University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

Page 29 text:

Bicentennial 23

Page 28 text:

1787 1987 TV U nisei sit) of Pittsburgh's skyline before the storm. Right: In on attempt to improve Pitt’ appearance aging tree are uprooted to provide ample ground for new growth. Unlike the fiery decade before it, the mid-1970s marked an important turning point toward the University’s growing prestige. The University in 1975 became by invitation a member of the Association of American Universities, a select group of fifty institutions strong in graduate work, professional schools, and research. According to the perceptions of the other forty-nine members, Pitt was thus recognized as one of the top publicly supported research universities in the United States. On August 23, 1976, the University marked its tenth anniversary as a member of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education. Although excellence in student scholarship and faculty teaching had been sought in various ways down through the years, after 1976 new ways of rewarding superior performance were developed and formalized. The Univer- sity Honors Program (UHP) was introduced on the Pittsburgh campus in 1977. Complementing the University's academic growth of the late 1970s was a resurgence in Pitt's athletic programs. In 1976, the Panther football team won its ninth national title, and running back Tony Dorsett won the coveted Heisman Trophy. Under Jackie Sherrill (1977-1981) Pitt had five phenomenally successful seasons. There were important developments on the campus in 1983-1985 that serve to illustrate major themes of the Posvar administration. In April, 1985, Pitt acquired the $100,000,000 Gulf Research Center as a gift. In November 1985 Pitt became the first University in the world to adopt the AT T Fiber Optics Telecommunications System — The Campus of the Future. Along with other advances in research and planning, these developments will help carry Pitt into an exciting future. The University approaches its bicentennial challenged and intrigued by an apparent duality of mission: to be a regional institution serving the communities anti people of the immediate area, or to be a national international university with a strong emphasis on research and teaching. Posvar argues that we cannot be one or the other; that to serve the needs and be a leader within the context of our region — whether defined narrowly as Western Pennsylvania or as the Upper Ohio Valley of as the Middle Atlantic — we must be a national international university ranked among the very best of the comprehensive, urban centers of research and teaching in the world.” 22 Bicentennial

Page 30 text:

m STUDENT LIFE This seal is the official University of Pittsburgh Bicentennial graphic symbol. Designed especially for the Bicentennial, it's used on formal and or official printed pieces.