Newsmaker: Michael Spring

Michael Spring

Noteworthy: Faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh elected Spring last month as president of the University Senate, which makes recommendations for school policies and encourages communication among students, employees and administrators. Spring will begin a one-year term on Monday.

Age: 62

Residence: O'Hara

Family: Wife, Cindy; children, Jonathan, Patrick, Leah, Alicia and Tyler.

Occupation: Spring is an associate professor of information science and technology in Pitt's School of Information Sciences. He also serves as an associate professor in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the university.

Background: Born and raised in New York City, Spring arrived at Pitt in 1972 as an administrator. He worked as associate director of external studies until 1986, then joined the information science faculty.

Education: Doctorate in instructional design from the University of Pittsburgh, 1978; bachelor's degree in psychology from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., 1972.

Quote: “The notion of shared governance at a university is born of the belief that we are part managers and part employees, that we share a responsibility for making sure the organization is run to the best interests of our clients.”

— Adam Smeltz