Faculty & Teaching

Patricia Beeson headshot, wearing black/white jacket
An app matching students to tutors and a Netflix-like recommendation system to find mentors are among the projects funded by the Office of the Provost’s first Personalized Education Grants Program.
Porter in a brightly colored red blouse and scarf
Visits with artists, dancers and musicians and interviews with entrepreneurs and religious leaders helped teams of Pitt and Ethiopian educators create a set of lessons that teachers worldwide can use to introduce their students to the East African nation.
Dyer, a student with red hair and glasses
What was once a standard research paper project during the Pitt in Sicily study abroad program has morphed into an immersive microdocumentary series created by students.
Bald man shown from the back with D.O.C. printed on his prison uniform
The Pitt Prison Education Project puts undergraduates in the classroom with inmates — not as teachers or assistants, but as fellow students taking the same college course.
Braun in a suit in front of a gray background
After 18 years as dean of the School of Dental Medicine and many more years at the University of Pittsburgh in various roles, Thomas W. Braun has retired. Braun spent his entire postsecondary education and career at Pitt.
Harvey in a white shirt and wearing blue framed glasses
Yona Harvey, an assistant professor of English, co-authored two spinoff series for the "Black Panther" comic book franchise and has dedicated much of her career to creating art with women and children of color in mind.
Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History Marcus Rediker is drawn to people forgotten or ignored by traditional historians. His latest book focuses on Benjamin Lay, the first revolutionary abolitionist.
Ermentrout in a yellow hazmat suit
In a perennial favorite lecture, G. Bard Ermentrout teaches students to end a theoretical zombie or vampire apocalypse with mathematical equations.
Larry E. Davis
In his 17th year at the helm of Pitt’s School of Social Work, Dean Larry E. Davis announces he will step down at the end of the 2017-18 academic year, amid praise for his leadership and his dedication to issues of race, social justice and community.
Sponsored by alumni Richard and Renée Goldman, the competition awarded three teams a total of $30,000 for their innovative ideas to improve education.