Personal Mention

Robert Strauss, professor of economics and public policy in the Heinz College, has been elected to the National Academy of Public Administration, an independent organization established in 1967 by the U.S. Congress to assist government leaders in building more effective, efficient, accountable and transparent organizations. The academy helps the federal government address critical challenges through in-depth studies and analyses, advisory services and technical assistance, Congressional testimony, forums and conferences and online stakeholder engagement. The NAPA provides insights on key public management issues and advisory services to government agencies. Strauss, who will be officially inducted on Dec. 3, joins more than 800 NAPA members. The membership includes former cabinet officers, members of Congress, governors, mayors, state legislators and prominent scholars, business executives and public administrators.

Lynn Walker, professor of chemical engineering, has won the Mentorship Excellence Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers' (AIChE) Women's Initiatives Committee. The award recognizes women faculty who have contributed to the development of the next generation of chemical engineers through outstanding mentoring. Walker will be presented with the award at the AIChE annual meeting, Nov. 8-13 in Salt Lake City. 

David Danks, head of the Philosophy Department and professor of philosophy and psychology, co-authored an op-ed that appeared on Slate. The piece, titled “Fight ISIS by Thinking Inside the Bot,” addresses ways in which artificial intelligence can be utilized to distract ISIS recruiters on social media. Danks and his co-authors propose the development and use of linguistically sophisticated chatbots to disrupt recruitment efforts. “In short, we need chatbots that can ‘speak’ in the different idioms and dialects of a range of social classes, educational levels, and sophistication, from a variety of places.” Read the op-ed. 

Gérard Cornuéjols, the IBM University Professor of Operations Research at the Tepper School, was awarded the Lanchester Prize from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) for his publication, “Integer Programming.” The book, co-written with CMU Ph.D. alumni Michele Conforti and Giacomo Zambelli, was published by Springer in 2014. The Lanchester Prize is awarded annually for the best contribution to operations research and the management sciences published in English in the past three years. Cornuéjols also earned the Lanchester prize in 1977.

Sue-mei Wu, teaching professor of Chinese Studies and founder and president of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Western Pennsylvania (CLTA-WPA), has been actively promoting quality Chinese education during her more than two decades of teaching. She recently conducted a workshop on “Chinese Language Teacher Preparation for the Global Era” at the University of Pittsburgh for more than 65 attendees. She also co-organized the CLTA-WPA 2015 Autumn Symposium at Penn State University in mid-October. The symposium featured several research and panel presentations, roundtable discussions, a book exhibition and membership meeting. More than 70 Chinese educators attended the symposium.

Elizabeth Vaughan, director of Student Activities, and Mechanical Engineering Professor Jack Beuth appeared on WPXI-TV’s “Our Region’s Business” last Sunday with host Bill Flanagan of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Beuth discussed the growing field of additive manufacturing (3-D printing) in the Western Pennsylvania region. Vaughan previewed CMU’s plans to package 100,000 Stop Hunger Now meals in two hours this Saturday, Nov. 7, in partnership with the Kraft Heinz Company Foundation. Partners Allied in Civic Engagement (PACE), a student/staff initiative, is organizing the event and has selected food insecurity as the theme of its educational opportunities this year.