Thomas J. Usher Nominated for Lifetime Emeritus Status on Pitt Board

PITTSBURGH—Thomas J. Usher was nominated for election as emeritus trustee for life at the Oct. 8 meeting of the Nominating Committee of the University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees. His nomination will be presented to the board at its next meeting.

Thomas J. Usher (ENGR ’64, ’66G, ’71G) is non-executive chairman of the board of Marathon Petroleum Corporation, one of the largest petroleum product refiners, marketers, and transporters in the United States. He has been a director of the corporation since 2011.

Usher also is retired chief executive officer and retired non-executive chairman of the board of United States Steel Corporation. He joined United States Steel Corporation in 1965 and held various positions in industrial engineering. From 1975 through 1979, he served in a number of management capacities at the company’s South and Gary Works. Usher was elected executive vice president of Heavy Products in 1986, president of U.S. Steel Group and director of USX Corporation in 1991, president and chief operating officer of USX Corporation in 1994, and chairman of the board and chief executive officer effective July 1995. He retired from United States Steel Corporation as chief executive officer in September 2004 and as non-executive chairman of the board in February 2006.

Usher was elected a Pitt trustee in October 1992 and served until June 2014. During his long tenure, spanning 22 years, he provided service to the Pitt board as a member of the Executive, Athletics, and Health Sciences Committees; as chair of the Institutional Advancement and Investment Committees; as a member of the ad hoc Committee on Risk and Compliance; and as a University Director and member of the Executive Committees of the UPMC Board and the Joint UPMC Presbyterian/Shadyside Hospital Board. He also chaired the “Discover a World of Possibilities Capital Campaign”—from its inception in 1997 until 2007—which led to the University’s historic, record-breaking $2 billion campaign. The campaign had its initial goal of $500 million doubled by the Board of Trustees in 2002 and doubled again in 2006 to $2 billion after the $1 billion mark was reach eight months ahead of schedule.

Usher’s affiliation with the University predates his election as a trustee. He is a three-time graduate of the University, having earned a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering, a master’s degree in operations research, and a doctoral degree in systems engineering, all from the Swanson School of Engineering. He joined the Swanson School’s Board of Visitors in 1986 and became its chair in 1996, a position he held for 12 years. He continues to serve as a member of that visiting board.

Usher received the Swanson School’s Distinguished Alumni Award and was named a Distinguished Alumni Fellow and a Legacy Laureate. He is also the recipient of the University’s 225th Anniversary Medallion and the Trustees Medallion. Usher and his wife, Sandra, established the Sandra and Thomas Usher Endowed Chair in Melanoma. Their generosity was recognized through their induction into the Cathedral of Learning Society in 2007.

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