This Pitt Grad Knows the Importance of Giving Back

Debra King (SOC WK ’83, SCI ’85G) during a recent trip to the sub-range of the Himalayas.

In many ways, Debra King (SOC WK ’83, SCI ’85G) is a living, breathing, metaphor. She scaled figurative mountains to overcome disability and poverty, and today she scales literal mountains—recently returning from a trip to Mt. Everest Basecamp.

King was labeled as remedial in her urban Philadelphia elementary school. She fumbled through classes. Then, her eighth-grade science teacher, Ms. Green, took King and her single mother aside and told them she thought the young girl was dyslexic. Green gathered King under her wing and worked with her on weekends to establish tools she still uses today overcome her disability.

“Until then, I just thought I was dumb,” King said. “She changed the trajectory of my life.”

King’s grades improved and so did her outlook. Like some kids in her neighborhood, King enrolled in Philadelphia's summer jobs program. She was assigned to be a day camp counselor at Zion Baptist Church, pastored by the Reverend Leon Sullivan, and worked directly with kids just a few years younger than she.

“I did not put words to it then, but in retrospect, I realize that I was trying to give back to others what Ms. Green had given to me,” King said. “That focus of giving back and helping others has continued throughout my life.”

In high school, King realized college might be possible. Living with a single mom who did not graduate high school, King knew little about picking a college let alone a major. She decided to apply to schools in Pittsburgh because she wanted to live near her hero, Pirates first baseman Willie Stargell, while staying in-state for reduced expenses. She chose the University of Pittsburgh because it offered the largest financial aid package.

As a rising junior, she was accepted in to the School of Health Related Professions in a program that is now part of the School of Social Work.

“I wanted to become a child life specialist and work in the neuro-surgery ward of a children's hospital. I got a practicum at Pittsburgh's prestigious Children’s Hospital and also worked at the School for the Blind,” King said. “I loved the children even if I did not like the sight of blood in the hospital.”

When she started to look for a job, she realized the pay was not going to be enough to cover living expenses and the payments on the debt she had incurred getting her degree.

“I had friends doing a new thing called ‘computer science,’ and when they got stuck on their homework, I would help them look for the best way to sculpt their programs,” King said. “I realized I had a knack for it. So, I returned to school to get a master’s in information science.”

People are often surprised at what they see as a jump to a very different field of study. King disagrees. She said both fields operate on the principle of good stuff in, good stuff out, or garbage in, garbage out.

“If you pour into a child the skill set they need, when they grow up they will have the knowledge they need to be upstanding members of society,” King said. “Similarly, when programming computers, you have to understand what you want that system to be and build the right things into it so the program can serve its purpose.”

After getting her master’s degree, King was hired by Exxon to work in information technology. While in IT, she was charged with building and delivering the Management Development System. The system initially tracked executives around the world and helped shape their personal development path; picking up the skills they needed to become the best, well-rounded leaders they could be. As she rose through the corporate ranks, she transitioned out of IT and began her move toward retail marketing and becoming a global executive; however, she never lost her knack for guiding young talent along the way.

While at Exxon (and later ExxonMobil), King’s weekly planner was filled with breakfast and lunch meetings with those asking for career and life advice. They wanted to know what new inputs or insights they needed to succeed and what garbage they should eliminate.

While growing her career, King found a new passion: trekking and mountain climbing. She had always been enamored with National Geographic specials and desired to see the world, but it was always a far-off dream. That dream started to take shape in 2006 when she climbed Machu Picchu's Sun Gate.

“I loved it! “There is a sense of accomplishment, especially when the trek has been arduous—a mental and physical win,” King said. “I kept pushing myself. The treks became more extended, and I got the idea twelve-plus years ago to go to Mt. Everest Basecamp.”

Over those twelve years, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; trekked on Antarctica, Patagonia, and the Himalayas; and even had one trip to Mt. Everest Basecamp canceled at the last minute because the Chinese government would not issue climbing permits. Finally, in December of 2023, her goal was realized.

Debra King

Along with climbing, King now runs Debra King Consulting; working as a mentor, coach, and solutionist, and she volunteers at Pitt.

“I love working with students,” said King, who is an alumna in residence and member of the Board of Visitors for the School of Computing and Information (SCI). “While working with students, you never know who will come to see you.”

King calls what she does “mutual mentorship” because she gets as much from the mentee as they get from her. She says the growth comes from a place of respect.

King supports students financially as well by making annual gifts to the University. She endowed the Barbara E. King Scholarship in SCI to honor her mother, and her estate will create the Debra D. King Scholarship Award, also in SCI.

“Part of my motivation to give comes from the fact that someone decided to give in a way that allowed me to have a full scholarship and an assistantship,” King said. “It is important to give back, and I wish that more people who graduate from Pitt would do the same.”

King plans to continue volunteering with Pitt and making annual gifts. She also plans to continue to climb mountains, both real and metaphorical.

“This a small bit of help from that little girl who grew up in the ghettos of Philadelphia—who never envisioned the life that I have had,” King said. “Hopefully my scholarship or my mentoring will give another person a chance to set out on a path similar or better than mine and then they will someday give back. Think about how that multiplies.”