Pitt Scholars & Stewards

Linking Students to a Future in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

From left, Shelley McCauley, a master’s degree student in the Department of Occupational Therapy; Alyssa Meisenhelter, a student in the Rehabilitation Sciences program; Anne Pascasio; and Sarah Chunko, a student in the Department of Physical Therapy.

University of Pittsburgh alumnus Anne Pascasio has an impressive track record of building bridges in education. As the founding dean of the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Health Related Professions—now the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS)—Pascasio brought together multiple academic disciplines to create the school and then linked it to the University, health center, and community. In addition, she recruited faculty and students who, over the 40 years since SHRS’s creation, have helped change the landscape of the health sciences world.

“We couldn’t have survived in the beginning without the linkages,” explained Pascasio (EDUC ’46, ‘50G, ‘67G, SHRS ’53). “While we may have started small, we aimed for where we wanted to be.” The same holds true for the students who benefit each year from Pascasio’s scholarships. “Good students can become good leaders,” she explained, “if they can be linked with the foundation and support they need and deserve.”

Originally, SHRS’s staff created the Anne Pascasio Scholarship to honor and recognize Pascasio’s impact on the school’s students. Family members and friends also generously contributed to the scholarship in her honor. But, wanting to ensure the scholarship’s continuation, Pascasio assumed responsibility for its funding and created an endowment, so the scholarships can continue in perpetuity.

This past year, the Anne Pascasio Endowment Fund helped three future leaders: Sarah Chunko, a physical therapy student; Shelley McCauley, an occupational therapy student; and, Alyssa Meisenhelter, a rehabilitation sciences student. To be selected, students must demonstrate high-level scholastic achievement as well as financial need, and they must submit a short essay describing how, as health care professionals, they would contribute to better patient care.

Chunko, a native of Murrysville, Pa., would like to focus on neurological and outpatient physical therapy. “There is such a great trust that is built between therapists and patients,” Chunko explained. “I love that in physical therapy, patients depend on you to help them reach their personal goals. Helping them by giving them the best care possible has become a personal goal of mine.”

Chunko and the other scholarship recipients met with Pascasio recently during the annual SHRS Scholarship Luncheon, which brings together scholarship donors and recipients. “Dr. Pascasio has such a commitment to SHRS and has been so influential in making it one of the top schools in the country,” Chunko said. “She has a true interest in students’ opinions of their education, and she really gave us a unique view of how far SHRS has come.”

Pascasio’s life experiences have helped shape SHRS. As a student at the D.T. Watson Home (now The Watson Institute), she recalls encountering Jonas Salk as he was working with his team of Pitt researchers to develop the polio vaccine. She completed her doctorate at Pitt and worked in various capacities with the American Physical Therapy Association, Illinois Medical Center, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine, before returning to Pitt to begin building what would become SHRS. “As a new school, we were starting from scratch,” explained Pascasio, who retired from SHRS in 1982 but remains involved with its students and programs.

Chunko said she is grateful to Pascasio and all who support scholarships in SHRS. “There is not a student out there who doesn’t think about the great financial commitment needed for a graduate program,” she said. “Being awarded a scholarship was an amazing surprise. It showed me that someone out there believed in what I had chosen as my career path—and that meant a lot to me.”