Pitt Board Renames Building In Honor of Jerome Cochran

In honor of Executive Vice Chancellor Jerome Cochran’s valuable, longtime service to the University of Pittsburgh, the Pitt Board of Trustees passed a resolution renaming the University’s public safety building as the Jerome Cochran Public Safety Building. 

Cochran, who will retire Dec. 31, has provided exceptional management, experience, and wise counsel to the University while serving in a range of positions, including roles as assistant senior vice president for health sciences, interim dean of the School of Pharmacy, director of planned giving, interim vice chancellor for business and finance, interim athletic director, and general counsel. 

As executive vice chancellor, Cochran has provided outstanding administrative oversight of the University’s business units, including the Auxiliaries, Facilities Management, Human Resources, and Public Safety and Emergency Management offices. Under his direction, capital projects totaling nearly $2 billion have transformed the functionality and beauty of the Pittsburgh and regional campuses. The projects, including the addition of 3.6 million gross square feet of new space, have been undertaken to serve the University’s academic and research missions, upgrade and expand athletic venues, elevate campus security, and enhance the student experience through the modernization of student housing, classrooms, dining services, and recreation facilities. All of this has been achieved in concert with Cochran’s commitment to cost savings and efficient management practices, allowing saved financial resources to be reinvested and ultimately contribute to Pitt’s current financial strength. (See related story in Nov. 3 Pitt Chronicle.) 

“Jerome Cochran has earned the admiration, affection, and respect of members of the Board of Trustees, the administration, alumni, and the entire University community for his dedication, loyalty, and devoted service,” said Stephen R. Tritch, chair of Pitt’s Board of Trustees. “The naming of the Jerome Cochran Public Safety Building is presented as a symbol of gratitude and the high regard in which he is held by his many friends and colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh.” 

The state-of-the-art public safety building at 3412 Forbes Ave., which opened in 2007 under Cochran’s supervision, houses the Pitt Police Department and the Department of Environmental Health and Safety. Its communication center connects Pitt commissioned law-enforcement officers with one another and with the city, county, and state public-safety agencies and allows Pitt personnel to monitor conditions throughout the 132-acre Pittsburgh campus and the greater Oakland community. The building represents the University’s commitment to protecting the safety of its Oakland neighbors, the city, and Pitt students, faculty, and staff.

Cochran holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and administration of justice from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He began his career in 1972 at Presbyterian University Hospital and was later recruited by Pitt’s then-Chancellor Wesley Posvar to serve as the University’s assistant senior vice chancellor. In 1989, Cochran received a Juris Doctor from Pitt’s School of Law and practiced law at Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney in Pittsburgh from 1989 until 1995, when he returned to the University at the invitation of then-Interim Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg.