Historic Gift's Human and Societal Potential
Oct. 1, 2026
Dear Dietrich College Students,
I’m following up on the exciting message CMU President Farnam Jahanian shared yesterday about the historic $3 billion gift Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin has bestowed on the university. I am truly excited by the transformative potential of this gift in Miami, Pittsburgh, and across the globe!
One of the reasons I find the launch of CMU Miami so exciting is its unique organization around four pressing societal challenges:
- National Security and Strategic Capabilities
- Human Health and Biological Discovery
- Energy and Climate Resilience
- Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Transformation
The humanities and social sciences are essential to this work, both in how your education enables you to navigate a rapidly changing world and in how we accelerate research and discovery of critical importance to the human experience. Our strengths across departments and our commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration make Dietrich College essential to the success of “one of our boldest moves yet,” as President Jahanian has called it.
There are numerous resources online to learn more about yesterday's announcement, including video reflections from corporate and government officials, as well as leaders across our campus, including Edda Fields-Black, director of The Humanities Center and professor of history.
The university will soon be issuing a call for proposals about how we might best utilize this incredible gift. I encourage you to stay engaged and submit your suggestions for how we can build teams across our college and campus, collaborate with external groups, and push the boundaries of what we can achieve beyond disciplinary silos — in a way that only CMU makes possible.
Warmly,
Cassidy R. Sugimoto
Bess Family Dean
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences