Pitt's UHC Dean Passes Away April 7, 2010

LurkNessMonster
Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:47:39 +0000

Just wanted to post this account of the memorial service. It gives such a good portrait of Doc Stewart, the man and scholar, and his out-of-the-box way of thinking.



“The Honors College resonates with the spirit and personality he has,” Edward McCord, director of programming and special projects for the Honors College, said Friday. “There is no recipe for [the Honors College]. It grew organically around Alec.”

The Honors College was not Stewart’s only contribution to the University. Ten years ago, he received a phone call from an old childhood friend telling him that land in Wyoming was full of dinosaur bones. Stewart saw this as a learning opportunity for students and began his quest to obtain the land for the University, McCord said.

“I told Alec, ‘This is a crazy idea,’” he said. But Stewart made up his mind.

Two weeks later, Stewart, McCord and a geologist landed in Wyoming. They were welcomed with a raging blizzard, winds up to 50 mph and below-zero temperatures.

The trio spent three days holed up in a ranch, not seeing any dinosaur bones, McCord said. “Alec loved that sort of thing.”

In 2006, Allen Cook, the owner of the land in Wyoming, donated the 4,700 acres of land, worth about $7 million, to the University.

“Alec was able to increase the University’s real estate 45 times with one handshake,” Callahan said.



[In memoriam: Glenn Alexander ‘Doc’ Stewart | The Pitt News]('Better Call Saul' captures winning feel of 'Bad,' but carves own path - The Pitt News)