Top Row (l to r): Jane Bilewicz Allred, Bebe Moore Campbell, Bobbie Gaunt Bottom Row: Debbi Gillotti, Monica L. Iurlano, Elaine V. Jones, Pauline Nist

As part of the University of Pittsburgh’s celebration of Women’s History Month, seven outstanding Pitt alumnae will take part in Discover Leaders From Pitt, a program designed to reconnect alumnae with the University, and an opportunity for the Pitt graduates to share their knowledge and experiences with today’s students.

The program, presented by the Office of the Chancellor, Office of the Provost, and the Pitt Alumni Association, will give the alumnae an opportunity to see their present-day alma mater and the students a glimpse of life after graduation. The women will meet with students in various classrooms beginning March 30 and continuing through April 7. The alumnae guests and the dates and titles of their presentations are as follows:

• March 30, Bobbie Gaunt, “Core Competencies: Tapping Your Talents for a Career in Business—No Matter What Your Major”;• April 5, Monica L. Iurlano, “The Metamorphosis from Student to Professional”; and • April 7, Jane Bilewicz Allred, “Talking Tech: The Value of a Liberal Arts Degree in a Technology World”; Bebe Moore Campbell, “Readings from Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine”; Debbi Gillotti, “Adventures in Corporate America: Risks, Rewards, and Opportunities for Leaders”; Elaine V. Jones, “Transition from Bench to Business”; and Pauline Nist, “Working in High Tech: No Longer a Man’s World.”

Allred graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She credits her liberal arts education with her ability to communicate complex technology and concepts into easily understood business benefits. This combination left brain, right brain approach, notes Allred, helped facilitate her success in the fast-paced world of technology marketing.

Allred held senior marketing positions in an association management firm and a prominent Eastern Pennsylvania ad agency before founding her own company, Allred Marketing in 1985. The digital division of Allred Marketing was sold to an Asian firm in 2004.

Allred joined Brighton Agency, Inc., as senior vice president in 2005. She is responsible for advanced technology business development.

Campbell, cofounder of Pitt’s Black Action Society, is a successful author. Her books include Successful Women, Angry Men: Backlash in the Two-Career Marriage (Berkley Publishing, 1986), Sweet Summer: Growing Up with and Without My Dad (Berkley Publishing, 1989), Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine (Penguin Putnam, 1992), Brothers and Sisters (Berkley Publishing, 1995), Singing in the Comeback Choir (Putnam Publishing, 1998), and What You Owe Me (Putnam Publishing, 2001).

Campbell received the NAACP Image Award for Literature and a National Endowment for the Arts literature grant and made The New York Times best seller list for two of her novels. She earned the Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education at Pitt in 1971.

Gaunt received the Bachelor of Science degree in education from Pitt in 1972. Upon graduation, she entered Ford Motor Company’s Sales & Marketing Management Program as the first woman in the program. Twenty-nine years later, she retired as a corporate vice president and president and CEO of Ford of Canada.

Gaunt serves on the boards of The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and ADVO and on the board of visitors at Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. She also is chair of the Saugatuck Center for the Arts’ board of directors.

In 2004, Gaunt became interim CEO at ADVO, Inc. Under her leadership, business momentum accelerated before a permanent CEO was appointed in mid-October.

Gillotti is senior director of Worldwide Customer Engagement for Microsoft’s Public Sector business unit. Prior to Microsoft, Gillotti was the chief information officer for Starbucks Coffee Company and Duracell Corporation. She also held management positions at KPMG Peat Marwick, GTE Corporation, and the International Monetary Fund.

Gillotti received the Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and history from Pitt in 1977 and the Master of Science degree in business/accounting from Georgetown University.

She has participated in the University of Washington MBA Mentor program since 1998 and is a member of the Columbia Tower Club board of directors. In 2000, she established the Deborah J. Gillotti Endowment for Interactive Computer Learning at Pitt.

Iurlano was named executive vice president and chief resource officer of Michael Baker Corporation in July 2002. In this position, Iurlano has leadership responsibility for all aspects of Baker’s human resource function, including benefits, training, compensation structure, EEO/Affirmative Action programs, recruiting and retention, employee relations, and succession planning.

Iurlano came to Baker from L.B. Foster Company, where she was vice president for human resources. Previously, she was manager of labor and benefit planning at Foster and also held a variety of positions with Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Iurlano received the Bachelor of Science degree in political science and economics from Chatham College and the Master of Arts in Public Administration in 1980 from Pitt.

Jones, a principal of ESR and ESRBP, helps companies to develop therapeutic product opportunities and apply new technologies to the bottlenecks in drug development. Jones began her venture capital career in 1999 at S.R. One and, before that, was a director of scientific licensing for SmithKline Beecham.

Jones has served on the Board of the Pennsylvania Biotech Association and is a member of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners BioMedical Investment Advisory Committee.

Director of Targacept, Inc., Fluidigm Corporation, and Acurian, Inc., Jones has been a director of Avantium Technologies B.V., InnaPhase Corporation, Message Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and Nucleonics, Inc.

She earned the Bachelor of Science degree at Juniata College and the Ph.D. degree in microbiology in 1981 at Pitt.

Nist is vice president of the NonStop Enterprise Division of Hewlett Packard, responsible for the development, delivery, and marketing of the NonStop family of servers, database and middleware software, and solutions.

Prior to joining the NonStop Enterprise Division in 1997, Nist served as vice president of the Alpha Servers business unit at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Nist, originally from Pittsburgh, began her career at Carnegie Mellon University as a senior programmer analyst. She holds the Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics and computer science in 1971 from Pitt and the Master of Arts degree in business administration from Clark University. A graduate of the Yale University Executive Management Program and Lessons in Leadership at Harvard University, Nist is a member of the Society of Women Engineers.