In his new role as inaugural director of the Rees-Chancellor’s Scholars program, Peter Levins will continue working closely with Pitt students.
“Being able to work with our fantastic students here at Pitt one-on-one and help them achieve those goals is really what I think I bring,” Levins said.
Levins, a former national fellowship advisor at Pitt, was named the inaugural director of the Rees-Chancellor’s Scholars Program in August. Levins hopes to continue to work one-on-one with scores of students throughout their four years in the new role, while incorporating interdisciplinary seminars and specific types of intellectual training into the program.
The Rees-Chancellor’s Scholars Program, formerly known as the Chancellor’s Scholars Program, grants a merit-based full-ride scholarship for incoming first-year students. The program was expanded last year after a $30 million donation from Pitt alum and former chancellor’s scholar Michael Rees. His donation allowed for more students to join the program and created a new “wrap-around staff” dedicated to helping the program, Levins said.
In an interview with The Pitt News, Levins said he believes he can bring a good understanding of what students need, thanks to his past as a National Fellowships Advisor and scholar.
“I really come from that kind of area of student support, really wanting to see students be able to take the amazing things they’re doing in their disciplines, in their different departments here and find a place in the world for that to go,” Levins said.
Levins also does what he calls “academic recruiting” of potential students.
“We want to go out like athletic coaches, see students who in high school are doing amazing things. When we can see, ‘Hey, this person is winning competitions at the international level or the Science Olympiad,’ we can say ‘Hey, come to Pitt,’” he said.
Levins said his overarching goal is to develop the intellectual identity and model of the program as a national leader in selective merit scholarship programs. He hopes to establish a curriculum built on interdisciplinary seminars.
“I hope to really maintain our amazing tradition of really the central kind of location of intellectual curiosity,” Levins said. “My goal is to maintain that tradition and ensure that with this kind of expansion, we’re able to help the students during their four years of exploring our curriculum and transfer what they’re doing here onto the national stage.”
He said he would employ critical components of design thinking in the development of the Rees-Chancellor’s program seminars, drawing on the ideas of experts Bill Burnett and Dave Evans from the Stanford Life Design Lab Team.
Levins also plans on incorporating aspects of the Air Force Academy’s Character and Leadership Development Program. He said this work in forming the nation’s future airmen and airwomen centers both personal integrity and service to the nation in its approach to leadership development.
“By bringing these two approaches into relation, Rees-Chancellor’s Scholars will benefit from both an introspective and design-oriented approach to ideation with a profound commitment to service in society,” Levins said.
Pitt conducted a national search for the inaugural director, consisting of two rounds of interviews, according to Levins.
Levins said he believes his previous role made him more prepared for his new job.
“It is a great foundation for a lot of things, because it requires you to work one on one with students. Some of our winning-est students, we’ve met and collaborated with 80 times,” he said. “All of that is fantastic training for working with standout students.”
Pitt isn’t just Levins’ workplace. It’s also part of his academic background.
With multiple degrees in topics like art and architecture history, Levins found himself interested in modern Italian architecture in Croatia. To pursue that interest, he had to learn the Croatian language. Not many universities offered it, but Pitt did.
“I was just so excited to come back after I finished my PhD. Being able to come back was my top choice, because I had such a fantastic experience here at Pitt, where there is such support for less-commonly-taught languages, and it’s a truly comprehensive university. That’s rarer and rarer these days,” he said.
Domiona Marine, a sophomore nutrition science major and Rees-Chancellor’s scholar who worked with Levins on applying to the Gilman Scholarship, believes that Levins will bring a new energy to the program.
“I think he will provide an excellent focus for students on achieving what feels most impactful for them,” Marine said.