Pitt Alumnus and Oakland A's Manager Ken Macha To Receive the Alumni Association Award of Distinction

PITTSBURGH—University of Pittsburgh alumnus Ken Macha, manager of Major League Baseball's Oakland A's, will receive the Pitt Alumni Association Award of Distinction during pre-game festivities Sunday, prior to the Oakland A's game with the Anaheim Angels at the Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland.

Presenting the award to Macha, a 1980 graduate of Pitt's School of Engineering, will be Al Moye, University trustee and former U.S. deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Higher and Continuing Education; Al Novak, interim vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement; Joe Jordano, head baseball coach of the Pittsburgh Panthers; and Brad Wyland, president of the Pitt Club of San Francisco.

"As the voice for more than 200,000 alumni, the Alumni Association is committed to recognizing excellence among our distinguished alumni body," said Lee Patouillet, Alumni Association executive director and associate vice chancellor of Alumni Relations. "Ken Macha is quite deserving of this honor. He has reached the pinnacle of his profession."

Macha, born in Wilkinsburg, Pa., received the Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University. He attended elementary school at St. Aloysius in Wilmerding, Pa., and Gateway High School in Monroeville. While at Pitt, Macha played baseball for the Panthers as a walk on.

"He was a raw-boned kid who was willing to work and willing to learn, the kind of kid you liked to be around," said Tom Beckett, then Macha's assistant coach and now athletic director at Yale University. "He was very disciplined and knew nothing was going to be handed to him. He had everything you're looking for in leadership."

Macha played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1974 and from 1977 to 1978, the Montreal Expos from 1979 to 1980, and the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981. He served as a coach for the Expos from 1986 to 1991 and the California Angels from 1992 to 1994 before joining the A's as a coach in 1998. He became manager of the A's in December.

Macha also is the honorary chair of the 2003 Links to Pittsburgh golf outing on

July 7, which benefits the San Francisco Pitt Club's endowed scholarship fund.

"We are most grateful for Ken's support in helping the local club raise scholarship funds for deserving Bay Area students," said Wyland, Pitt club president. "Student scholarships are one of the University's top priorities for the $1 billion capital campaign at Pitt."

There are several thousand Pitt alumni living in California, with more than 2,300 alumni in the Bay Area. Pitt alumni living in San Francisco are encouraged to contact Wyland at 925-377-7677 to learn more about the local club.

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7/3/03/mgc