Alumnus’ Message for Commencement: “Don’t be too Busy”
Alumnus Kirk Barbieri ‘78 knows what it’s like to be busy. He manages the information technology (I.T.) department for The Heart and Vascular Center at the University of Virginia (UVA) Health System in Charlottesville, Virginia. His work is important and affects lives and patient care. Still, when he gives the alumni address at the Holy Cross College 2007 commencement ceremony, he plans to remind students not to forget where they came from, or what is really important in life.
Barbieri came from South Bend, Indiana. He graduated from Clay High School. And though he now lives in Virginia, he still visits home often to see family.
Barbieri’s next trip home will be to his alma mater, Holy Cross College, for commencement on May 12. Barbieri will give the alumni address during the 2:00 p.m. ceremony.
Barbieri followed his brother to Holy Cross College in the late 70s. He remembers Brother James Leik teaching him that “paying attention to detail does matter” and Professor Sue Schoen letting him substitute a written paper for an oral presentation. Both professors are still at the College!
He also remembers class with a forward-thinking priest named Father William Simmons who inspired him to become Catholic.
“In our first semester he moved our class out of the traditional classroom setting over to the Brothers’ Dining Hall,” he recalls. “We had round tables that seated five or six people. It really made it very informal. There was a lot of reading, but classes were really focused on discussion.”
After Holy Cross, Barbieri transferred to the University of Kentucky where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science. It was during his time working in animal science at The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) that he discovered I.T.
Now at UVA, Barbieri manages a team which works on medical informatics, clinical information systems for cardiology, thoracic cardiovascular surgery, radiation oncology and emergency medicine, graduate medical education and basic research / clinical laboratory support.
Barbieri also lectures and consults for other businesses.
However, he is not too busy to remember where he came from or to give philanthropically. Holy Cross College students benefit from the “Kirk E. Barbieri Science Scholarship,” and he is also a member of many organizations including The Colonnade Club (University of Virginia Faculty Club), the Nittany Lion Club (Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics) and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.
Barbieri also wrote the first software for scoring women’s gymnastics while at Penn State and continues to contribute to the sport by acting as a scoring official. (Another opportunity he was not too busy to take!)
“The key of course is to immerse yourself,” he says. “The sky’s the limit, you really can do anything you set your mind too.”
Certainly future Holy Cross College alumni can learn from the example set by Barbieri.
Barbieri is married to Renee, and they have two Labrador retrievers, Demi and Barista. The family resides in Charlottesville.
Published 5/8/2007 by Sara Kassen