Mark Nordenberg has held many key leadership positions during his career at the University of Pittsburgh, including Dean of the School of Law and Chancellor of the University. During his nearly two decades of service as Chancellor, Pitt achieved dramatically higher levels of quality and impact on virtually every front, and the higher education and healthcare sector played a critical role in the rebirth of the regional economy. He currently serves as Chair of Pitt’s Institute of Politics and Director of its Dick Thornburgh Forum for Law & Public Policy and holds the special faculty rank of Distinguished Service Professor of Law.
Nordenberg has received many honors, including recognition, with CMU President Jared Cohon, as Pittsburgh’s Person- of-the-Year by Pittsburgh magazine and as a History-Maker by the Senator John Heinz History Center. He also received the Lifetime Achievement in Governance Award from the National Association of Corporate Directors, Three Rivers Chapter, reflecting his long board service at the Bank of New York Mellon, the BNY Mellon Foundation for Southwestern Pennsylvania, Manchester Bidwell, Pitt, Thiel College and UPMC and his work as founding co-chair of the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, Life Sciences Greenhouse, and Robotics Foundry.
To honor his many contributions and accomplishments, Pitt trustees and other donors personally endowed both a professorship and an undergraduate scholarship program in his name. Pitt’s newest residence hall also is named for him. Pitt’s University Senate and Staff Association Council dedicated two marble benches to honor Nordenberg and his wife, Dr. Nikki Nordenberg, for their contributions to the University. The Pitt Alumni Association named him a Distinguished Alumni Fellow, and Pitt students named a social space in the William Pitt Student Union in his honor.
Nordenberg served on the special independent committee created by the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to fairly disburse donations made to its “victims of terror fund” in the aftermath of the shootings at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue. He is the founding co-chair, with Laura Ellsworth, of the Eradicate Hate Global Summit, which already is recognized as the most comprehensive anti-hate conference in the world. Following the 2020 census, he served as Chair of Pennsylvania’s Legislative Reapportionment Commission, having been named to that position by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Quote by Dick Thornburgh:
“Both Ginny and I have been very pleased with the home that has been created at the University of Pittsburgh, both for the Thornburgh Forum and for the Thornburgh Archives. Credit for the record of impact that has been built should be shared by many people. Mark Nordenberg certainly is one of them. He has been actively involved at every step along the way – beginning during his years as Dean of our School of Law, extending through his tenure as Chancellor, and also as Chair of the IOP. In fact, I do not know of anyone better positioned to weave the Forum’s work into both the academic programs of the University and the life of the broader community.”
Over the course of the past 30 years, the Institute of Politics has earned widespread recognition as a distinctive regional asset by serving as a neutral, non-partisan forum for elected officials and other civic leaders to advance Western Pennsylvania by developing policies that are effectively responsive to important regional issues. The IOP also launched the Elsie Hillman Civic Forum, which supports programs designed to nurture a strong sense of commitment to civic engagement among Pitt students.
“The addition of the Thornburgh Forum leaves the IOP with a highly complementary array of strong programs,” said Mark Nordenberg. “The Institute’s traditional programs are focused on our home region and the Elsie Hillman Civic Forum is focused on our student body, while the Thornburgh Forum is focused principally on national and international issues. Speaking more personally, I have had the chance to work closely with Dick Thornburgh on a number of matters over the course of the past three decades. Those experiences have left me with boundless admiration, for what he has accomplished and also for the values he has advanced over the course of his extraordinary public life. Serving as the Director of the Forum that bears his name, then, is a special privilege.”