Pitt Names New Director of Faculty Diversity and Development

Lorie Johnson-Osho will join the Office of the Provost as director of faculty diversity and development effective Dec. 7, 2020.

In this role, Johnson-Osho will exercise her leadership in envisioning, developing, delivering and promoting a comprehensive set of programs to support the career and professional development of all University of Pittsburgh faculty. She will report to Vice Provost for Faculty Diversity and Development John Wallace. She will work with the University Center for Teaching and Learning, vice provosts for faculty, faculty members and faculty leaders across the University to identify gaps and opportunities for new programming; manage and refine existing faculty development programs and workshops; and design and deliver programs that foster skill development, leadership development, mentoring, networking, community-building and career progression.

She brings more than 20 years of higher education experience to this position, having built a breadth of knowledge and skills through roles involving instructional and administrative leadership, program development, event planning, marketing and communications.

Wallace said, “I am excited to have Dr. Johnson-Osho join our team. Her experience and expertise will be invaluable as we support Pitt’s commitment to becoming an anti-racist institution and move forward our focus on inclusive excellence through the Aspire Alliance and other upcoming initiatives.”

Johnson-Osho is no stranger to Pitt, having spent 2000-10 in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences’ Office of Graduate Studies. As assistant dean, she helped to develop strategies to recruit and retain students, faculty and administrators of African, Latino, Asian and Native American descent. She also acted as academic integrity officer and worked to sustain a culture of academic integrity and increase awareness of the University's academic integrity policy. She counts both the administration of the K. Leroy Irvis Fellowship and helping to launch the Hot Metal Bridge Post-Bac Program as key accomplishments during her time in the Dietrich School. 

Johnson-Osho re-joins Pitt from at Grove City College, where she was an assistant professor in the education department. There, she also served as director of multicultural recruiting and engagement where she utilized data and research on national diversity trends in higher education to identify and recruit faculty from diverse groups, support faculty and the administration in advising students of diverse backgrounds, and develop opportunities for engagement and leadership growth in diversity, equity, and inclusion. She also launched a new student multicultural orientation, a multicultural speaker series and a diversity and inclusion taskforce during her time at Grove City.

She is currently the inaugural president of the Greater Pittsburgh Higher Education Diversity Consortium and an active member of the Pennsylvania Black Conference on Higher Education (PBCOHE), Pittsburgh Intergroup Dialogue, National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education and the Western PA College Success Roundtable. PBCOHE has recognized her with both the Western Region Award and a certificate of appreciation and she was named a Woman of Excellence by The New Pittsburgh Courier.

Johnson-Osho received an Ed.D. in educational administration and leadership from Roosevelt University and holds both a master’s degree in counseling education and a bachelor’s degree in journalism and communication from Duquesne University.