Chancellor-Elect Joan Gamble. (Courtesy of Aimee Obidzinski/University of Pittsburgh)
Joan Gabel, president and chief executive of the University of Minnesota system and Twin Cities campus, is the first woman in Pitt’s 236-year history to hold the position. She’s expected to take the helm in July.
by Emma Folts, PublicSource
The University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees voted Monday to elect Joan Gabel, president and chief executive of the University of Minnesota system and Twin Cities campus, as its 19th chancellor. Gabel, who is expected to start in July, is the first woman in Pitt’s 236-year history to hold the position.
She succeeds Chancellor Patrick Gallagher, who announced last April that he would step down this summer after nine years in the role. He intends to join Pitt’s faculty as a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Gabel has served as president of the five-campus University of Minnesota system since 2019. In that capacity, she oversaw the completion of a decade-long, $4 billion capital campaign and the creation of the system’s first comprehensive strategic plan. That plan resulted in “record-setting” graduation rates and a growing number of startups and patents, Pitt said in a press release. The system has also forged industry partnerships – including one with the Mayo Clinic and Google – during her tenure.
“I am excited and filled with optimism when I think of leading this institution into its important next chapter — to taking leaps when needed, and incremental steps as necessary, to ensure that every step we take, however large or small, moves us forward,” Gabel said in the release.
A 26-person committee of trustees and campus community members, aided by executive search firm Storbeck Search, embarked on a nearly eight-month search for Pitt’s next leader. Douglas Browning, chair of the board, said Monday that thousands of students, faculty, staff and alumni participated in an online survey and attended forums this fall to inform the search.
Gabel will receive an annual base salary of $950,000, compared to Gallagher’s base salary of $698,202 this year. Browning said during the board’s Compensation Committee meeting Monday afternoon that consultants found that Gallagher’s base salary had fallen below the 50% level of Pitt’s public university peers in the Association of American Universities.
“We as a board are also aware that many of our faculty and staff salaries need to be adjusted to remain competitive with our AAU peers, and we are committed to supporting the ongoing efforts of the administration to close the gap as soon as possible,” Browning said.
After the vote passed, the chancellor-elect fielded questions from the media about unionization, controversial campus speakers and the University of Minnesota’s relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department. Here are key takeaways from the conversation:
Temporarily limiting the role of city police
About a year after Gabel took the helm at the University of Minnesota, the murder of George Floyd by a city police officer ignited a national reckoning on racism and policing.
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