\n\tBy SHANNON O. WELLS<\/p>\n
\n\tThose who buy the stereotype that human resources professionals tend to be by-the-book, empathy-challenged rule enforcers of rigid corporate guidelines might change their tune after interacting with Mark Burdsall.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe warm, amiable and loquacious demeanor that Burdsall, Pitt Human Resources\u2019 assistant vice chancellor of consulting services, projects seems to flow quite naturally. He acknowledges, however, that finding the right professional fit for his values and personality took some searching, trial and error.<\/p>\n
\n\t![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Burdsall2.jpg\" "\\"Mark")
\u201cI worked in manufacturing, where they could lay you off at any time,\u201d he recalled. \u201cYou had ups and downs, you had people that were all in it for themselves, right? Everybody wanted to make more money, or they wanted to move up.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe main thing with Pitt is that most of the people want what\u2019s best for Pitt. I don\u2019t think people look at it as \u2018It\u2019s not my job\u2019 when they\u2019re asked to do something, (but) more of, \u2018Oh, how can I contribute?\u2019 and just love it. There\u2019s people I\u2019ve met that probably are more into the pay and for themselves, but generally they don\u2019t stay.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey find out pretty quick that they don\u2019t fit well into the culture of Pitt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter nearly 30 years of enjoying and embodying that culture, Burdsall, who oversees HR\u2019s organization development, compensation, and compliance departments, is retiring.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI started in November of \u201897 \u2026 At Pitt, that\u2019s still not a lot,\u201d Burdsall said. \u201cSome people have (worked) 40 and 50 years. But yeah, I\u2019m retiring and taking advantage of that. I\u2019ve just had a great time at Pitt. It\u2019s just a really good situation. I appreciate everybody at Pitt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tTalking about his career just before his last day at work on July 10, Burdsall still had no intention of phoning it in.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI am going to show up the last day doing meetings. People may give up on me, but I\u2019m not giving up,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough not a Pitt alumnus, the New Jersey native and Ursinus College graduate is a lifetime Alumni Association member. He made his mark at the University in a variety of ways, including teaching in the School of Business and taking an active role in campus activities and culture.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s different reasons why people will stay at an institution, and in my case it\u2019s affiliation, for Pitt itself, not just for higher ed,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think there are quite a few people like that, and I\u2019ve enjoyed Pitt through everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe even documented what that\u2019s entailed and for how long:<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t25 years serving as a marshal at Pitt graduation ceremonies<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t24 years playing Pitt softball<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t26 years\u00a0teaching as an adjunct in the School of Business<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t15 years teaching in the College of General Studies<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t13 years participating in Christmas Day at Pitt<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTo me it\u2019s not different than a lot of people,\u201d he said of his involvement. \u201cIt\u2019s a no-brainer. Because when you walk across campus, you see the students. Our business is teaching the future through academics and research. You\u2019re not doing work every day for a shareholder, for a profit, for an owner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMaking decisions<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter graduating early from Pennsylvania\u2019s Ursinus College in the 1980s, Burdsall said he didn\u2019t know what he wanted to do, \u201cother than HR. I know I wanted human resources, but then you fumble through finding what you don\u2019t like. And then you find eventually what you like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMoving to Ohio, where he met his wife, Jeannine, Burdsall landed a human resources job at Emerson Electric Co. for three years. He then switched to running a production line. There he found himself, somewhat uncomfortably, on the other side of the glass.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThey felt that I was a good people person, and this line was not being as productive as it could be,\u201d he explained, noting that the role typically fell to those with mechanical and industrial engineering backgrounds. \u201cI wanted to hire people, and I wanted to hire them quickly. I saw opportunities.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was yelling at HR, probably within a month of moving over into the production. I totally forgot about HR as, like, my bread and butter before, but that\u2019s the way it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBurdsall realized he was adversarial with his former department because \u201cHR was keeping me from doing what I needed to do. They were an obstacle,\u201d he admitted. \u201cThey weren\u2019t, actually. There\u2019s the employee side, and then there\u2019s the management side. And somebody\u2019s got to make a decision. There\u2019s got to be an outcome.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt could be a compromise, it could be a win-lose, it could be whatever, but there needs to be an outcome. And that individual is going to judge their fairness based on what they believe was fair,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you did not treat them fair in a traumatic situation that they\u2019re having, something that\u2019s important to them, they will always remember HR was not good. HR was bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThat type of experience can leave a lasting impression, he noted.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI think it takes a whole lot to get them over that. So, I always had that attitude myself: you have to treat each situation as though you\u2019re going to impact somebody\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe \u2018human\u2019 element<\/p>\n
\n\tBurdsall, who studied organizational behavior in graduate school at Drexel University, said his career in HR has been informed by the history of the U.S. workforce, particularly improvements in how employees were viewed and treated during the 20th century.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn the 1800s and early 1900s, people were just considered an extension of a machine, basically. Because people were used to farming, having individual trades like blacksmithing and making shoes and clothing. Then they came to the big cities, and now they\u2019re in huge amounts of numbers and factories making things.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cPeople were just a commodity. They were just a way a machine worked. Push buttons or do whatever. Then, later in the century, the 1920s and up to the \u201830s, there was a lot more emphasis on, \u2018OK, these people made (valuable) things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe rise of the New Deal under President Franklin Roosevelt after his 1933 election marked a sea change in how workers were viewed and treated, Burdsall noted.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI know there\u2019s critics of it, but I loved it. The passing of (New Deal legislation) defined a (five-day) work week. \u2026 In World War II, (the U.S.) did a lot of training with the military. We could bring that to the business world, so \u2018personnel administration\u2019 became more about, \u2018How do you strategically use people in the military to get valuable work done?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe 1960s, of course, ushered in civil rights and women\u2019s rights that had a profound influence on workplaces. The transition also marked a shift from the military-influenced \u201cpersonnel\u201d term to the now ubiquitous \u201chuman resources\u201d concept.<\/p>\n
\n\tThroughout the mid 20th-century, it became \u201cmore about filling gaps of what workers needed and wanted,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople realized that \u2018If I find somebody good that\u2019s working at my company, I need to retain them, because I need that skill set.\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMore people were becoming educated and becoming what we call \u2018knowledge workers.\u2019 Computers are introduced, which allow people to \u2014 I believe AI is going to do as well \u2014 be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBurdsall said he\u2019s seen numerous improvements in HR since he joined the Pitt community in 1997.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere are a couple areas that we did not have at all. We didn\u2019t have a dedicated human resource information area, which would be customer service. We didn\u2019t have that,\u201d he noted. \u201cWe had, like, a receptionist \u2026 or if you have a benefit question, you\u2019ve got to kind of locate the benefits department and ask that, but we never had strong customer service around (as in), \u2018You, as an employee, we value you, we care about you. We want you to have the information you need to make decisions around your life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe credits Pitt\u2019s Chancellor Emeritus Mark Nordenberg with sharing such philosophies with him. \u201cSo, I use that all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u2018Caring, empathetic, loyal\u2019<\/p>\n
\n\tDave DeJong, Department of Economics professor and former senior vice chancellor of business and operations, said he met Burdsall around 2012 when the provost\u2019s office commissioned him to evaluate staffing and organizational structure \u201cwith an eye towards improving our processes and enhancing efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2021, DeJong asked Burdsall to take on the role of interim vice chancellor for HR, \u201cwhich he did admirably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAfter James Gallaher was named VC for HR, I still maintained a strong relationship with Mark,\u201d DeJong said, adding that Burdsall \u201chas been a strong source of support for the Pitt community. \u2026 His role in HR has been to support the operations of the clients fortunate enough to benefit from his expertise in organizational efficiency and professional development.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIn this way he has benefitted \u2026 hundreds of colleagues across a wide swath of responsibility centers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBurdsall\u2019s love of the Pitt community, DeJong added, led him to volunteer extensively in support of University events including United Way fundraisers, graduation ceremonies and team-building activities.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMark has a genuine interest in people, and has been driven to support their needs,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has a caring and empathetic style that has helped him win people\u2019s trust in sharing challenges and workplace concerns, helping him diagnose issues and develop solutions for improving operational efficiency and organizational design.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe also has a great sense of humor and self-deprecating demeanor that makes him fun to engage with.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRonald Frisch, who retired in 2016 as Pitt vice chancellor of human resources, hired Burdsall and \u201cwelcomed him the first day on the job.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI trusted Mark. He was loyal,\u201d he said, adding that Burdsall wasn\u2019t afraid to challenge certain ideas or directives. \u201cIf he disagreed, it would be in a gentlemanly fashion, (but) he\u2019d lay out his cards on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBurdsall, Frisch added, is not a \u201crandom, shoot-from-the-hip person. When he\u2019d go into training (HR personnel), he never went in unprepared. He always knew who he was talking to. He had a demeanor about him. He\u2019s calm. He always listens \u2026<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen he was dealing with other academic departments, I always trusted he\u2019d get good feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFrisch, who now resides in Naples, Fla., said Burdsall was always open to discussing ideas and approaches with him.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe\u2019s one of those people that you\u2019d ask, \u2018Can I throw an idea off of you?\u2019 He\u2019d always, without hesitation say \u2018Yes,\u2019\u201d and put considerable thought into it. \u201cI had many trusted employees, but Mark stood out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAlthough Burdsall expresses some ambivalence about not being at Pitt day to day in retirement, his dance card is filling up fast.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI have a group of friends that I know I\u2019ll be doing things with,\u201d he said. \u201cI love projects at the house, whether I do art, painting and drawing \u2014 and then volunteerism. My wife and I are both very into helping nonprofits. \u2026 She\u2019s done work with Salvation Army. I\u2019ve been on a board at Carnegie Mellon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRetirement, therefore, will be \u201ca combination of projects, volunteerism and art. I\u2019ve not been able to concentrate on art for decades,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I\u2019m going to get back to the drawing and the painting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPitt will remain part of that canvas, however.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s just a great organization, and in some way, I know I\u2019ll still be connected,\u201d he said. \u201cI may not be able to donate a lot of money, but I will definitely continue to help out any way I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tHave a story idea or news to share? Share<\/a> it with the University Times.<\/p>\n