Carnegie Mellon University
May 20, 2022

Mike Steidel, Dean of Admission, Announces Retirement

Dear Members of the Campus Community:

Dean of Admission Mike Steidel has shared with me his plan to retire at the end of the next academic year, after 45 years with Carnegie Mellon University. He will stay in his role until May 2023 to see through the next admissions cycle.

Mike graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and administration and management science. A lifelong Tartan, Mike began his admission career as a tour guide here in 1974 and became Carnegie Mellon’s youngest director of admission at age 29 in 1986. He became Dean of Admission in 2016.

Under Mike’s direction, the university has witnessed our admissions numbers reach impressive new heights. In 10 years, we have seen the number of applicants to CMU almost double, with an all-time high of more than 34,000 applicants during the most recent admissions cycle. He also helped us to recruit more diverse and inclusive classes. Mike’s strategic and enthusiastic leadership of the university’s admissions has allowed us to attract some of the world’s most talented students. His depth of knowledge in the field of admissions, as well as his passion for Carnegie Mellon, has had an enormous impact not only on the students we recruit, but also on all of us who have had the pleasure to work with and learn from him. Mike’s impact on our institution will be felt for years to come.

Across the higher education admissions community, Mike is a respected leader in his field. He has served as a member and president of the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling, as well as a faculty member of its Bucknell Summer Institute for new admission and secondary school staff. He has also served on boards and committees for organizations such as the European Council of International Schools; The Common Application; the Educational Testing Service’s Test of English as a Foreign Language Board of Directors; and the National Association for College Admission Counseling National Task Force on Technology in Admission and Counseling. He is a frequent panelist for secondary school programs on college admission and a highly sought-after consultant for college and university admission operations.

A comprehensive national search for a leader in enrollment management to oversee undergraduate admissions will be launched this summer. Please join me in thanking Mike for all that he has done for CMU and congratulating him on his pending retirement.

Sincerely,

Jim Garrett
Provost and Chief Academic Officer