Gabel installed as chancellor
Reflects on Pitt’s legacy, current state of higher education
In 1845, a great fire ravaged a third of Pittsburgh, including the university hall at what would eventually be known as the University of Pittsburgh.
The immense destruction prompted many to call for the closure of the Oakland school. But despite ashes and pressure, Pitt rebuilt.
Nearly 180 years later, Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel drew inspiration from that story at her formal installation ceremony.
“Even in those most desperate times … our forebears ensured that classes would continue. It should be no surprise then how that toughness and that resiliency and that spirit have been forged into our DNA,” Ms. Gabel said.
“Because when Pittsburgh and society have needed something, we’ve literally risen from the ashes to give it to them — whether it was simply finding a way to stay open and continue our mission, or how destiny has been carved out of these hills to defeat crippling diseases in the ’50s, or today to do things like restore sight to the blind.”
Pitt formally installed Ms. Gabel as chancellor on Friday — a year and two days after the university’s board of trustees selected her to serve as the school’s 19th leader.
Over 200 people gathered in the ornate Carnegie Music Hall to celebrate Ms. Gabel’s installation and a subsequent Faculty Honors Convocation. Greenery and blue and gold lights decorated the stage where Ella Fitzgerald and Luciano Pavarotti previously performed.
Among those in attendance at the installation were former Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and members of Ms. Gabel’s family.
Ms. Gabel took Pitt’s helm in July, succeeding former Chancellor
Pat Gallagher. The experienced higher education leader served as president of the University of Minnesota for four years.
Her remarks at Friday’s installation focused on Pitt’s legacy and challenges facing higher education. She touched on historic demand for Pitt, record research funding and a recently approved strategic plan as signs of Pitt’s modern-day success.
And she acknowledged “headwinds” in higher education and “unrest” in society.
“I know many of us feel kind of melancholy as we face these headwinds and we feel these headwinds strengthen,” Ms. Gabel said. “We pause and recognize that … we are not immune to these headwinds and the melancholy that it causes all of us to feel. We are far from untested here at this institution.”
Louis Cestello, the current chair of Pitt’s board of trustees, said he believes Ms. Gabel is the right person to lead Pitt at a time when higher education is “rapidly changing.”
“We’re at a moment in history when visionary ideas and strong leadership are essential for the future of institutions like ours,” Mr. Cestello said. “Joan Gabel provides both.”
Ms. Gabel concluded her remarks on Friday by optimistically looking to Pitt’s future — and nodding to the university fight song.
“What excites me and gives me a sense of peace is that I know we’re just getting started,” she said. “So I say hail to possible and hail to Pitt.”