Dr. David Fitz, who has served several years as campus dean at the University of Pittsburgh at Titusville, has been named vice president of institutional integration and community engagement at Pitt-Bradford.
Fitz was to have started his new position at Pitt-Bradford in January. However, when the vice president and dean of student affairs resigned that month, Dr. Catherine Koverola, Pitt-Bradford’s president, asked Fitz to serve as interim dean of students until a permanent replacement was found. Earlier this month, Dr. Michele Cruse was hired as vice president and dean of student affairs.
“I have been very impressed with David and the strong and sound leadership he has provided to the Titusville campus for several years,” said Koverola, who is also president of Pitt-Titusville. “I look forward to David helping us develop additional partnerships to further advance our mission.”
Part of Fitz’s new responsibilities at Pitt-Bradford will include increasing engagement between the Bradford community and the university. Fitz, who has served on Pitt-Bradford’s President’s Cabinet for the last several years, also will work closely with his colleagues to develop a new strategic plan and provide oversight in the implementation of the plan.
In addition to his work at Pitt-Bradford, Fitz will continue to have a presence on the Titusville campus as the interim executive director of the campus’s new Education and Training Hub, which launches in August. He will remain in that role until a permanent replacement can be hired.
“I am excited about serving the university in these new positions,” Fitz said. “I am thrilled to be helping Pitt-Bradford move forward with its strategic plan and to more fully integrate the campus and the Bradford community, and I am looking forward to helping the hub in Titusville succeed.”
Fitz has been with the university since 2011, when he became the vice president of academic affairs at Pitt-Titusville. In 2012, when Pitt-Bradford assumed administrative responsibilities for the Titusville campus, Fitz was named interim campus dean, then campus dean a year later.
He has spent more than 30 years in higher education. He began his career teaching at several universities, including the University of Pittsburgh; Eastern Illinois University; Macon State College, now Middle Georgia State College; DeKalb Community College in Clarkston, Ga.; and Clayton College and State University in Morrow, Ga.
In 1997, he accepted a faculty position to teach political science at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill. During his 13 years there, he held several administrative positions, including chair of the history and political science department from 1999 to 2003, and vice president for academic affairs from 2006 to 2011.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in international studies from York College of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in political science from the University of Pittsburgh.
Fitz and his wife, Kathy, who have relocated to Bradford, have been married for more than 20 years. He has two adult stepchildren; two children, one a recent Pitt-Bradford graduate and another in college; and five grandchildren.
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