5 Pitt faculty were selected for the 2024 ACC Academic Leaders Network cohort

Five faculty from five schools across the University of Pittsburgh were chosen to participate in the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Leaders Network program.

The program, which was launched in 2018, provides an opportunity for faculty at ACC institutions strengthen their leadership skills, build networks, deepen their understanding of higher education administration and broaden their awareness of needs and challenges in higher ed.

Up to five participants are selected from each institution. Deans and campus presidents can nominate department or division chairs, associate deans, associate vice provosts and faculty in similar roles for consideration. Nominations are solicited in late spring.

Here is this year’s cohort:

• Kevin M. Conley, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition, and associate dean for undergraduate studies at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
• Kyaien O. Conner, professor and Donald M. Henderson Endowed Chair; director of the Center on Race and Social Problems; and associate dean for justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in Pitt’s School of Social Work
• Erica Owen, associate professor and associate dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs
• Vanitha Swaminathan, Thomas Marshall Professor of Marketing and associate dean of strategic initiatives at Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
• David A. Vorp, John A. Swanson Professor of Bioengineering and senior associate dean for research and facilities in the Swanson School of Engineering, with secondary appointments in the departments of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science as well as Cardiothoracic Surgery and Surgery in the School of Medicine and Pitt’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute