Yvonne B. Miller (A&S ’73G) was the first black woman to serve in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. Miller was the eldest of 13 children and when she was young, her family relocated to Norfolk, Virginia where she attended the then-segregated public schools.
Pitt Alumnae, Rebecca Skloot (A&S ‘07G), became a best-selling author in 2010 when she published her first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot is a science writer and attended Portland Community College to become a Veterinary Technician. She received her Bachelor's in biological sciences from Colorado State University, and her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh native, Zelda Rubinstein, was an actress best known for her roles in the Poltergeist films, Teen Witch, and Sixteen Candles. She was also an outspoken activist for people with dwarfism and the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Rubenstein won a scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh where she earned her Bachelor’s in bacteriology and became a sister of the Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. At 25 she moved to California where she attended the University of California, Berkley, and decided to pursue acting.
2024 Bellet Teaching Award winner, co-chair of the University Senate Equality Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Advocacy Committee, and Teaching Assistant Professor in the Dietrich School’s Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Gender Studies program are just a few of the titles Bridget Keown holds.
Alumna, Becky Gonda (A&S ‘11G), is also a current Teaching Associate Professor and Director of Outreach in the Dietrich School’s Department of Biological Sciences. Her outreach efforts include the Biology Department’s PittBio Outreach Program.
Observational astronomer, Dr. Rachel Bezanson is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh and member of the UNCOVER program. Dr. Bezanson earned her bachelor’s degree in astronomy from Barnard College in 2003 and her PhD from Yale. She was also awarded the Hubble Postdoctoral Fellowship from The University of Arizona in 2013 and the H.N. Russel Postdoctoral Fellowship from Princeton in 2016.
Delanie Jenkins is an Associate Professor in the Department of Studio Arts in the Dietrich School and a member of the Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory. She earned her BA in Art and Performance from the University of Texas at Dallas and her MFA in Sculpture from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Julie Sokolow (A&S ’10) is an award-winning documentary film director, writer, and musician. Sokolow completed her bachelor’s in psychology, English writing, and film studies at the University of Pittsburgh in 2010, graduating with summa cum laude honors.
The University of Pittsburgh welcomed Dr. Jennifer Laaser in 2016 as an assistant professor in the Chemistry Department. Dr. Laaser runs the Laaser Lab at Pitt which studies the intersections between physical chemistry, polymer physics, and polymeric materials. The lab is open to graduate students at the University.
Geri Allen (A&S ’82) was an American Jazz pianist, composer, and Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies in the Music department in the Dietrich School.
