Rebecca Culyba, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives and Chief of Staff
Rebecca Culyba serves as vice provost for strategic initiatives and chief of staff for Carnegie Mellon University. Culyba is responsible for the central coordination of all functions and activities of the Office of the Provost and provides broad oversight of administrative support services, executive communications and operations. She provides counsel and management support to the Provost, primarily at the intersection of the Provost’s initiatives and academic administrative operations.
Culyba is a member of the president’s executive management team and a number of university committees that further academic initiatives for Carnegie Mellon, including serving as co-chair for the university’s Data Stewardship Council and the university liaison to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and numerous leadership searches. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Culyba has served as a subject matter expert member of the COVID Coordinating Committee and member of the Emergency Operations Core Team in the development and implementation of return to campus and hybrid learning plans for the university.
Culyba first joined Carnegie Mellon in 2015 as the Director in the Office of the Vice President for Research. Previously, she served as a Senior Program Administrator at the UPMC Center for High Value Health Care and Director of Research and Evaluation at the Southeast AIDS Training and Education Center in Emory University’s School of Medicine, where she also served as Senior Associate Faculty.
Culyba is a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) for the Allegheny County Health Department. She serves on the board of directors for the New Hazlett Theater and is the Alumnae Admissions Coordinator for the Smith College Club of Greater Pittsburgh.
Culyba holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Smith College, a Master of Arts degree in communication, culture and society from the University of London’s Goldsmiths College and a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University.