A Rose Among the Thorns: Beverly Clayton’s PSC Legacy

Beverly Clayton, PSC Executive Director, with PSC Founders Ralph Roskies and Mike Levine.

Recognized as one of 35 HPC Legends in 2025 by HPC Wire magazine, Beverly Clayton served as Executive Director of PSC from 1986 to 2006 and has the distinction of being the first woman to direct an HPC center.

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Order From Chaos

Back then, there weren’t many women technology managers. She came from Gulf Labs, where she was director of information technology. When Gulf Labs closed, PSC scientific directors Ralph Roskies and Michael Levine were smart enough to hire her—they knew they didn’t have expertise in managing people or organizational development.

According to Cheryl Begandy, “[Clayton] brought that management expertise. She was very good at what she did and great with people. Michael and Ralph were not necessarily great with people, so she provided a critical layer. She handled hiring and built [PSC’s] organizational structure.” Those who remember that time acknowledge the key role Clayton played during PSC’s first twenty years.

In 2006, Clayton organized PSC’s move into the new office space. At Mellon Institute, PSC was spread across four or five floors with no real sense of community: it was like a maze. She secured the space at 300 South Craig and oversaw the design and move. That was probably her crowning achievement—bringing everyone together so the organization could develop a stronger culture.

“[Beverly Clayton] brought management expertise. She was very good at what she did and great with people. Michael and Ralph were not necessarily great with people, so she provided a critical layer. She handled hiring and built [PSC’s] organizational structure.”

Five people in lab coats smile while holding a hockey jersey that says the name — *Beverly at the heart of the team—shown here at the ribbon-cutting for PSC’s “Jaromir” T3E machine, named for Jaromir Jagr.*

SAVY SUPPORT

In addition to sheparding PSC’s move, Clayton helped organize PSC’s 20th anniversary celebration.

Colleagues recall Clayton’s open-door office where she calmly handled problems with diplomacy and humor. Clayton often cited PSC’s user support and focus on science as its real strengths. When she retired, PSC managers credited Clayton with making the center the “facility of choice for the most demanding NSF users.”

Ralph Roskies recalls her expertise at running things from an administrative perspective and shared that she was always easy to work with.

Cherly Begandy shared about hitting it off immediately with Beverly Clayton. “When PSC was just starting out, I heard about it through a CMU contact. Alcoa became the first corporate affiliate of PSC under my division. Beverly and I would go to lunch and talk about the challenges and successes of women in these roles. We mentored and supported each other for years. Even later, when she was my boss, we had a very equal relationship. Over time, my role expanded, and by the end, Beverly and I were very close—friends and mentors to each other.”

Beyond her work at PSC, Clayton was heavily involved with the Super Computing (SC) conference series, serving in a variety of roles, and leading the charge to bring SC to Pittsburgh in 1996. Her stewardship helped shape SC into the global gathering it is today, including its many education and participation programs.

Though she passed away in 2020, Beverly Clayton’s legacy of leadership helped turn a “grant and a good idea” into one of America’s premier supercomputing centers.