University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh is a highly selective university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is frequently referred to simply as "Pitt".

The University of Pittsburgh campus is located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, just west of Schenley Park. The main campus is roughly bordered by Bouquet Street to the west and Bellefield Avenue to the east; Forbes and Fifth Avenues traverse the campus from west to east. The university also has regional campuses in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville. Carnegie Mellon University is almost adjacent to the campus, and many Pitt professors also hold adjunct professorships at CMU.

The University was founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787. It was renamed The Western University of Pennsylvania in 1819 and took its current name in 1908. In 1966 it was designated by Pennsylvania as a "state-related" university. Pitt receives public funds and offers reduced tuition to Pennsylvania residents.

Arguably the most famous Pitt professor in history was Jonas Salk, inventor of the first polio vaccine.

Moreover, Pitt is considered to be the main international center of the philosophy of science.

Pitt is widely believed to be a key university in the development of a bioterrorism defense system, due to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. George W. Bush has, for this reason, visited the university twice during his presidency.

Pitt is home to the Cathedral of Learning, which at 42 stories and 535 feet makes it the tallest educational building in the western hemisphere and second-tallest in the world.

Athletics

Pittsburgh's sports teams are called the Panthers. The Panthers participate in NCAA Division I (Division I-A for football) and in the Big East Conference.

Education

Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School of Business, the School of Dental Medicine, the School of Education, the School of Engineering, the College of General Studies, the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, the Honors College, the School of Information Sciences, the School of Law, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing, the School of Pharmacy, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, the Graduate School of Public Health, and the School of Social Work. The University also academically sponsors the Semester at Sea program.

Famous alumni

• Derrick A. Bell, Jr., law professor, the first tenured black professor at Harvard Law School, dean of Oregon Law School (law degree)
• Michael Bilirakis, U.S. representative
• Herbert Boyer, biochemist
• Ben Cardin, U.S. representative
• Michael Chabon, 2001 Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• Mike Ditka, American football hall-of-famer
• Tony Dorsett, American football hall-of-famer
• Tom Feeney, U.S. representative
• Freddie Fu, expert in sports medicine
• Melissa Hart, U.S. representative (law degree)
• Orrin Hatch, U.S. senator (law degree)
• Gene Kelly, Actor
• Roger Kingdom, sprint hurdler, 2-time Olympic gold medalist, former World Record holder
• Paul Lauterbur, 2003 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine
• William Lerach, securities class-action lawyer, lead attorney in class-action against Enron (undergraduate and law degree)
• Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner
• Dan Marino, American football hall-of-famer
• Mark May, ESPN Sports Commentator
• Andrew W. Mellon, Banker, philanthropist, U.S. Secretary of Treasury, and founder of the Mellon Institute of Science, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University
• Jim Moran, U.S. representative
• John Murtha, U.S. representative
• Leo Robin, American composer and songwriter
• Rick Santorum, U.S. senator
• Elmer Eric Schattschneider, political scientist
• Sal Sunseri, Pro Football Coach
• Dick Thornburgh, U.S. Attorney General (law degree)
• James A. Traficant Jr., U.S. representative
• Lap-Chee Tsui, genetic scientist
• Thomas Usher, Chairman of U.S. Steel and Marathon Oil (undergraduate, master's and Ph.D degrees)
• Dave Wannstedt Former Pro Football Coach, and current University of Pittsburgh football head coach
• Albert Wynn, U.S. representative
• Vladimir Zworykin, inventor

External links

• University of Pittsburgh official website
• Semester at Sea official website
• Pittsburgh Panthers intercollegiate athletics official website