Mervis Hall
Encyclopedia
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
that houses the Katz Graduate School of Business
Joseph M. Katz School of Business
The Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business is the business school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and ranks among one of the top business schools in the United States. The school enrolls approximately 200 full-time MBA students, 400 part-time students, and 70...
. The building was built by the IKM/SGE partnership on the former site of Forbes Field
Forbes Field
Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise...
and dedicated in 1983. The flagpole and a portion of the left and center field walls still exist just outside adjacent to the left plaza of the building. A bronze plaque indicates the portion over which Mazeroski's 1960 blast traveled.
Mervis Hall is named after Lou and Myra G. Mervis, who established a trust fund for Pitt's Graduate School of Business in 1972. Lou Mervis, a business administration major as an undergraduate, was a football
Pittsburgh Panthers football
Pittsburgh Panthers football is the intercollegiate football team of the University of Pittsburgh, often referred to as "Pitt", located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Traditionally the most popular sport at the university, Pitt football has played at the highest level of American college football...
star at Pitt under Coach Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner , most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American football player and coach...
. Mervis Hall was originally dedicated as the name of the building now called Thackeray Hall
Thackeray Hall
Thackeray Hall is an academic building of the University of Pittsburgh and a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District at 139 University Place on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.Thackeray Hall houses Pitt's...
, which housed the Graduate School of Business from 1972 until it moved into the new Mervis Hall completed in 1983. Previous to this, business classes were held in the Cathedral of Learning
Cathedral of Learning
The Cathedral of Learning, a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States...
and Bruce Hall.
Willi Gutmann
Willi Gutmann is a notable Swiss sculptor. Gutmann was born in 1927 in the town of Dielsdorf, Switzerland, near Zurich. Gutmann began his career as an architect and designer but moved on to sculpture in the early 1960s. The majority of his sculptures employ metals and alloys that he transforms in...
located on the second floor was a gift from ALCOA
Alcoa
Alcoa Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 31 countries...
. On the third floor, the Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
lithograph, “Cosmic Athlete,” is among several works gracing the hallways.http://mac10.umc.pitt.edu/u/FMPro?-db=ustory&-lay=a&-format=d.html&storyid=4242&-Find
In the November, 2007, renovations on the building began and included a new $2.3 million, 3000 square feet (278.7 m²) financial lab completed in 2008 which simulates global financial markets. The lab provides students with real-time stock market data and features a financial trading simulator, stock tickers, tote display boards, 58 computer stations, live news feeds, and classroom space. The lab also includes technology-enhanced breakout and conference rooms. In other phases of the renovation, an additional $2.3 million will create new suites for administration and information technology services, as well as a new suite for the Master of Business Administration program that will house the placement, admissions, and career services departments the third floor of Mervis Hall.