An impromptu stop started this senior vice chancellor’s 25-year Pitt journey
Growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, I thought Pittsburgh was less “across the state” and more like “worlds away.”
That is until my Uncle Mike, driving us back from a Michigan family trip, made an impromptu stop at Pitt, where his son was in medical school and his daughter was a first-year undergraduate.
“Before we head home, let’s drop in on your cousins,” he said. “I think you’ll like Pitt and the city. It will remind you a little bit of home.”
He made a strategic detour past the airport so I could experience the Fort Pitt Tunnel’s dramatic skyline reveal. Minutes later, I was amazed by another towering structure, the Cathedral of Learning. Like the city it calls home, the University of Pittsburgh gets right into your bloodstream.
Less than two years later, much to my uncle’s satisfaction, I was an enthusiastic first-year. The Pitt student experience shaped my life’s path.
After graduating in 2004, I spent the next 12 years living between Scranton, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. For the record, I’ve lived in three of Pennsylvania’s four corners while spending enough time in Erie to be an honorary resident. I proudly have visited all 67 counties.
I made frequent return visits to Pittsburgh, especially for Pitt sports. In 2017, I received the call back “home” to Pitt when then-Chancellor Patrick Gallagher asked me to serve as his chief of staff. I was proud to accept the appointment. It had long been my aspiration to give back to the University that had given me so much.
I previously was honored to serve Pitt as a Board of Trustees member, and I’m equally honored now to serve as senior vice chancellor for external relations. A vital part of Pitt’s Office of External Relations centers on public impact and uplifting communities. This isn’t limited to our backyard. As part of the Winter '26 issue of Pitt Magazine, you'll read story after story about how Pitt’s impact reaches across the commonwealth and then some. Including:
- The School of Dental Medicine providing an antidote to rural Pennsylvania’s dental health crisis.
- Pitt-Bradford students helping small towns with EMT and paramedic shortages.
- York County libraries thriving, thanks to a passionate Pitt alum.
- “Rural recruiter” Daryl Burleigh, a Wayne County native, introducing Pitt to prospective students in dozens of far-reaching counties.
Pitt remains connected to the communities our alumni call home — serving as a committed neighbor and being an engine of lifelong learning and workforce development, all while helping to anchor Pennsylvania’s economy. Every day, Pitt improves lives in the commonwealth and beyond. As Chancellor Joan Gabel likes to say, “Hail to Possible and Hail to Pitt!” (I’ll add, “Hail to Pennsylvania!”)
It’s been more than 25 years since that side trip to Oakland. I still drive through the Fort Pitt Tunnel with great anticipation. And I never, ever get tired of walking into the Cathedral of Learning for work.
Thanks, Uncle Mike.
— Kevin Washo (A&S ’04), Senior Vice Chancellor for External Relations
