David Kurtzman

David Harold Kurtzman (1904  1977) was the fourteenth Chancellor (1966–1967) of the University of Pittsburgh, and the last Superintendent of Public Instruction and first Secretary of Education (1967–1971) of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

David Kurtzman
David H. Kurtzman
14th University of Pittsburgh Chancellor
In office
1966–1967
Preceded byStanton Crawford
Succeeded byWesley Posvar
Secretary of Education of Pennsylvania
In office
June 1967  1971[1]
GovernorRaymond P. Shafer; Milton Shapp
Preceded byJ. Ralph Rackley
Succeeded byJohn Pittenger
Personal details
Born(1904-01-11)January 11, 1904
Odessa, Imperial Russia
DiedFebruary 22, 1977(1977-02-22) (aged 74)
Pittsburgh, PA

Kurtzman became the University of Pittsburgh's Vice Chancellor for Finance in July of 1965, "at the height of a financial crisis at the University."[2] He was appointed Acting Chancellor after Stanton Crawford's sudden death of a heart attack seven months later, on January 26, 1966. Kurtzman's administration negotiated the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's bailout of Pitt's fiscal woes, through which the university became a state-related institution on August 23, 1966.

According to his obituary ten years later, after the bailout, as the university continued its search for a permanent chancellor, "trustees were heard to say 'If Dave Kurtzman were 10 years younger, we might not be looking.' Then 63, Dr. Kurtzman was two years short of the mandatory retirement age."[1] On January 13, 1967, the Board of Trustees announced its selection of Wesley Posvar as its new Chancellor, effective June 1, and promoted Kurtzman to the full rank of Chancellor until then, and Chancellor Emeritus afterward.

A ballroom in the university's William Pitt Union is named in his honor.

Kurtzman was born near Odessa, Ukraine, in then-czarist Russia, and survived pogroms as a boy, eventually immigrating to the United States in 1921. Although he did not start high school until age 19, he finished in under two years, then earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Temple University and an M.A. and a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Pennsylvania.[1] He worked for many years at the Pennsylvania Economy League. There he served as a key aide to David L. Lawrence, mayor of Pittsburgh, and Richard King Mellon, financier, in their effort to build the city's first renaissance after World War II. Kurtzman joined the newly elected Governor Lawrence in 1959 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as his secretary of administration.

After his time at Pitt, Kurtzman returned to Harrisburg in 1967 as State Superintendent of Public Instruction (later Secretary of Education) under Governors Raymond P. Shafer and Milton Shapp;[1] in this role he became the named respondent in the landmark US Supreme Court decision Lemon v. Kurtzman.

References

  1. "Dr. Kurtzman, Ex-Chancellor at Pitt, Dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 23, 1977. pp. 1, 14. Retrieved March 28, 2020 via Google News Archive.
  2. "Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, David H. Kurtzman (Acting), Administrative Files". University Archives & Special Collections. University Library System, University of Pittsburgh. 1966–1967. Retrieved March 30, 2020.
Academic offices
Preceded by
Stanton Crawford
14th University of Pittsburgh Chancellor
1966–1967
Succeeded by
Wesley Posvar
Government offices

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Unknown Pennsylvania Secretary of Administration
1959–1963
Unknown
Preceded by
J. Ralph Rackley
as Superintendent of Public Instruction
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education
1967–1971
Succeeded by
John Pittenger
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