Audrey Kurth Cronin Named Director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology

Dear Members of the Carnegie Mellon Community:

I am pleased to share that following a comprehensive, global search, Dr. Audrey Kurth Cronin has been named founding director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Security and Technology (CMIST) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, she has been named Trustees Professor of Security and Technology. CMIST, formerly known as the Institute for Politics and Strategy, is an academic unit in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Dr. Cronin officially joined CMU on Jan. 1, 2023, and has since been working to establish CMIST as a cross-university, interdisciplinary research institute that will deepen and broaden public understanding of developing technologies and security issues.

Dr. Cronin joins us from American University’s School of International Service, where she has served as a faculty member since 2016. She was named a Distinguished Professor at American University in 2021 and is the founding director of its Center for Security, Innovation and New Technology. She also gained accreditation, founded and ran the International Security graduate program at George Mason University. A Marshall Scholar from Princeton University, she earned a doctor of philosophy from Oxford University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University.

Dr. Cronin has also been director of the core course on War and Statecraft at the National War College, director of studies for the Changing Character of War program at Oxford University and specialist in terrorism at the Congressional Research Service. She has served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy and frequently advises at senior levels. She was chairman of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Terrorism and is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. 

As director of CMIST, Dr. Cronin will provide strategic vision and oversight of the unit’s teaching and research activities. She will promote CMIST research and educational activities, connect the intellectual and educational mission of the department to CMU’s broader mission, and foster partnerships with other departments and units across campus. Dr. Cronin brings the vision and credentials to lead CMIST as it draws upon, highlights and connects the remarkable security-related technological innovations already underway throughout the university with cross-cutting analyses of their ethical, social, political and economic impacts.

I thank the members of the search committee for their thorough and thoughtful work in identifying such a highly-qualified leader for this important position. I also thank Dr. Mark Kamlet, University Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Provost Emeritus, for serving as the interim director throughout the search.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Cronin and welcoming her to the Carnegie Mellon community.

Sincerely,

Jim Garrett
Provost and Chief Academic Officer