Personal Mention
Mark Stehlik will step down this summer as assistant dean for undergraduate education for the School of Computer Science to begin a five-year appointment as associate dean for education at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Stehlik, who began teaching undergraduate classes in 1982, has been assistant dean since the undergraduate computer science degree program began in 1988. Tom Cortina, associate teaching professor, will assume the duties of SCS assistant dean and will work with Stehlik this semester to begin the transition. Read the full story.
Laurie Weingart, the Carnegie Bosch Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business, has been named director of the school's Center for Excellence in Communication and Leadership. Evelyn Pierce, associate teaching professor in Management Communications, will serve as associate director. The center plays a vital role in the Tepper School of Business's new curriculum strategy to help students excel as influential, successful leaders and communicators. Read more about the Center for Excellence in Communication and Leadership.
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art Susanne Slavick and English Professor and poet Terrance Hayes will participate in “Disarming Words" at 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 29 at the SPACE Gallery, 812 Liberty Avenue, downtown. Slavick will speak about her recent book and art project, “OUT OF RUBBLE” (http://www.artbook.com/9788881588107.html), which presents international artists who consider the causes and consequences of war, its finality and future, moving from decimation and disintegration to the possibilities of regeneration and recovery. Hayes, winner of the 2010 National Book Award for poetry for his book “Lighthead,” will read from his poetry collection.
Mk Haley, associate executive producer of the Entertainment Technology Center, has been named SIGGRAPH Conference Chair for 2013. SIGGRAPH is the world’s premier conference on computer graphics and interactive techniques. The 2013 conference will be held in Anaheim, Calif., July 21-25. The 2012 conference will be in Los Angeles, Aug. 5-9. Haley, in her 25th year with SIGGRAPH, has held many roles with the conference, including student volunteer chair, emerging technologies chair, director of communications for the Executive Committee and director of SIGGRAPH 2011.
David Bohan, associate vice president for advancement and executive director of the campaign, will be leaving Carnegie Mellon for his home state of New Jersey, where he will become vice president for advancement at Seton Hall University. “Dave is leaving the campaign in a strong position,” said Vice President for Advancement Robbee Kosak. “The campaign is approaching $990 million of the one billion dollar goal with 18 months remaining and many additional new prospects are coming into the fold. Dave has also put into place important operational processes throughout the advancement division, which will allow us to better steward and engage alumni in general, as well as our campaign donors,” Kosak said. Bohan will complete his duties at CMU in late February or early March.
Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, artist lecturer in oboe and principal oboe of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra since 1991, will present the world premiere of Michael Moricz’s work, “Three Consequences for Four Players,” for oboe, horn, cello and piano in her faculty recital at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 21 in Kresge Theatre. Comprising the “four players” with DeAlmeida are School of Music faculty members; William Caballero, artist lecturer in horn; David Premo, artist lecturer in cello; and Rodrigo Ojeda, artist lecturer in piano. DeAlmeida commissioned the work from Moricz 18 months ago, and she and her colleagues plan to record it soon after the recital.
Rear Admiral (retired) Edward H. (Ned) Deets, III has joined the Software Engineering Institute as CERT deputy director, Defense Cyber Solutions. In this new role, Deets will manage the development and execution of CERT activities related principally to national defense. Deets joins the SEI after retiring from more than 30 years in the Navy. Most recently, he was the vice commander and then commander of Naval Network Warfare Command, where he oversaw the conduct of Navy network, communications, space, signals intelligence and cyber operations. "Ned brings not only his leadership and experience, but also a unique understanding of the cyber security challenges confronting the Department of Defense," said Richard Pethia, director of the SEI's CERT Program. Read the full story.
Associate English Professor Jane McCafferty's new novel, "First You Try Everything," tells the story of a collapsing marriage and a wife determined to save it. Set in Pittsburgh, McCafferty uses both main characters' perspectives to explore the challenges they each face now that their once tight bond over shared ideals has evaporated. "I wanted to study heartbreak, and how the grief of heartbreak can feel like a form of madness," she said. "I was also interested in exploring how two point of view characters can amplify and contradict each other's stories." Read the full story.
Noah Smith, associate professor in the Language Technologies Institute, has been awarded a three-year Finmeccanica Career Development Chair. His research interests include statistical natural language processing, especially unsupervised methods, machine learning for structured data and applications of natural language processing. An endowment by the Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica funds two chairs that support outstanding young faculty members in the School of Computer Science. The other chair is currently held by Alexei Efros, associate professor of computer science and robotics.