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FALL 2023

Frits Pil Appointed Distinguished Service Professor

// Faculty Feature

For the first time in over three decades, a Pitt Business professor has received the University’s special faculty rank of Distinguished Service Professor. Frits Pil, professor of Organizations and Entrepreneurship, research scientist, and the Henry E. Haller Jr. Faculty Fellow for Distinguished Service, earned this distinction. As Chancellor Patrick Gallagher noted in his letter awarding the rank, this appointment “constitutes the highest honor that the University can accord a member of the professoriate.”   

Nijat by Mervis Hall

SUPPORT FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND STUDENTS

Pil’s service within Pitt Business is extensive. He developed a mentorship program for junior faculty, a teaching effectiveness program for graduate students, and faculty training on new instructional approaches — well before the pandemic hit. He has organized training for faculty and staff on recognizing mental health challenges of students and facilitating access to help. He has played an integral role in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion efforts, organizing training sessions and working closely with the University’s Office of EDI on the school’s customized certification program for faculty and staff.  

At the University level, Pil was an inaugural Provost Fellow for Faculty and has contributed to major University efforts including most recently the University’s Middle States re-accreditation, the Momentum Funds, the Plan for Pitt, and key initiatives to address the challenges presented by the Covid pandemic.

Pil is renowned for his research on knowledge creation and transfer, with numerous publications in top academic journals as well as key practitioner outlets, including California Management Review, Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review. He is an exceptional teacher, with 15 teaching awards over the past decade for his courses on negotiations, conflict management, and creativity. Congratulate Frits Pil via fritspil@pitt.edu