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Manfred Paulini Honored As CMU Educational Leader

By Heidi Opdyke Email Heidi Opdyke

Heidi Opdyke

Over the course of his career, Manfred Paulini has fostered a welcoming and nurturing environment for graduate students and junior faculty in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Physics and the Mellon College of Science.

“Manfred has fundamentally transformed our graduate program by implementing countless measures — some big, some small — that together create a supportive and welcoming environment in which our graduate students can flourish,” said Markus Deserno, professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Physics.

Since joining Carnegie Mellon in 2000, Paulini, the associate dean for research of the Mellon College of Science, has advised six postdoctoral fellows, advised 17 Ph.D. students and has mentored young faculty in the High Energy Group.

As director of the graduate program for the Department of Physics from 2008 to 2017 he transformed the student experience. He developed a rubric for grading in graduate research courses, instituted town halls for students to share their perspectives and advised all physics graduate students in their first years. He regularly hosted events that brought students and faculty together.

As the associate dean for faculty and graduate affairs for the Mellon College of Science from 2017-2023, Paulini initiated the Mellon College of Science Hooding Ceremony three years ago and developed new academic opportunities for graduate students including spearheading the development of the M.S. in Data Analytics, which he now serves as its director.

In addition, he initiated the Graduate Student Travel Grant Supplement Program, ran professional develop programs for graduate students and began a new faculty orientation for the Mellon College of Science.

As an experimental particle physicist, Paulini has spent decades mentoring others. The university’s particle physics group grew significantly in the past few years through hires of junior faculty and postdoctoral fellows and graduate student recruitment.

His mentorship has helped craft the careers of researchers in the High Energy Group, where Paulini’s unwavering support has helped advance new machine learning techniques, increased the number of award nominations and supported researchers pursuing opportunities for advancement.

“As a senior colleague, Manfred is great to work with,” said Assistant Professor Valentina Dutta. “He has advocated for me to gain visibility and recognition in different ways, which include putting my name forward for leadership positions within the CMS collaboration when I have sought them.”

For his ongoing commitment and deep commitment to helping people move forward in their careers, Paulini won this year’s Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring. He was recognized on April 24, at this year’s Celebration of Education Awards, which honor outstanding contributions in the areas of teaching, mentorship, service and educational innovation.