June 10, 2004

Vol. 14, No. 46

The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the University Advancement Division. News of campus interest should be sent to one of the following editors:   Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Susan Cribbs, 412-268-7521 (cribbs@andrew.cmu.edu)

The newsletter is available on the official.cmu-news and cmu.misc.news bulletin boards.

2001 Editions are available online.

2002 Editions are available online.

2003 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

Pradeep K. Khosla (E'84, E'86), the Philip and Marsha Dowd Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Robotics, has been named dean of the College of Engineering (CIT), effective July 1. A member of the CIT faculty since 1986, Khosla succeeds John L. Anderson, who became provost of Case Western Reserve University in April.

—"Pradeep Khosla's wide ranging experience in research, teaching and creating meaningful partnerships with business and industry make him an excellent choice to lead our College of Engineering," said President Jared L. Cohon. "Based on our past experience with his work, we expect great things of Pradeep."

—Khosla is head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department, co-director of CyLab, a university-wide computer security initiative, and director of the Information Networking Institute (INI). During his tenure, ECE grew more than 80 percent in research volume, added 23 new faculty and defined several strategic multidisciplinary initiatives. In 2002, U.S. News & World Report ranked the computer engineering graduate program number one for the first time. Since October 2000, the INI has doubled its enrollment and collaborated with the Athens Information Technology Institute in Athens, Greece, to offer Carnegie Mellon's Master of Science in Information Networking degree. The program's first class graduated this spring.

—"For many years," said Provost Mark Kamlet, "Pradeep has been a leader not only in research, but also on educational matters. He has helped us define new ways to educate our engineering students and created strong interdisciplinary fields of study in information networking, computing security and robotics." Kamlet called Khosla's leadership of international education opportunities "striking," noting his instrumental work on many new programs, specifically successful programs with Greece and Singapore. Further information: www.cmu.edu

MASON APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF THE ROBOTICS INSTITUTE

Matthew T. Mason, professor of computer science and robotics and a world-renowned expert in robotic manipulation, has been named director of the Robotics Institute in the School of Computer Science (SCS), effective July 1. He succeeds Chuck Thorpe, who has been appointed dean of Carnegie Mellon's campus in Doha, Qatar.

—Mason earned his bachelor's, master's and doctor's degrees in computer science and artificial intelligence from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 1982. Until his new appointment, he was the chairman of the robotics doctoral program.

—Mason's most recent research project is an origami-folding robot, in collaboration with his student Devin Balkcom. Prior to that his primary interest has been "desktop robotics"—developing concepts and technology to enable robots to rearrange the objects on a typical desk. He is co-director of the Robotics Institute's Manipulation Laboratory and author of the textbook "The Mechanics of Robotic Manipulation" (MIT Press, August 2001).

NEW DEGREE ESTABLISHED FOR CAREERS IN ENTERTAINMENT

The university has announced the establishment of the Master of Entertainment Industry Management (MEIM) degree, a new graduate-level program focusing on management training for the for-profit entertainment sector. The degree is designed for individuals who seek careers in executive positions in the film, television, commercial theatre, live entertainment, music and new media industries. The MEIM program is a two-year course of study offered jointly by the Heinz School and the College of Fine Arts. Target candidates for the program will be recent undergraduates from the country's leading performing arts and film/television conservatory schools.

—"We hope to help develop executives—leaders in the industry—who care deeply about the creative process, who have a strong and visionary personal aesthetic and who value the vital art of storytelling as much as they value the financial bottom line," said Professor Dan J. Martin, director of the MEIM program. Further information: www.cmu.edu/PR/releases04/040604_meimdegree.html

ALUMNI WIN TONY AWARDS FOR DESIGN WORK

Three alumni won Tony Awards at the 58th annual celebration in New York City's Radio City Music Hall on June 6. Eugene Lee (A'62) received a Tony for Best Scenic Design for his work in "Wicked," and the team of Peggy Eisenhauer (A'83) and Jules Fisher (A'60) earned the award for Best Lighting Design for their work in "Assassins." Tony Award nominees included Michael McElroy (A'90) for Best Featured Actor in a musical ("Big River"); Stephen Schwartz (A'68) for Best Original Score ("Wicked"); and Tonya Pinkins for Best Actress in a Musical ("Caroline or Change"). Other alumni associated with this year's Tony Awards were presenters Rob Marshall (A'82) and Ethan Hawke (A'92), and performers Natalie Venetia Belcon (A'91) and Matthew Stocke (A'95).

NEWS BRIEFS

—Computing Services' Wireless Andrew Web site, www.cmu.edu/computing/wireless/, has been selected as an "ACUTA Member Site to See" for the second quarter of 2004. Web sites recognized by ACUTA (Association for Communications Technology Professionals in Higher Education) are judged on content delivery, timeliness, ease of use, accessibility and pleasing graphics. ACUTA is an international non-profit educational association serving colleges and universities.

—The scheduling offices of the University Center and Enrollment Services will be closed beginning Wednesday, June 16 thru Monday, June 21 for server and software upgrades. Please make arrangements before June 15 for events scheduled during this timeframe.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Kurt Larsen has been appointed assistant dean for undergraduate studies in the Carnegie Institute of Technology, effective July 1. He replaces Robert Kail, who is joining the university's Qatar campus as associate dean for academic and student affairs.

—Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) Research Scientist Jeff Hansen, along with Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) graduate student Sourav Ghosh, Humanities and Social Sciences Dean John Lehoczky and ECE Professor Ragunathan Rajkumar, won the Best Paper Award at the 12th International Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Real-Time Systems for their paper, "Resource Management of Highly Configurable Tasks."

—The university has awarded the Anna Loomis McCandless professorship to Yoky Matsuoka, assistant professor in the Robotics Institute, and the Estella Loomis McCandless professorship to Jennifer Lerner, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences and psychology. The professorships are given every three years to two junior faculty members who have shown great promise in their field.

—In recognition of their excellence in teaching, the Tepper School of Business has honored the following faculty with teaching awards: Vishal Singh, assistant professor of marketing; Bryan R. Routledge, associate professor of finance; and Evelyn M. Pierce, associate teaching professor of management communication. Ph.D. candidates Senthil Veeraraghavan, Amitabh Sinha and Brett Gordon were also recognized for excellence.

—Gerard P. Cornuejols, IBM University Professor of Operations Research at the Tepper School of Business, has been awarded a Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Outstanding Paper Prize. His paper, "Ideal Binary Clutters, Connectivity, and Conjecture of Seymour," was co-authored with Bertrand Guenin (Tepper Ph.D. '98) from the University of Waterloo.

—Robert Pfaller (A'66), a graphic designer in the Communications Design Group, retired on June 1 after 20 years of service to the university.

—Correction: In our June 3 issue it was noted that Takahiro Noguchi, who had won a Fulbright Award, received "his MBA from Carnegie Mellon in 2003." The degree is the MFA.

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