CGS - College of General Studies - University of Pittsburgh

Alumni Profile: Kathleen T. Barr

Married and working 40-plus hours per week for a bank by the time she was in her early 20s, Kathie Barr didn't have the option of attending college full time.

Fortunately for her, Pitt's College of General Studies (CGS) was offering evening classes at a nearby high school. And Barr's employer—Pittsburgh-based Mellon Bank—was willing to pay her tuition.

The investment would pay dividends for both the bank and Barr, whose career stock began to soar in value after she took a CGS course on capital markets.

"I already knew that I was interested in finance and financial markets, but it was the CGS course that triggered my desire to move along that career path," recalls Barr, who completed a BA in business from CGS in 1988 and today is senior managing director-compliance for Allegiant Asset Management, the investment-management group for National City Corporation, now a part of PNC.

"The dynamics of how financial markets work, the way interest rates and stock prices move the world—all of that fascinated me," Barr says. "And the breadth and depth of the CGS faculty were wonderful. I took business courses with full-time professors as well as part-timers who had many years of experience in the business world."

Inspired, Barr applied for and won a transfer from Mellon's retail banking operation to the bank's Capital Markets Group sales division. She continued with Mellon until 1991, then moved to Cleveland with her husband and worked with Society Bank's Capital Markets Group and Fifth Third Bank's Institutional Trust Group prior to joining Allegiant in 1996.

"To be successful in any profession, it's not a 9 to 5 deal," Barr notes. "It takes a lot of time and focus. Building a career and at the same time pursuing a college education helps you to develop the ability to multitask. And, in my case, it inspired me to set my ambitions higher."

It took Barr eight years to earn her CGS degree, taking an average of two courses per term, on and off campus. "Today, thanks to Internet-based courses, it's probably easier for someone with a full-time job to complete a degree on a part-time basis in less time," she points out.

While finance is Barr's professional calling, she savored the non-business courses she took through CGS. "I especially enjoyed my literature and film classes," she says. "Besides being fascinating and worthwhile in their own right, they gave me a fun breather from the financial world."