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Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, Wesley W. Posvar, Administrative Files, 1967-1991
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Metadata Details
- Title
- Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, Wesley W. Posvar, Administrative Files, 1967-1991
- Creator
- University of Pittsburgh Chancellor,
- Subject
- Posvar, Wesley, University of Pittsburgh. Chancellor., Universities and colleges--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Administration, Universities and colleges--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Records and correspondence, University of Pittsburgh
- Description
- This collection contains a large amount of material pertaining to all aspects of Wesley Posvar's administration as Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh from 1967 to 1991. In 1984 Posvar changed his title from Chancellor to President, but the office and duties remained the same. The majority of this collection is comprised of correspondence, but other records include reports, press releases, articles, and speeches. The first twenty-four record groups of the collection reflect each academic year that Posvar was Chancellor and these records were maintained in the order in which they were filed by the Office of the Chancellor. While extensive records were transferred to the University Archives for Academic Years 1968 through 1981 and 1991, the amount of material present for Academic Years 1982 to 1990 is limited. Folders from 1968 to 1981 also often include a scope note that lists many of the documents found in that folder. Record Group XXV contains additional material from throughout the first twenty-four record groups. Record Group XXVI contains subject files on the Chancellor's residence, faculty unionization efforts, minority recruitment, long-range planning, speeches, and the Medical and Health Care Division of the University, among others. Record Group XXVII contains minutes and agenda from Executive and Senior Staff meetings and Record Group XXVIII contains chronological files of correspondence from 1971 to 1978 and July 1983 to July 1991. Topics of interest include student unrest in the 1960s and 1970s, the growing role of medical research within the University, affirmative action and the University's interest in international studies., Processing Information: This collection was previously inventoried by Archives Service Center staff and the finding aid was created by Zachary Brodt in 2016. Approximately eight linear feet of material have yet to be processed and are not currently represented in this finding aid., Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, Wesley W. Posvar, Administrative Files, 1967-1991, UA.2.10.1967-1991, University of Pittsburgh Archives, Deposit (multiple); The Office of the Chancellor; 1980-1990's., Wesley Wentz Posvar was born in Topeka, Kansas, on September 14, 1925, and was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he graduated first in the class of 1946, before serving as an aircraft test pilot. Posvar won a Rhodes Scholarship, attending Oxford University where he earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in philosophy, politics and economics. His first teaching position was at West Point from 1951 to 1954 before joining the long-range planning program at the Air Force headquarters in the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. In 1957 Posvar became a professor of political science at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. From 1962 to 1964, he was a Littauer Fellow at Harvard's Graduate School of Public Administration, where he earned a Master of Public Administration degree and a Ph.D. in political science. In addition to his role as a professor, Posvar was chairman of the Division of Social Sciences at the Air Force Academy when he was contacted in 1966 about the position of Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh. On January 13, 1967, the University's Trustees announced that Posvar would become the Chancellor of the University on June 1, 1967. Posvar was the first Chancellor to live at the Chancellor's residence on Devonshire Street, which was donated to the University by Leon Falk just prior to Posvar's selection. Chancellor Posvar used the new state appropriated funds resulting from the University's 1966 state-related school designation to provide for the general operation of the University while private and corporate donations were used to promote programs at which Pitt would excel. With an eye toward long-range planning and control over the budget, Posvar was also able to repay the University's debt in 1976. During his time as Chancellor, the University created several new academic units, including the Honors College, University Center for International Studies, and the University Center for Social and Urban Research, to reflect Posvar's emphasis on a more diverse and accomplished campus that benefited the regional community. Posvar focused the University on research as a means of gaining prominence. In 1973 he hired Dr. Thomas Detre to head the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic (WPIC), where Detre began to invest the clinic's revenue back into WPIC research. This method proved successful and Detre was tasked with implementing the model throughout the hospitals of the University's Medical and Health Care Division, becoming the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 1990. However, as Pitt developed into a research and medical center, faculty in the arts and sciences felt that their departments and undergraduate education were taking a backseat to these new initiatives and they took a vote of no-confidence in Posvar during the Spring of 1990. Other minor scandals, including irregularities in donations made to the Department of Athletics, disagreements about whether property taxes should be paid on the Chancellor's residence, and Posvar's retirement package, marred the last few years of his term as Chancellor. Posvar retired as Chancellor in July 1991. In addition to his work at the University of Pittsburgh, Posvar served in leadership roles in a number of organizations, such as: the Federal Emergency Management Advisory Board, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, World Society for Ekistics, U.S. Space Foundation, and the International Studies Association. Posvar also served as an advisor to the federal government on foreign intelligence, aviation, and national emergency telecommunications. Posvar was married to Mildred Miller, an internationally known mezzo-soprano opera singer, and was father to a son, Wesley William, and two daughters, Marina and Lisa. In May 2000, Pitt named its largest campus classroom building, the Forbes Quadrangle, Wesley W. Posvar Hall. Posvar died on July 27, 2001, in Ligonier, Pa.
- Contributor
- University of Pittsburgh (depositor)
- Date
- 1967-1991
- Type
- Collection, text, Finding aids
- Format
- 180.4, unmediated, other
- Identifier
- oclc:ocn966448877, pitt:US-PPiU-ua2101967-1991
- Language
- eng
- Relation
- http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?type=simple;c=ascead;view=text;subview=outline;didno=US-PPiU-ua2101967-1991
- Coverage
- Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh
- Rights
- Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/, Copyright Not Evaluated. The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
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