Distinctly Dietrich: Announcing Our College’s Strategic Planning Process

Oct. 5, 2026

I am excited to announce the launch of a strategic planning process that will bring our Dietrich College community together to shape our priorities for the next five years. As Carnegie Mellon University navigates profound change and our nation reexamines the role of higher education, we have an opportunity to define an ambitious path forward. Led from within the college and informed by your perspectives, this process will build on our distinctive strengths, explore new possibilities, and identify where we can make the greatest impact on society.

I’m grateful to Rebecca Nugent, Fienberg University Professor and head of the Department of Statistics & Data Science, and Andreea Ritivoi, Dietrich College’s associate dean for research and William S. Dietrich Professor of English, for agreeing to serve as co-chairs of the strategic plan’s steering committee. Many thanks to the following colleagues who have accepted our invitation to serve alongside them:

  • David Badre, George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience and director of the Neuroscience Institute
  • Lynn S. Collester (DC 1985), majors: economics and industrial management
  • Brit McCandless Farmer (DC 2008), majors: professional and creative writing
  • Russell Golman, professor, Social and Decision Sciences
  • Khaled Harras, teaching professor of computer science and senior associate dean of faculty, Carnegie Mellon-Qatar
  • Nadiya Kostyuk, assistant professor, Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology (CMIST)
  • Marsha Lovett, vice provost for teaching and learning innovation and teaching professor, Psychology
  • Mame-Fatou Niang, Trustee Professor of Global French Studies and director of the Center for the Black European Studies and the Atlantic
  • S. Shria Parupudi (DC 2027), major: statistics and data science
  • Chris Phillips, professor and head, History
  • Andrew Ramey, director of advising, Dietrich College

Over the coming months, we’ll identify a focused set of strategic priorities that reflect Dietrich College’s distinctive strengths and advance CMU's mission and Strategic Framework. Those priorities will guide our decisions about programs, hiring, investments, and partnerships, and we will invite departments and units to innovate boldly within them.

Please mark your calendar for Friday, Oct. 30, from noon to 1 p.m. in Porter Hall 100 (Gregg Hall) for a town hall to learn more about how you can get involved and the principles that will serve as the foundation for our plan. We’ll also work together to refine the proposed vision and mission statements. Following the town hall, join us for lunch and a Dietrich College autumn celebration. 

Before the academic year concludes, we’ll gather again to review and refine the draft plan. Throughout the process, please share questions and suggestions via dc-strategy-committee@andrew.cmu.edu. We look forward to hearing more about your ideas and aspirations for Dietrich College!

Warmly,

Cassidy R. Sugimoto 
Bess Family Dean 
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences