Carnegie Mellon University

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March 14, 2013

Personal Mention

Linda Babcock, the James M. Walton Professor of Economics, appeared on Katie Couric's show, "Katie," on Monday, March 11, as part of a roundable discussion on gender inequality. Babcock is the founder and faculty director of the Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) and author of "Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide." Additional guests on the show included: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; Harvard Associate Professor Hannah Riley Bowles; Lululemon CEO Christine Day; and The WAGE Project President Evelyn Murphy. Watch a clip from the show.

John R. Anderson, whose human thought and cognition research has revolutionized how we learn, has been selected to receive the Association for Psychological Science's (APS) William James Lifetime Achievement Award for Basic Research. The award, APS's highest honor, recognizes Anderson's profound impact on the field of psychological science and his significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology. His work combines cognitive psychology and computer science to understand how the brain works, how people learn and how computer-based instructional systems can be used as educational aids. In the 1990s, Anderson led a team that created an intelligent computer tutor to teach algebra to high school students. The program actually thought like a teenager and was so successful that a spinoff company, Carnegie Learning, developed computer tutors as a commercial product. To date, more than half a million students in 2,600 schools around the U.S. have used the tutoring software. Read more about Anderson.

Nancy Galbraith, professor of composition, has been honored by Ohio University with the 2013 School of Music Alumni Award. In celebration of this award, three Ohio University wind ensembles performed a complete concert of Professor Galbraith's works. Other recent performances of her compositions include Bodiography Contemporary Ballet's premiere of “Whispers of Light: A Story of Hope” on Feb. 22-23 at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh. The new two-act contemporary ballet is a tribute to the Highmark Caring Place for grieving children and was choreographed by Maria Caruso. Additionally, Altena Brass will premiere Galbraith's “Euphonic Blues for Brass” in Werkendam (Netherlands) during its annual Easter concert at the end of March.

Kiron Skinner, associate professor of social and decision sciences and director of CMU’s Center for International Relations and Politics, appeared on MSNBC’s show “Up with Chris Hayes” on Saturday, March 9. Skinner, a political strategy and foreign relations expert, discussed the Rand Paul filibuster and the drone debate. Read more at http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/03/08/march-9-rand-paul-drones-overestimating-voters-conservatism/.

Senior Madelyn Glymour has won the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) Alliance for Family Entertainment's (AFE) Search for America's Newest Screenwriter Contest. Glymour received the top prize of $2,500 in the college category for her script titled "Nuclear," a drama about a family lawyer who helps her clients get the most out of their divorces while trying to navigate her own dysfunctional family life. AFE holds the contest to support its mission to "find, nurture, develop and support, high-quality content the entire family can enjoy." Writers are asked to submit original scripts for a 30-minute comedy or one-hour drama that depicts modern family life with a multi-generational appeal. Over the past 10 years, AFE has helped to bring more than 20 primetime successful programs to air. Read the full story.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has selected four Carnegie Mellon faculty members — David Brumley, Gautam Iyer, Seyoung Kim and Rachel Mandelbaum —  to receive prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships for showing great potential to advance knowledge in their field. Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded to young researchers from the fields of chemistry, neuroscience, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics and physics. Each fellow will receive a two-year, $50,000 grant to pursue his or her research. The Carnegie Mellon recipients are among 124 scientists nationwide receiving the award this year. “This is a wonderful honor for Carnegie Mellon that four of our young, outstanding faculty members have received this extremely competitive award. As Sloan Research Fellows, these faculty members join an elite group of young researchers who are pushing the frontiers of their respective research endeavors,” said Carnegie Mellon Provost and Executive Vice President Mark S. Kamlet. Read about the new Sloan Research Fellows.

School of Music Faculty members Daniel Teadt and Karen Roethlisberger Verm will perform a recital of art songs featuring the works of Benjamin Britten, Hugo Wolf, Gerald Finzi, and Samuel Barber at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 23 in Kresge Theatre in the College of Fine Arts building. The performance is free and open to the public. Teadt, a baritone, is a rising star in the opera world, having recently made his debuts with the New York City and Pittsburgh Operas. He has also appeared with the San Francisco Opera, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Kansas City Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.  He made a Grammy-Award winning recording of “Billy Budd” with the London Symphony Orchestra and has appeared at the Aix-en-Provence festival. 
 
Roethlisberger Verm has long been a fixture in the Pittsburgh music scene, having performed with the Mendelssohn Choir, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Opera. She is highly sought after as a collaborative pianist and vocal coach, and has worked at Duquesne University, Aspen Music Festival, Bowdoin Music Festival, Opera Theater of Lucca (Italy) and the Eastern Music Festival. She also was a winner of the Pittsburgh Concert Society auditions with her husband, Baritone Craig Verm.