Pitt Johnstown president to retire in July 2007

With 12 years of work behind him, Albert Etheridge has decided that 13 will be his lucky… With 12 years of work behind him, Albert Etheridge has decided that 13 will be his lucky number before he heads off to a sunny, southern retirement, leaving Pennsylvania behind.

The president of Pitt’s Johnstown branch campus announced that he plans to retire on June 30, 2007, after having served as the college’s fourth president for more than a decade.

Since Etheridge began in 1994, Pitt’s Johnstown campus has seen $20 million worth of campus improvements, including those to residence halls and academic buildings. He has also reached 90 percent of his $10 million goal for capital investment.

Etheridge said he was unable to pick one achievement that he was most proud of, listing curriculum development and campus improvement among his top choices.

“Academics aren’t trained to be administrators,” he said. “They learn as they go along.”

Etheridge announced his retirement early to allow administrators a chance to find a suitable replacement and said that from now on he plans to only start things that he can accomplish before he retires next summer.

Etheridge, an Arkansas native who moved to Louisiana, was a biology professor before moving to collegiate administration positions and he said he planned to move back to Louisiana after he retires.