Radzavich selected for University of Pittsburgh Chancellor's Award

BRADFORD, PA – University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Patrick Gallagher has selected Sharie Radzavich of Bradford as a recipient of the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Staff Excellence in Service to the Community.

Radzavich is the administrative assistant for the Division of Communication and the Arts at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

She is one of three staff members university wide this year to receive the award, which is the highest award that the university grants to staff members in recognition of their dedication and effort to making their community a better place to live and improving the quality of life of others.

Radzavich and the other awardees were recognized Feb. 28 at the university’s honors convocation and will be a guest of honor at a reception at the chancellor’s residence in May.

Radzavich’s dedication to community service is showcased in her longstanding involvement with the Bradford Branch of the American Association of University Women and The Friendship Table, the local soup kitchen; as well as several campus-related organizations, including the Women’s History Month Committee, and the Empty Bowls and Baskets Committee. She has been active in the Pitt-Bradford Staff Association, serving as secretary.

Five years ago, she began a monthly donation drive of food and personal items for the YWCA Domestic Violence Center in Bradford through the AAUW. She also served on the American Cancer Society’s Ski-for-Cancer committee for six years.

A former student wrote in a recommendation letter, “I know, without a doubt, that I owe who I am today to Sharie, whose passion for what she does is simply contagious. She taught me how to lead with compassion, communicate with care, and strive for excellence in service to others.”

Radzavich is a 2001 alumna of Pitt-Bradford and came to the university as the first secretary for the department of nursing when it began in 1979. She has been the administrative assistant for the Division of Communication and the Arts since March 1985.

She and her husband, Bob “Scubby” Radzavich, have two grown children, Andrew Radzavich and Janelle Radzavich Day, both of whom live in Colorado.

When not taking part in community service projects, she enjoys basket weaving and riding dressage on her 15-year-old Appaloosa-Arab mare, Phoebe.

Radzavich is the second Pitt-Bradford employee to receive a Chancellor’s Award for Service to the Community. Pete Buchheit, director of facilities management, was honored in 2008.

Other staff members who have been honored by the chancellor for service to the university are Dr. Holly Spittler (2014), Christina Graham (2012), Patty Colosimo (2010), James Baldwin (2009), Donald Johnson (2006) and Rhett Kennedy (2003).