Newsmakers

Issue Date: 
May 16, 2011
Three Rivers Youth (TRY) honored Robert Hill (right), Pitt vice chancellor for public affairs, and George Miles Jr. (left), a Pitt trustee, executive chair of Chester Engineers, and former president and CEO and now a trustee emeritus of WQED, during the TRY’s Sixth Annual Nellie Leadership Awards held May 6 in the USX Tower Upper Lobby. Nellie honorees are selected for their leadership, personal achievements, and positive impact on the quality of life for the region’s youth and families. Hill received his award in the education and civic engagement category, while Miles was honored in the public broadcast and education category. Invited guests were to wear 1940s-era attire in keeping with the event’s “An Evening at the Cotton Club” theme. Pitt alumnus Peggy Harris (center) is president and CEO of TRY, which assists at-risk youth and families, and a member of the Board of Visitors of Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, from which she earned the MPA degree in 1978. Nellie was the name of the first resident of a 19th-century local orphanage for Black children that is today Three Rivers Youth.Three Rivers Youth (TRY) honored Robert Hill (right), Pitt vice chancellor for public affairs, and George Miles Jr. (left), a Pitt trustee, executive chair of Chester Engineers, and former president and CEO and now a trustee emeritus of WQED, during the TRY’s Sixth Annual Nellie Leadership Awards held May 6 in the USX Tower Upper Lobby. Nellie honorees are selected for their leadership, personal achievements, and positive impact on the quality of life for the region’s youth and families. Hill received his award in the education and civic engagement category, while Miles was honored in the public broadcast and education category. Invited guests were to wear 1940s-era attire in keeping with the event’s “An Evening at the Cotton Club” theme. Pitt alumnus Peggy Harris (center) is president and CEO of TRY, which assists at-risk youth and families, and a member of the Board of Visitors of Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, from which she earned the MPA degree in 1978. Nellie was the name of the first resident of a 19th-century local orphanage for Black children that is today Three Rivers Youth.
John M. Petersen calls the first strike on April 9, opening day of Pitt’s new Petersen Sports Complex, which stands on 12 acres at the peak of Pitt’s upper campus and provides state-of-the-art homes for the Panthers’ baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s soccer teams. Petersen, a 1951 graduate of Pitt with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and his wife, Gertrude, have long maintained a strong relationship with the University, supporting scholarships and other activities in the College of Business Administration and the Pitt Department of Athletics. The Petersens’ generosity helped make a reality the Petersen Events Center, which has dramatically enhanced student life on campus since its completion in 2002.John M. Petersen calls the first strike on April 9, opening day of Pitt’s new Petersen Sports Complex, which stands on 12 acres at the peak of Pitt’s upper campus and provides state-of-the-art homes for the Panthers’ baseball, softball, and men’s and women’s soccer teams. Petersen, a 1951 graduate of Pitt with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and his wife, Gertrude, have long maintained a strong relationship with the University, supporting scholarships and other activities in the College of Business Administration and the Pitt Department of Athletics. The Petersens’ generosity helped make a reality the Petersen Events Center, which has dramatically enhanced student life on campus since its completion in 2002.
 Local government officials from Samara, Russia, and instructors from the International Market Institute (IMI), also in Samara, visited the Pittsburgh region for 10 days recently as part of a U.S.-Russia Foundation grant awarded to Pitt’s Center for Russian and East European Studies (REES). The grant enables IMI and REES to participate in the “Entrepreneurship, Economic Development, and Rule of Law” program, which comprises three weeklong exchanges—two held in Samara and one in Pittsburgh —for Pitt and IMI faculty members as well as local government officials from the Samara region. The Russian officials’ visit to Pittsburgh included intensive training and site visits focused on local government’s role in promoting economic development. Program activities were organized by Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, REES, and Pittsburgh’s Local Government Academy. On May 4, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg (right) met with Vadim Chumak, IMI rector, to sign a memorandum of understanding between the two universities. Local government officials from Samara, Russia, and instructors from the International Market Institute (IMI), also in Samara, visited the Pittsburgh region for 10 days recently as part of a U.S.-Russia Foundation grant awarded to Pitt’s Center for Russian and East European Studies (REES). The grant enables IMI and REES to participate in the “Entrepreneurship, Economic Development, and Rule of Law” program, which comprises three weeklong exchanges—two held in Samara and one in Pittsburgh —for Pitt and IMI faculty members as well as local government officials from the Samara region. The Russian officials’ visit to Pittsburgh included intensive training and site visits focused on local government’s role in promoting economic development. Program activities were organized by Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, REES, and Pittsburgh’s Local Government Academy. On May 4, Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg (right) met with Vadim Chumak, IMI rector, to sign a memorandum of understanding between the two universities.