physics Division of the Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.

Maher’s positions of leadership in national and regional organizations included service as chair of the chief academic officers’ section of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and service on the boards of BioOne, Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh Technology Council, Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, St. Vincent Seminary and WQED Multimedia.

He was a commissioner of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and served on the Association of American Universities (AAU)/National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges task force on accreditation. He was a member of the AAU’s intellectual property task force and a co-author of its formative report, “Intellectual Property and New Media Technologies: A Framework for Development at AAU Institutions.” He also was invited by the AAU and the Association of Research Libraries to help write a set of principles designed to guide the transformation of the scholarly publishing system.

Maher is survived by his wife, Angela, to whom he was married for 58 years; a daughter and son-in-law, Robin and John Maier, of Pittsburgh; a son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Andrea Maher, of Houston; and six grandchildren.

Remembrances may be made to: Angela and James Maher Scholarship Fund, Office of Institutional Advancement, University of Pittsburgh, 128 N. Craig St., Pittsburgh 15260.