ACS Insider - Fall 2024
The Power of Connection
Thank you for being a member of the Andrew Carnegie Society. As the new ACS Board president, I’m excited to get to know you and our fellow members as we work together to advance transformative initiatives and further build the foundation for a bright future at CMU.
I’d like to thank my predecessor, John Watts, for his many years of service and leadership, and for encouraging the spirit of philanthropy that was so dear to Andrew Carnegie’s heart. Like John, I will continue to focus on keeping that spirit alive here at CMU.
I’ll also focus on helping ACS members build and strengthen connections with each other and with the university. I’m a proud alumna of the Tepper School of Business and College of Engineering, and I really enjoy the beauty in reconnecting with CMU and meeting new alumni.
I encourage you to get involved and take advantage of the unique opportunities you have as an ACS member to engage with students, faculty, staff, alumni and university leadership. Attend an Alumni Association- or university-sponsored event, touch base with your favorite student club or organization, or reach out to a fellow ACS member you haven’t met yet.
When we build connections, we build our community and increase our impact on the university we all love so much.
If you have ideas or suggestions to share with me, I’d love to hear them. You can contact me directly at kkohatsu@alumni.cmu.edu.
With gratitude,
Katherine Kohatsu (ENG 1997; TPR 2005)
President, Andrew Carnegie Society
The Future of Physics
Physicists spend years planning projects on a grand scale, and Mellon College of Science Emeritus Physics Professor Thomas Ferguson is no exception.
With his eyes on the future, he set up a life insurance policy that will one day endow a chair for a faculty member in experimental high-energy physics. He also supported a four-year ACS Legacy Scholarship for a physics student, which was awarded to first-year Mellon College of Science student Marissa Parris.
“It’s a great way of having your giving targeted,” Ferguson says. “This is a way you can really see your giving going to someone and really helping them achieve their goals.”
Learn more about Thomas’s career at CMU and why he chooses to give
"Where else could you have a university that has one of the best engineering colleges and one of the best drama schools? Carnegie Mellon is really an amazing place. I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve tried to do my share to improve it."
Thomas Ferguson
Mellon College of Science
Emeritus Physics Professor
Campus Destination for Well-Being
On Thursday, Oct. 24, Carnegie Mellon University dedicated the Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics, which opened its doors at the start of the fall 2024 semester, at a celebration for the campus community and the project’s supporters.
Visitors explored the building as part of a self-guided tour and donors were recognized for gifts that named spaces in the building, including:
- Posner Family Wellness Garden
- Health Lobby
- Malone Men’s Basketball Locker Room
- Hunt Lobby
- Dickerson Office
- Ghaznavi Lobby
The facility’s official dedication was held in the new Gymnasium and featured remarks from university leadership, including President Farnam Jahanian and Dean of Students Gina Casalegno, among others.
“The exact moment that we opened the doors of this center, it fulfilled our grandest expectations. In an instant, it became a vibrant hub that has had something to offer to all CMU students,” President Jahanian said. “Today the Highmark Center for Health, Wellness and Athletics stands as a physical testament for our pursuit of excellence, our dedication to cultivating community, and our commitment to educating and developing the whole person.”
Made possible by a $35 million lead gift from Highmark Inc. with additional support from donors, including more than 300 trustees, alumni, parents, faculty and staff, the 160,000-square-foot Highmark Center is home to the Tartan Athletics program as well as robust health and wellness services and programs. Its design and thoughtful finishing details connect the legacy and traditions of CMU’s past with the new opportunities available for students within its walls.
“When these incredible young people need support, they have a state-of-the-art resource just a short walk from their labs and classrooms,” said Pittsburgh city councilmember Erika Strassburger. “They have a safe, welcoming, stabilizing place where dedicated professionals are here to help them. Wellness is multi-faceted, and the array of support functions this center offers will help students navigate whatever hurdle to wellness they might be facing.”
The Highmark Center includes:
- Full-service clinical areas for University Health Services
- Therapy rooms and other supportive spaces for Counseling and Psychological Services
- Practice, performance, training and care areas for CMU’s student-athletes
- Wellness Garden and mindfulness spaces
- Buggy viewing areas
- The Athletics Hall of Fame
Explore more about this project, including ongoing ways to support health and wellness at CMU, at cmu.edu/hwac.
Connecting Past and Future
Throughout the Highmark Center, visitors will find finishings and design elements that connect this state-of-the-art building to Carnegie Mellon’s past, including:
Concierge Desk
The top of this desk was created from a sycamore tree that was cut down during a previous campus construction project.
Copper Feature Wall
Copper fascia was salvaged from the old North Gym and Thistle Hall roofs and installed as a reminder of the two buildings that once stood on the site.
Varsity Athletes Lounge
This facility incorporates 6,000 square feet of wood flooring from the former Skibo Gym, which shows nicks and worn spots from generations of student use.
Varsity Weight Room
The Tartans logo that was once part of Skibo Gym has found a new, prominent place on the wall of this facility.
Sidewalks
Custom bronze markers are embedded into the sidewalk outside the Highmark Center, denoting locations important to the annual Buggy races.
Gymnasium
Striations on the original foundation wall show where the hillside stood outside of Skibo Gym before the new addition was built.
Brick Fascade
The Highmark Center is clad in the traditional Henry Hornbostel-inspired buff-colored brick, which the architect used throughout the campus’s original buildings.
Conference Room Windows
Etched patterns on the stacked conference room windows include vertical lines that mimic the heartbeat rhythm on an EKG, a reference to CMU’s unofficial motto, “My heart is in the work.”
Getting Involved
Suzan Lami (CFA 1979) is the founding partner of LGA Partners, a full-service architectural and interior design firm based in Pittsburgh. She started the firm in 1993, growing it from a sole proprietorship into one of the largest architecture firms in the region, and worked there until her retirement in 2019.
One of the ways she stays connected to her alma mater is by serving on the ACS board. Suzan just finished her first year as a board member and shared these thoughts about the experience.
Why did you decide to join the ACS Board?
I was asked to join and accepted as a way of getting more involved with the university. I wanted to learn more about the development process and about the ACS Scholars program.
What have you enjoyed most about serving on the Board?
There are several things I enjoy:
- Meeting the student scholars and getting to know them has been a gift. They are an amazing cohort of young people. It gives me hope for a bright future for our world!
- Meeting the other board members. This has given me a chance to meet and get to know grads of all ages from different schools. We architects tended to stay tied to our drafting boards, and this has opened up my world to the different programs and colleges within the university.
- Interacting with other ACS members has been fun. We reach out personally to the members, and the responses back have been rewarding.