Gordon Weinberg Receives Elliott Dunlap Smith Award

Gordon Weinberg, a full-time special faculty lecturer in the Department of Statistics & Data Science, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Elliott Dunlap Smith Award for Distinguished Teaching and Educational Service at Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. The award recognizes excellence and distinction in faculty members as both teachers and educators.

“It's humbling and gratifying to be acknowledged; and I'm enormously grateful to be a member of a community where students and faculty alike achieve more than they might have thought possible,” Weinberg said.

Weinberg’s research interests include statistical pedagogy and education. This involves updating and modernizing curriculum and assessment, pedagogical philosophy and development, best classroom practice and student engagement. He has been teaching in Dietrich College for 20 years. 

A Lifelong Educator

The son of two teachers, Weinberg has delighted in teaching since he was a child. At a young age, he would explain scientific concepts to his friends and acted as a tutor in math and science.

In a letter to the selection committee written on behalf of 30 members of the Department of Statistics & Data Science, it was noted that Weinberg has consistently demonstrated exceptional dedication to his students and pedagogical innovation and outreach.

Through the college’s General Education Program, Weinberg is one of few instructors who teach nearly every single Dietrich College student. His introductory statistics class “Reasoning with Data” teaches students how to make statistical decisions. While the development and delivery of the introductory statistics and data science courses is perhaps what Weinberg is most known for, he has also built expertise in teaching other large service courses such as “Introduction to Probability Theory.”

Within the college, Weinberg has worked with Associate Dean for Student Success Kelli Maxwell on tools to improve course management, student monitoring and outreach.

Beyond the Campus 

Weinberg is a member of the NSF-funded SCORE (Sports Content for Outreach, Research and Education) with Data Initiatives, a four-year project spread across several academic hubs that focuses on building educational materials that help students connect with statistics and data science through sports. He reviews materials, designs material access and provides feedback for outreach at a national level. 

Weinberg is also the department’s lead faculty member with respect to the CMU Pre-College Program, teaching both summer courses for high school students and participating in Pre-College non-academic programming and engaging in outreach.