Florida university administrator named president of Pitt-Greensburg

Robert G. Gregerson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and senior advisor to the provost at Florida Gulf Coast University, will become the fifth president of the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, effective July 1, 2019, Pitt officials said Wednesday.

Pitt officials launched a search for a new president when outgoing Pitt-Greensburg president Sharon Smith announced her retirement last July.

Smith, an economist who has led the regional campus of about 1,500 students since 2007, retires effective June 30. Officials said she helped integrate Pitt-Greensburg’s liberal arts programs with digital learning, and introduced majors in nursing, health care management, public policy, education and Spanish, as well as four certificate programs.

Gregerson earned a doctorate in molecular genetics from the University of Georgia in 1991, with a research specialty in the biology, physiology, molecular biology and genetics of plants.

He joined the administration at Florida Gulf Coast University — a public institution in Fort Myers, Fla., with an enrollment of about 13,700 — in 2014. There, Pitt officials said Gregerson developed a career and peer mentoring initiative for humanities majors at the Florida school, increased online and hybrid course offerings, strengthened relationships with the Seminole tribe for the school’s archaeological and environmental programming, and spearheaded efforts to boost student engagement with college leadership.

Gregerson previously was dean of the College of Science and Technology at Armstrong State University in Savannah, Ga., and chair of its biology department. Before that, he was at Lyon College, in Batesville, Ark., where he was a faculty member for 12 years, chair of the science division for five years and held an endowed professorship.

“Bob’s dedication to collaboration, community and academic excellence is clear. I am excited to welcome him to the University of Pittsburgh, and I cannot wait for him to turn his attention and talents toward supporting our Greensburg campus and its success,” Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said.