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Prepared for Anything: How a Pitt Humanities PhD Led to an Unconventional Career

When Spyros Sakellariadis (A&S ’80G) arrived at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1970s, he wasn’t following a carefully designed career plan.

Fresh off a degree in physics and philosophy from Oxford University, Sakellariadis was fascinated by questions about space, time and the philosophy of science. After reading work by renowned Pitt faculty member Adolf Grünbaum, he decided he wanted to study with him.

What happened next was a lesson in the power of relationships.

How Debate Set Sarayu Cheemalapati's (A&S '26) Course

In high school, Sarayu Cheemalapati (A&S ’26) was nearly unstoppable as a debater. By her senior year at Council Rock North High School in Newtown, PA, she was ranked as one of the best in the country. Her specialty was congressional debate, where individuals take on the role of a member of Congress, writing and building support for their legislation.

“The better I did at the competitions, the more I thought a career in law might be for me,” Sarayu said. “So, I did an internship at my local DA’s office and loved learning about law and, in particular, public service law.”

This senior knows positive change starts with conversations

Sam Podnar knows if she’s going to make her city a better place, she can’t shy away from difficult conversations.

The Pittsburgh native and graduating senior is deeply invested in advocating for the interests of her neighbors, at the polls and on the national stage. Sometimes the best way to get to know someone, Podnar said, is by first knocking on their front door. She’s led canvassing efforts and voter registration drives in support of multiple campaigns.

A service dog opened doors for this senior

For Emma Levick, a dog made all the difference; in this case, a service dog named Zia.

In 2022, just a week before starting classes her first year at Pitt, Levick was paired with a golden retriever-Labrador mix from Canine Companions, a national nonprofit that trains and supplies service dogs at no cost to people with disabilities. Levick, who uses a wheelchair, described getting her first service dog as “life-changing” and the key to living independently from her family.

His PhD thesis solved a mystery — and may help turn a lake blue again

Growing up, Eli Hall’s family often visited the Allegheny Reservoir, a man-made lake that straddles the border between Pennsylvania and New York. Driving north along the shores, they’d see blue waters, boaters, swimmers, everything you’d expect from a summer lakeshore. But following that road into the Seneca Nation of Indians’ Allegheny Reservation, they’d see the reservoir change. Gone were the boaters and swimmers and gone were the blue waters. In their place was a mess of green algae. But why?

Pitt Celebrates Opening of Federal Statistical Research Data Center on Campus

In collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, Pitt has opened the Pittsburgh Federal Statistical Research Data Center (FSRDC), a flagship federal program overseen by the U.S. Census Bureau, in the Cathedral of Learning. The FSRDC program consists of 37 centers nationwide, which provide access to detailed federal data in a secure environment, enabling researchers to investigate questions that cannot be answered with publicly available datasets.