University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work Receives $2 Million to Establish Chair

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh has received a $2 million commitment to establish the James J. and Noel W. Browne Chair in the School of Social Work. 

The chair will be one of the more than 90 endowed chair positions at the University of Pittsburgh that have been created as part of the University’s Building Our Future Together capital campaign and is the first externally funded chair solely dedicated to the School of Social Work. 

An endowed chair benefits a school by raising the school’s academic stature and by accommodating the hiring of a dynamic faculty member whose efforts generally have a significant impact on students. The faculty member funded by this endowment also will help create greater awareness of social work values throughout the University and the community. 

“The School of Social Work seeks to help create a more equitable, more ethical and just society and to promote the values of social and economic justice through education,” said Larry E. Davis, dean of the School of Social Work, Donald M. Henderson Professor, and director of the Center on Race and Social Problems at Pitt. “We are very much appreciative of the Browne’s commitment to bettering society and helping us further our mission on a grand scale.” 

James Browne (SOC WK ’73G), who is a principal of Allegheny Financial Group and Allegheny Investments, an investment advisory and financial planning firm he cofounded in 1976, said he and his wife Noel Browne (SOC WK ’74) hope the chair will give the School of Social Work an edge for attracting and influencing the best and brightest students. 

 “I think it’s important that people are made aware of the inequities in our social system,” Browne said. “Funding an endowed chair in the School of Social Work, I hope, will increase that awareness and lead to the development of new thinking and new ideas to help find solutions to the social problems we face.” 

In addition to creating the chair, the Brownes have separately funded the “Browne Leadership Program,” new this year in the School of Social Work. It is a cross-disciplinary program consisting of introductory course work followed by social-problem analysis and skill-building and culminating with a six-to-eight-week experiential summer program. The students will complete a white paper to summarize their work. 

“The goal is for students from diverse academic backgrounds to learn to look at social issues and think about how, as future CEOs and leaders, they will effect change,” said Browne, who wants business leaders to better understand the importance of social-work skill sets. 

Although both James and Noel Browne are graduates of the School of Social Work, choosing a career path outside the field created the means for James Browne, a one-time Catholic priest, to provide such generous support for the social work values he and his wife have always embraced. 

Browne credits the School of Social Work with not only strengthening his awareness of social issues, but also teaching him the skills he needed to succeed in business. 

“The School of Social Work teaches communication skills and the ability to listen,” he said. “Our firm has succeeded because of its emphasis on listening to people and understanding their individual goals.” 

The Brownes say they are grateful for all Pitt has done for them and feel “very lucky” to be able to give back to the University while supporting the social work values they champion. 

”Whether the cause is where you are born, the color of your skin, the wealth of your family, or your religion, significant inequities exist in our system,” said Browne. “Social justice and capitalism need a level playing field for the artist, the entrepreneur, and the scholar to improve the human condition for all of us. This is what social justice means to us.” 

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5/16/11/tmw/lks/jdh