Nancy Washington used her connections to bring ideas to life.
Many of those ideas have created lasting impacts on the Pittsburgh area, from pushing for greater inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh to being part of a group that founded the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.
Washington had a knack for bringing different kinds of people together, said Chenits Pettigrew, Pitt instructor of medicine and associate dean for student engagement and enrichment.
“She had a wonderful spirit,” he said. “She was kind, she was very bright and she knew how to make people work towards a chosen goal.”
Washington died Oct. 12 at 87.
While finishing her doctorate degree in educational psychology, she was hired in 1972 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus as an assistant professor of psychology, according to information provided by Pitt. She later became an associate professor and University Senate officer.
A native of Philadelphia, Washington eventually rose to a role in the chancellor’s office at the University of Pittsburgh and helped establish what is now known as the Center for Health Equity in the School of Public Health. She spent 30 years with the university until her retirement in 1999, Pitt officials said.
During that time, she is credited with supporting Black Action Society students in opening a Black cultural center at the university and helping countless students through her efforts toward creating an inclusive environment, officials said.
Pettigrew lauded Washington’s influence on his wife, Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, while she was a student. Larkins-Pettigrew now is a professor and academic chair in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Drexel University.
“She was very much involved in my wife’s success,” Pettigrew said.
Outside of the university, Washington was just as accomplished.
She helped revive the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP, served on numerous boards and was among the founding members of the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. Washington and other local leaders established the August Wilson Legacy Fund that supports paid summer internships at the Carnegie Museum of Art.
“So many people benefited from her ideas,” Pettigrew said.
Washington has left a lasting impact both at the August Wilson center and on its president, chief executive officer and artistic director Janis Burley.
“She set a very high standard that so many of us in the arts and nonprofit leadership … aspire to,” Burley said.
“The city is better, the region is better, for having someone like her,” Burley said.
Washington is survived by two daughters and their husbands and four grandchildren, according to her obituary.