9 minute read
60 and counting
At Pitt-Bradford, you’re never just a number
From a Bradford geologist’s dream to today’s 491-acre campus astride the Tunungwant Creek, Pitt-Bradford’s come a long way in 60 years. Let’s take a look at our campus by the numbers.
By KIMBERLY WEINBERG
* Every number between 0 and 60 is not represented.
0 The number of institutions of higher education available in an area the size of Connecticut before Pitt founded its Bradford campus in 1963.
1 is the number of baseball players to reach the AAA level in the minor leagues when Ryan Boyer ’20 spent a week in July 2023 pitching with the Buffalo Bisons before returning to the Vancouver Canadians. Previous Panther pitchers Zach Foster ’12 and Aaron Cressley ’15 had pitched in Minor League Baseball, with Foster advancing as far as AA with the Pittsburgh Pirates system.
2 Pitt-Bradford began offering 2-year associate degrees for the first time in 1975. Until that time, students took two years of general education courses before transferring to the Pittsburgh campus or another four-year institution. The first associate degree program was an associate of science in petroleum technology.
3 On Sept. 3, 1963, Pitt-Bradford opened its doors for the first time at the Hamsher House. The university bought the former nurses’ dormitory as its one-and-only academic building. Faculty included John Shea, political science; June Pfister, chemistry and math; and Gisella Magnella, German. Students lived with housemothers in local apartments at 146 W. Washington St., 87 Kennedy St., 2 School St., 197 Interstate Parkway or the Bradford YMCA.
4 Pitt-Bradford campus added its first 4-year baccalaureate programs in 1975. They were social science and liberal studies.
5 is the current number of associate degrees available at Pitt-Bradford: Associate of Science in Engineering; Associate of Science in Information Systems; Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies; Associate of Science in Nursing; and Associate of Science in Petroleum Technology.
6 Bradfordians have served as the chair of the Pitt-Bradford Advisory Board: J.B. Fisher, president of Kendall Refining (see number 8); Dr. Robert Bromeley, entrepreneur and businessman; William F. Higie, vice president of Forest Oil Corp.; Hon. John Cleland, president judge of McKean County; Craig Hartburg ’73-’75, owner of Servco Services Inc.; and Jeannine Schoenecker, former president and COO of American Refining Group Inc.
7 It took seven months to restore “Venetian Promenade,” an enormous 19th century oil painting that at one time occupied the Hotel Emery at the head of Main Street in Bradford. When Pitt-Bradford bought the building in 1964 to use for student housing, then-president Dr. Donald Swarts, a lover of the arts, had the painting crated and stored, where it was forgotten until it was found in 2019. The university restored the painting, and it hangs in the KOA Speer Electronics Lobby of Blaisdell Hall.
8 Chancellors have led the University of Pittsburgh during Pitt-Bradford’s 60 years: Edward H. Litchfield (1956-65); Stanton C. Crawford (1965-66); David H. Kurtzman (1966-67); Wesley W. Posvar (1967-1991); J. Dennis O’Connor (1991-1995); Mark A. Nordenberg, (1995-2014); Patrick Gallagher (2014-2023); and Joan Gabel (2023-present).
9 Dr. Carys EvansCorrales, professor of Spanish who taught for 25 years before retiring in 2018, spoke 9 languages. She was known for her wit and kindness.
10 $10 million was the goal for Pitt-Bradford’s Campaign 2000, which exceeded its goal by more than 25% and provided the money for the construction of Blaisdell Hall.
12 Pitt-Bradford Panthers compete in 12 NCAA Division III sports –men’s baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s wrestling, women’s bowling, women’s softball and women’s volleyball.
13 For 13 years, Pitt-Bradford has been named a Military Friendly campus, including the 2023-24 academic year – the first time it was named a Top 10 school for embracing military students and their families.
15 Dr. Livingston Alexander was the university’s first Black president, and he served for 15 years, from 2003 to 2018.
16 On Jan. 16, 1934, Marilyn Horne was born in Bradford, Pa. She left Bradford when she was 11, became a world-renowned opera star and eventually left her personal archive to the University of Pittsburgh for use by scholars and to create a museum run by Pitt-Bradford in downtown Bradford.
17 There are 17 students in a typical Pitt-Bradford class.
18 was the drinking age in New York State until 1985 –a situation that led to many runs across the nearby Pennsylvania-New York border for early students
19 June 19 is Pitt’s newest official holiday, Juneteenth, which commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas received their freedom.
20 Number of years PittBradford has been named to The Princeton Review’s Best Regional Colleges. The Best Regional Colleges lists colleges it considers academically outstanding based on a survey of students, who answer 85 questions about their school’s academics, administration and campus community. “All students here need to do is say ‘hi’ to another student, and you can be instant friends,” one student wrote.
23% of PittBradford students are Panther student-athletes.
24states were represented in giving to Pitt-Bradford during last year’s one-day universitywide fundraising event, Pitt Day of Giving. The Pitt-Bradford fund receiving the most donations was Panthers’ baseball.
25 2025 will be the first year that Panthers’ men’s lacrosse competes in NCAA Division III. See story on page 9.
26 In the spring of 2026, a women’s lacrosse team will join the men’s team in competing in DIII intercollegiate athletics.
28% of PittBradford students are from out of state, while another 4% are international students or hail from U.S. territories.
29 Dr. Richard E. McDowell was 29 years old when he became the youngest college president in the United States in 1973, succeeding Dr. Donald Swarts, Pitt-Bradford’s founding president. McDowell retired as president in 2002 but continues to be involved in the university’s development and growth.
30 high schools take part in Pitt- Bradford’s College in the High School program, which allows high school students to take college courses and receive credit for classes taught by their regular teachers in their high schools.
31 There are 31 buildings on campus. The two oldest buildings were part of the Harri Emery Airport and have names reflecting their function at the time – The Control Tower and the Hangar Building. The airport was dedicated in 1929 and was also home to a factory that built small training planes –Taylor and Piper Cubs.
32 In a nationwide ranking of colleges and universities by Washington Monthly magazine published last fall, Pitt-Bradford ranked 32nd in social mobility. The magazine calculates social mobility using a complex formula of factors that include graduation rate and a predicted graduation rate given the number of students who come from families with lower incomes, the percentage of students receiving student loans, the admissions rate, and the racial/ethnic and gender makeup of the student body. In other words, Pitt-Bradford students perform better than expected given the university’s demographic profile.
33 There are 33 acres in the Onofrio tract, a parcel of land that served as the basis for the Kessel Athletic Complex. In 1967, when Witco-Kendall Corp. donated 78 acres on the site of the former Harri Emery Airport, the City of Bradford and Bradford Township jointly announced they would make the Onofrio tract available for development as a recreation area. As part of the agreement, high school and recreational teams have used the facilities.
34 Years taught by Dr. YongZhuo Chen before his retirement in August 2023. He was one of the longest-serving members of the faculty and loved the personalized teaching environment at Pitt-Bradford as well as the easygoing, small-town life in Bradford, where he and his wife enjoy walking on trails for exercise. In 2019, Lawrence Feick, then-interim president of Pitt-Bradford, presented Chen with the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Service.
38 baccalaureate majors are offered on the Bradford campus. The most recent additions are mechanical engineering technology and energy engineering technology. This year's largest majors? Biology/pre-med (9.7%) and business management (9.6%).
39 credits required for a degree in broadcast communications, which also requires that students complete a minor or a second major.
40% of the energy required by the George B. Duke Engineering and Information Technologies Building is provided by the solar panels on its roof.
42 thousand dollars in challenge funds were earned by the Pitt-Bradford campus during 2023’s Pitt Day of Giving. That money went toward construction of the university’s new artificial turf field.
43 Dr. Warren Fass, associate professor of psychology, has been teaching at Pitt-Bradford for 43 years.
45 % of current Pitt-Bradford students received a Pell Grant and the Pitt Success Matching Grant. 45% of current Pitt-Bradford students are also the first generation in their family to attend college or university.
46 years working at Pitt-Bradford for Kathy Moonan, our director of business affairs.
45-47 Main St. was the address of the Emery Hardware Store, which became the Emery Engineering Building in 1967. It was used until 1975, when science and engineering moved into Fisher Hall.
48 young women have traveled abroad since 2008 through the Vira I. Heinz program, of which PittBradford is one of 18 Pennsylvania colleges and universities whose students are eligible to apply. The Vira I. Heinz Program for Women, Non-Binary and Transgender Global Leaders provides scholarships of at least $5,000 to put toward the cost of an international experience of their choosing. In the United States, they learn leadership development and engage with their home communities.
49 An unusually large number of community leaders – 49 – were members of Pitt-Bradford’s first Advisory Board. President Donald Swarts wanted the board to help the university win and maintain public support, which it has done. In 2018, President Livingston Alexander honored the board by bestowing on it his final Presidential Medal of Distinction, the university’s highest honor.
50 Dr. Marvin Thomas, professor of history, taught for 50 years at Pitt-Bradford
51 Dr. Diego Vacaflores ’00 played 51 matches in three years on the Panthers’ men’s soccer team, setting the program record for goals at 33. That mark is currently third highest in program history. Last fall, he was inducted into the Pitt-Bradford Athletic Hall of Fame.
53% of Pitt-Bradford students are female. Nationwide, the figure was 58% in 2021.
57 counties in Pennsylvania are represented in Pitt-Bradford’s student population.
60 Pitt-Bradford marked 60 years of service to students during its annual Founders’ Day celebration on Sept. 3, 2023.
