obituary Archives - The Pitt News

‘We were family’: Pitt student Adam Garvin remembered as a loving, caring friend

By Colm Slevin, Staff Writer • September 13, 2021

Katrina Taliani said Adam Garvin was the type of person who was comfortable around others and made friends easily. Garvin, a junior mechanical engineering major, passed away Aug. 28 in a motorcycle accident on Route 366.

‘He gave so much to all of us’: Remembering Larry Davis, dean emeritus of the School of Social Work

By Colm Slevin, Staff Writer • April 16, 2021

Larry Davis, the dean emeritus of the School of Social Work, passed away on March 30 at 74. A renowned scholar on race in America, Davis joined Pitt as the school’s dean in 2001 and founded the Center on Race and Social Problems shortly after in 2002.

Obituaries: Tree of Life shooting victims

By Elise Lavallee, Contributing Editor • November 2, 2018

The obituaries of each life lost in the Tree of Life shooting last Saturday, Oct. 27.

Mark Nordenberg recalls late vice chancellor’s Pitt Pride

By Grant Burgman, News Editor • August 20, 2018

Jerome “Jerry” Cochran, former Pitt vice chancellor, died Wednesday, Aug. 5, at age 69.

Jimmy Wopo: The man behind the music

By Hannah Schneider, Contributing Editor • June 27, 2018

Local rapper Travon Smart — known by his stage name, Jimmy Wopo — was fatally shot last Monday afternoon at the age of 21. The shooting took place in the Middle Hill neighborhood — the very neighborhood...

Religious studies chair, mentor dies

By John Hamilton | Managing Editor • February 28, 2018

Linda Penkower — the chair of the University’s religious studies department known for supporting students and faculty — died Tuesday night, the department’s undergraduate director said in an email. In...

Alina Sheykhet remembered by friends as kind and loving

By Rachel Glasser | News Editor • October 15, 2017

In a seventh grade stage production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” Isabel Scrabis’ grandfather mistook Alina Sheykhet — who starred as Millie — for his granddaughter. “The whole entire time...

Pitt Newsers remember pro bono attorney Ron Barber

By John Hamilton / Editor-in-Chief • July 14, 2017

Ron Barber, a staunch legal defender of the First Amendment and student journalism, died Thursday, July 6, at age 56, of complications from prostate cancer. Barber — who graduated from Pitt Law in...

Pitt remembers professor, jazz icon Geri Allen

By Grant Burgman / Staff Writer • July 5, 2017

Geri Allen, who made a profound impact on both the jazz genre and her students at Pitt, died of cancer on June 27 in Philadelphia. She was 60. Born and raised in Detroit, Allen studied at Howard University...