Oversaw numerous departments and projects at Pitt
Jerome “Jerry” Cochran was a man who could be counted on to get things done.
The retired executive vice chancellor and general counsel at the University of Pittsburgh successfully oversaw so many departments and projects that the university named its public safety buildingafter him four years ago.
Also a beloved husband and father, Mr. Cochran, 69, died of pulmonary complications on Wednesday at his Cranberry home. Mr. Cochran was the chiefbusinessofficeroftheuniversity from 1995 until his retirement in 2014, overseeing all of its nonacademic, business functions, including everything from human resources topublic safety and the myriad facilities at Pitt. He also was general counsel from 2004 to 2013.
“Jerry was absolutely fearless. He never shied away from any problem, no matter how large or complicated,” said former university chancellor Mark Nordenberg, who now chairs the Institute of Politics at Pitt. “He was never intimidated by any adversary. He was prepared to move forward to get things done, as long as it was in pursuitof a good cause.”
Mr. Cochran’s early life was a harbinger for his later success.
Born and raised in Fox Chapel, Mr. Cochran went to Fox Chapel High School, where he graduated in 1967.
He went on to Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in political science and administration of justice in1971 while working several jobs.
After graduation, Mr. Cochran was a unit manager at Presbyterian University Hospital, where he rapidly rose up the ranks, managing criticalunits at the hospital.
But colleagues said Mr. Cochran saw room for improvementand though he was only 24 years old, he managed to convince anesthesiologists to form a clinical practice plan. It was a success. When other departments heard about the idea, they approached Mr. Cochran for helporganizing their plans.
Shortly afterward, he was recruited by Pitt’s then-Chancellor Wesley Posvar, who hired Mr. Cochran as assistant senior vice chancellor, in charge of developing various clinical practice plans for the university’s health sciences departmentsand schools.
But, Mr. Cochran found himself restless in the health sciences field.
“My91-year-old mother has been saying to me all my life, ‘Why can’t you be satisfied? Why does it have to be the next thing? Why do you always want to go to the next step?’”Mr. Cochran during an interview with the Pitt Chronicle in 2014, adding, “I had drive.That was it.”
Mr. Nordenberg met Mr. Cochran in 1986, when he was itching for a change.
“I met Jerry more than 30 years ago, when he was serving as interim dean of the school of pharmacy and I was interim dean of the law school,” Mr. Nordenberg said. “Within a few years, he decided to make a career change and enrolled in Pitt Law School, where he was my student.”
Mr. Cochran’s wife Cathy Cochran said the legal profession appealed to her husband.
“He always wanted to be an attorney, and the timing was right,” said Mrs. Cochran, who met her husband at a Friday night college dance. By Sunday, Mr. Cochran had proposed and the couple married in 1969.
After he completed law school, Mr. Cochran went to work for the Downtown law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, where he was joined by Paul Supowitz, a friend he met in law school.
One of Mr. Supowitz’s favorite memories of his friend was the day they anxiously awaited the results of the state bar exam.
“We were sitting there in our offices as new lawyers on the day we were to find out if we passed the bar exam,” Mr. Supowitz recalled. The results were given at that time via a call center. “We just kept hitting redial and redial and redial and finally learned we both passed the bar,” he said, laughing at the memory.
But working at a large firm also didn’t quite fit for Mr. Cochran, so when Mr. Nordenberg was appointed interim chancellor at Pitt in the summer of 1995, his old colleague and former student wrote to him, asking for a job.
“It was a little surprising because I was just named interim chancellor and there was no assurance I would stay in the position,” Mr. Nordenberg said.
Two years later, Mr. Cochran brought his old friend and colleague Mr. Supowitz to the university, where he now is vice chancellor for community and governmental relations.
“Jerry was a very important influence in my life,” Mr. Supowitz said. “His affinity for the university was what attracted me to come back and build a career here.”
Mr. Cochran was a great judge of talent who fought fiercely for his staff, Mr. Nordenberg said.
“They found him to be consistently demanding and unfailing fair,” Mr. Nordenberg said. “You always knew where you stood with Jerry.”
And, Mr. Cochran’s job at Pitt wasn’t always easy. Dubbed “the university’s Rottweiler” by a member of the board of directors, Mr. Cochran was tasked with trimming expenses while overseeing more than $1 billion in new capital projects. He was also trusted with delicate negotiations, such as contracts for coaches in the revenue-producing sports.
“Hepossessed a distinctive combination of book smarts and street smarts,” Mr. Nordenberg said. “He was able to pragmatically size up almost any situation and intuitively conclude what would be the best result and how to move towardit.
They were difficult years because Pitt had been floundering and because we really needed to prove ourselves.”
Perhaps the most challenging part of Mr. Cochran’s career came in 2012, with the shooting at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and a series of bomb threats that crippled the university during the same time period.
“The active shooter threat at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic is a testament to the training work that was done here at Pitt,” said Mr. Nordenberg about the shooting, during which John Shick shot six people, killing one. Officers shot and killed Mr. Shick.
Mr. Cochran played a key role in coordinating campus police with law enforcement from the city and federal government during the bomb threats, which forced 136 evacuations, Mr. Nordenberg said. Adam Busby of Scotland was charged with emailing 40 bomb threats but has yet to stand trial.
Mr. Cochran also was an example of a loving husband and father of three children, friends said.
“I would look to Jerry for advice in my career and in my life,” Mr. Supowitz said. “His family was his No. 1 priority. It’s something I always tried to emulate as well.”
“His family was the most important thing to him,” Mrs. Cochran said. “From the time his children were young, family vacations were a priority, and continued to be so as the family grew and grandchildren could join as well.”
Even though they had differing views on some matters, Mr. Supowitz said Mr. Cochran was a good friend whom he will miss.
“We could get into a passionate disagreement over politics, but it didn’t matter; the next day we were still great friends. I just felt like there was no more loyal friend in the world than Jerry.”
Along with his wife, Mr. Cochran is survived by a daughter, Jill Cochran of Woodbridge, Va.; sons Jason Cochran of Los Angeles, and Joshua Cochran of Shaler; mother Jane Cochran of McKeesRocks; brother James Cochran of McKees Rocks; andthree grandchildren.
A private memorial service is planned.
The family suggests donations in Mr. Cochran’s memory to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank at www.pittsburghfoodbank.org.