July 15, 2020
Dear Colleagues,
After three and a half years of outstanding service as Assistant Provost, Nancy Tannery has informed me of her decision to retire, effective September 2, 2020. I greatly appreciate her significant contributions to the Office of the Provost and to the University of Pittsburgh as a whole. I am also pleased that she has agreed to continue to assist the office on a few targeted projects going forward.
During her time as Assistant Provost, Nancy spearheaded many important special projects that supported and helped to further important goals. With an eye toward textbook affordability in the classroom, she led the implementation of the Open Education Resources initiative to promote faculty use of OER resources on all Pitt campuses. The OER Standing Committee, chaired by Nancy, distributed funding for 44 faculty projects that enable those faculty members to customize course materials and thereby enhance their students’ educational experiences.
Earlier this year, she co-chaired the successful application for the Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement. She also helped to launch the new Public Art on Campus initiative in her role as steering committee co-chair.
I am grateful for her commitment and dedication in these areas, as well as her diligent efforts in conducting benchmarking research, developing onboarding programs for senior leaders, and building out the Academic Program Review process.
Nancy has been an active part of the University community in a variety of roles for 40-plus years. Before joining the Office of the Provost, Nancy served as senior associate director within the Health Sciences Library System, having worked within the HSLS for nearly 20 years in several capacities. She also held a secondary appointment as affiliated faculty to the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the School of Medicine. Previously, Nancy held several research roles within the University and at local specialty hospitals. As a result of her expertise, Nancy was recognized with the Estelle Brodman Award for the Academic Medical Librarian of the Year by the Medical Library Association.
Nancy is a past member of the Provost Advisory Committee on Women’s Concerns, the School of Medicine Curriculum Committee, and participated in the school’s LCME accreditation review. She was also selected to participate in the competitive NLM/AAHSL Leadership Fellows Program. Designed to prepare emerging leaders for director positions in academic health sciences libraries, this program is jointly funded by the National Library of Medicine and the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries.
In the breadth and depth of the work she has accomplished, Nancy has helped the University community to grow and learn in wonderful ways. Please join me in expressing appreciation and thanks to Nancy for her far-reaching efforts and service.
Best,
Ann
Ann E. Cudd
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
Professor of Philosophy
University of Pittsburgh