Residence hall to be named in honor of President Alexander

Pitt-Bradford will name its new residence hall, set to open in 2018, in honor of its president, Dr. Livingston Alexander, who will retire next summer.

The University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees approved the naming of Livingston Alexander House at its meeting Wednesday in Pittsburgh.

Alexander House will become home to 172 first-year students and six resident advisers next fall.

“I'm surprised and pleased to have the new residence hall named in my honor, but I accept this honor on behalf of the many dedicated colleagues who've worked side-by-side with me to advance our campus,” Alexander said.

In approving their resolution naming the hall, the trustees cited Pitt-Bradford's remarkable growth during Alexander's term as president of the campus.

“Over the course of his 15-year career at Pitt, Livingston's inspired and ambitious vision has shaped every facet of learning and leading at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford,” Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said. “The Livingston Alexander House residence hall will stand as a lasting tribute to this impact, which will benefit both our students and the broader university community for generations to come.”

Alexander said, “I had no expectation whatsoever that this recognition would occur, and I'm deeply grateful to the Pitt Board of Trustees, the university administration, the Pitt-Bradford Advisory Board and my colleagues on our campus for bestowing such an extraordinary honor upon me.”

Work began on the $17 million residence hall in May. The hall itself is designed with first-year students in mind. The building will be divided into six sections of 24 to 36 students, who will share a study lounge and men's and women's bathrooms with private showers and toilets.

The second and third floors will have a central community lounge and fitness area where students can meet, helping them transition to college by making new friends and becoming part of their own community.

Alexander House will replace some of the town houses on campus, with a net gain of 38 beds. The Dickinson town house apartments were removed prior to the beginning of construction. Hurston and Whitman town houses will be removed when the new hall is complete.

Students next fall will also benefit from a $4.71 million project to add 69 seats in the dining hall and expand the kitchen by nearly 3,000 square feet to provide more room for food production, storage and dish washing.

Alexander became the third president of Pitt-Bradford in 2003 and has overseen the development of 16 academic majors, the successful completion of capital campaigns totaling $33 million and an increase in its endowment and foundation assets of more than 250 percent.

The trustees praised Alexander's focused strategic vision for increased enrollment and retention at the Bradford campus. Alexander also led a physical transformation of the campus that included the construction of five new residence halls and the Harriett B. Wick Chapel, the major renovation of Swarts and Fisher academic buildings, and acquisition of a six-story building in downtown Bradford that is now home to the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center.

During Alexander's tenure, the campus has increased its national visibility and received a host of favorable rankings and recognitions, including being named by The Princeton Review as one of the best colleges in the Northeast for 14 consecutive years and being recognized by U.S. News  & World Report as one of the best baccalaureate colleges in the North. The campus has also been named a Military Friendly School for nine consecutive years.

In addition to working with the campus community to advance the campus, Alexander and his wife, Evelyn, created two endowments, the Presidential Labor Scholarship Fund and the Technology Fund. They've also provided support to the Harriett B. Wick Chapel, the Fine Arts Endowment Fund and the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center.