Joan Gabel is chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, leading a community of more than 35,000 students and nearly 16,000 faculty, researchers and staff across five campuses with an annual operating budget exceeding $3 billion. She has guided Pitt through a comprehensive, metrics-driven strategic plan that has delivered record highs in enrollment, graduation rates, research expenditures, startups, invention disclosures and patents filed. She also has elevated the University’s reputation with designations such as New Ivy, Best-In-State Employer and Best Colleges for Future Leaders.
Previously, Gabel served as president of the University of Minnesota System and Twin Cities campus, where she launched the system’s first strategic plan, catalyzing record philanthropic investment and next-generation health sciences education and strengthening the regional agro-food economy. Her previous leadership roles include executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of South Carolina; business dean at the University of Missouri; and faculty positions at Georgia State University and Florida State University, where she was a professor of legal studies and chair of the Department of Risk Management and Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies.
Gabel serves on the boards of UPMC, Ambitious Bio, the Association of American Universities (AAU), and the Pittsburgh Symphony. She is Vice Chair of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Chair of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), Chair of the Fulbright Scholar Advisory Board (CIES), and Academic Vice Chair of the U.S. Council on Competitiveness.
Gabel has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as a “shining star,” elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, named to the Pittsburgh Business Times’ Power 100, and honored with the ALSB Distinguished Career Achievement Award and the American Council on Education Mentor Award. She is a sought-after national and international speaker and adviser on leadership, risk management, insurance and governance for industry and government.