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January 22, 2015

Personal Mention

Jim RohrJames Rohr, the former chairman and CEO of PNC Financial Services Group, has been elected to succeed Raymond Lane as chairman of Carnegie Mellon's Board of Trustees, effective July 1. Rohr also will serve as chair of the board's Executive Committee. A member of the board since 1992, Rohr has served as the board's vice chairman since 2012, and currently chairs its Nominating and Governance Committee. He also serves on the Finance Committee of which he was vice chair from 2007-2012. He chaired CMU's Presidential Search Committee from 2012-2013. Rohr has supported a variety of educational initiatives and played a key role in establishing the PNC Center for Financial Services Innovation and a PNC Professorship in Finance at CMU. "As one of America's most successful business leaders, Jim Rohr has provided insightful guidance and service to Carnegie Mellon as a member of the board of trustees for 22 years," said CMU President Subra Suresh. "I look forward to working with him in his new role as chairman as he continues his long and rich collaboration with the university." Learn more.

Lisa ZilinskiLisa D. Zilinski has joined University Libraries as Data Services Librarian, succeeding Steven Van Tuyl, who left CMU in July 2014 to take a position at Oregon State University. Zilinski's research experience and interests include data management principles, vocabulary development, knowledge transfer, data education, and information dissemination and access practices. "With her knowledge and skills, Lisa will make an invaluable contribution to addressing the issues related to data management at CMU," said Director of Scholarly Publishing, Archives & Data Services Gabrielle Michalek. Zilinski comes to CMU from Purdue University Libraries, where she was an assistant professor of library science and a data specialist in the Research Data Division. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida Atlantic University, a master’s degree in human resource management from Nova Southeastern University, and a master’s degree in library and information studies from Florida State University.

Linda BabcockTwo books authored by Linda Babcock, the James M. Walton Professor of Economics at the Heinz and Dietrich colleges, have been recognized among "the most important business books ever written" by Ed Stych, national special section editor at The Business Journals. The books are "Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation — and Positive Strategies for Change" and "Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Really Want." Both books were co-authored by Sara Laschever, who along with Babcock was a founding faculty member of Carnegie Mellon's Leadership and Negotiation Academy for Women.

Edmund M. Clarke, professor of computer science, is one of 18 eminent science and technology leaders sharing their ideas on hot science and technology topics this week as they mentor some of the world’s brightest young researchers at the Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore. Clarke, a Turing Award winner, and MIT’s Shafi Goldwasser, a CMU alumna and fellow Turing laureate, joined 350 young scientists at the National Technological University for the Jan. 18-23 event. In all, 12 Nobel Prize winners, two Fields Medalists, and four Turing Award winners participated. The GYSS is a multi-disciplinary summit, covering topics ranging from chemistry, physics, medicine, mathematics, computer science and engineering. Clarke presented a lecture on model checking and computer system verification and led a small group discussion on whether program verification is possible or desirable.

Jay D. Aronson participated in AAAS’ Science & Human Rights Coalition Meeting: Big Data & Human Rights in Washington, D.C., last week. Aronson moderated a panel discussion on "Human Rights Implications of Big Data." Aronson is associate professor of science, technology and society in the Department of History and director of CMU’s Center for Human Rights Science. Learn more about the meeting and watch videos from the event.

Alex John London, professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Ethics and Policy, spoke at the Institute of Medicine workshop on "Financial Incentives to Support Unmet Medical Needs for Nervous System Disorders." London participated in a panel discussion on "New or Existing Regulatory Approval Pathways." Read more.

Five CMU student winners and six local high school winners in the Martin Luther King Jr. Writing Awards were interviewed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the topic of identity, what it means to them, how they define themselves and how they want others to perceive them. The CMU students who participated were Siriana Abboud, Joshua Brown, Michelle Mathew, Michael Mingo and Sophie Rose Zucker. Watch the video.