Pitt Chronicle

The program of Black History Month observances that the University of Pittsburgh inaugurated in 2004 has now been established as the University of Pittsburgh K. Leroy Irvis Black History Month Program to honor the memory of the legendary Pennsylvania legislative leader, Pitt alumnus, and emeritus trustee.

Irvis, who in 1977 became the first African American speaker of the House in Pennsylvania and the first Black speaker of any state house since Reconstruction, sponsored in 1966 the bill that made Pitt a state-related institution of higher education.

Pitt established a number of ongoing opportunities to honor Irvis, among them are his being named a member of the University’s inaugural class of preeminent alumni, the Legacy Laureates; the creation of the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship, the establishment of the Pitt Hillman Library’s K. Leroy Irvis Reading Room—dedicated at a standing-room-only ceremony on Dec. 6, 2001—which houses his personal archive; and the production of a 2004 video documentary on his life and work, K. Leroy Irvis: The Lion of Pennsylvania, narrated by Julian Bond, issued on DVD, and broadcast both locally on WQED and statewide on public television. Pitt also presented Irvis with the School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award in 2004.

In an era when the federal budget for biomedical research is failing to keep up with inflation, the University of Pittsburgh has improved its ranking to sixth in the nation among academic institutions and their affiliates in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a universally recognized benchmark of research excellence.

Newly released data for fiscal year 2006 show that Pitt received $447 million in NIH research support. In addition, Pitt ranks fourth nationally in the number of individual grants received.

The University of Pittsburgh moved up two places on the Peace Corps’ annual list of large schools nationwide producing Peace Corps volunteers. Pitt has 54 alumni currently serving as volunteers, making it number 13 among large universities across the country. It also ranked first among large schools in Pennsylvania, for the second straight year. Since the Peace Corps’ inception, 564 Pitt alumni have joined its ranks.