Happy birthday, Wesley Posvar

Wesley Wentz Posvar inherited a university on the verge of collapse in 1967.

Pitt was almost… Wesley Wentz Posvar inherited a university on the verge of collapse in 1967.

Pitt was almost bankrupt and unable to pay approximately $27 million in debt. The civil rights movement was in full swing while college campuses across the country were aflame with racial tensions.

Soon after his term as chancellor began, he negotiated one of the shortest individual civil rights protests of the late 1960s, according to Robert C. Alberts’ “Pitt: The Story of the University of Pittsburgh.”

On Jan. 15, 1969, students took control of the campus computer lab on the eighth floor of the Cathedral of Learning.

At 10 p.m., a coalition of students seized the lab and refused to leave until a representative was allowed to speak with Posvar.

That representative was Jack Daniel, the current vice provost for undergraduate studies.

“I met with the chancellor on the night of the occurrence on behalf of the students,” said Daniel, an associate professor in the communications department at the time. “He was excellent in dealing with the situation. I give him the highest possible mark.”

Daniel negotiated until 3 a.m., when Posvar agreed not to criminally prosecute any of the students involved. He also committed to creating an African studies department, an African American history and culture section at Hillman Library and increasing the number of black students offered scholarships to Pitt.

When Posvar was inaugurated as the 15th chancellor of Pitt on March 27, 1968, he immediately tackled the growing multi-million dollar debt that held Pitt’s future in question. He personally constructed the University budget and oversaw the allocation of funds as he lowered tuition and doubled enrollment.

It was during this time that Pitt began receiving state funds, instead of going on as a strictly private university.

By 1976, the $27 million debt vanished.

Pitt’s general operating funds increased from $60 million to $630 million by the time of his retirement in 1991, seven times what it was in 1967, according to Alberts’ book.

The academic variety of Pitt drastically increased during Posvar’s tenure as well.

He founded the University Honors College, the Center for Social and Urban Research and the Center for Philosophy of Science.

During his tenure, Pitt was offered membership to the Association of American Universities, an organization that’s membership is reserved for the nation’s top research institutions.

Born on Sept. 14, 1925, in Topeka, Kan., Posvar graduated from West Point in 1946 with an engineering degree, earning one of the highest averages the academy had ever seen.

He went on to serve in the military and later received a master’s degree from Oxford University and earned a doctorate at Harvard in political science. He earned five different degrees during his academic career.

Posvar married internationally known opera singer Mildred Miller, who performed in cities from Berlin to New York during her career, according to Alberts’ book. The Posvars had three children together.

In May 2000, Pitt renamed its largest campus building after him, Wesley Posvar Hall. The building is home to the School of Education, the department of social science and the University Center for International Studies.

Posvar retired from academic life in 1991, with his five academic degrees and status of brigadier general in the Air Force.

He died on July 21, 2001, at the age of 75. He was interred with full military honors at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.