Chatham University adjunct professor in media arts and Broadcast Studio manager Donald “Don” Gabany died on Oct. 7 at the age of 62 from pancreatic cancer.
Gabany had taught film, including video production and lighting classes, to undergraduate and graduate students at Chatham since 2007 and was the Broadcast Studio manager since fall 2022.
After earning a bachelor of arts degree in film production at Point Park University, Gabany graduated with a master’s in film and digital technology from Chatham in 2007 — the same year that Kristen Lauth Shaeffer, now the Chair of Arts, Design & Communication, earned her degree in the same program.
An educator at heart, Gabany taught at the now-defunct Art Institute of Pittsburgh and was more than happy to share his knowledge with students and faculty at Chatham, according to Shaeffer.
“If you’d ask him a question about a piece of equipment, pretty soon, he’d send you like 18 documents and seven videos about how to use that piece of equipment,” Shaeffer said. “He just collected that kind of information and was always just very generous with it.”
Gabany was a passionate scuba diver and traveler with a particular love for New England. When Shaeffer told him she was going to Maine with her family for the first time, he sat her down and showed her a list of the places he thought she had to see.
Shaeffer met him around the time that he lost his mother to pancreatic cancer. Family, Shaeffer said, was incredibly important to him.
Gabany was open about his cancer diagnosis at Chatham and beyond. He fundraised for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting pancreatic cancer, that holds annual walks. He organized a team called Gabany’s Guardian Angels, a reference to his late parents.
“If my journey can help someone else know that there [are] options and can be inspired by my story to fight on, then all the pain would be worth it all,” he wrote on his team page in 2024.
His presence on campus was hard to miss. Even if students didn’t have classes with him, his work at the Broadcast Studio meant his reputation spread far. Sebastian Mull ‘25 joined as an assistant just a few months before Gabany became the manager.
Prior to meeting Gabany, he had heard other students speak fondly about Gabany and his penchant for giving out candy and snacks, Mull said.
Perhaps the best illustration of his personality as a manager is the Broadcast Studio itself; there’s a drawer labeled “Studio Assistants” filled with snacks he bought for the assistants, and assistants frequently offer students Dum-Dums lollipops that Gabany bought. He accommodated dietary restrictions with gluten-free and dairy-free snacks.
“He didn’t just bring in one package of Swedish Fish for the students. He would bring in, like, the 700-pack,” Shaeffer said. “The Dum-Dums that are still over in the Broadcast Studio, you know, they’ve been there for a long time, and folks are working through them over weeks or months or longer. It’ll be a sad day when they run out.”
Mull described Gabany as a comedian who frequently referenced “Breaking Bad,” “The Godfather” and other cinematic works. Gabany’s love for cinema extended to his work at his company Gabany Film Productions.
According to Shaeffer, the only time she can remember Gabany taking a break from his work at Chatham was shortly after his diagnosis in 2020 when he underwent surgery.
Gabany would frequently check in with Mull and the other studio assistants, asking them about their personal lives and talking with them about their passions.
“It just took a lot of strength, you know, to make it to classes and be as busy as he was when he had so much going on, so I admire him for that,” Mull said.
“A campus legend,” he added.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Kelly Gabany. Instead of flowers, Gabany’s family asks that donations be made in his memory to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network at pancan.org.
