Carnegie Mellon University

The Piper

CMU Community News

Piper Logo
July 11, 2013

Personal Mention

Richard Scheines and the late Steven Klepper were recently honored by the American Statistical Association (ASA) for their OLI course "Empirical Research Methods for the Social Sciences." The course was named an honorable mention for ASA's first Causality in Statistics Education Award, which is aimed at encouraging the teaching of basic causal inference in introductory statistics courses. Scheines is a professor and head of the Department of Philosophy. Klepper was the Arthur Arton Hamerschlag Professor of Economics and Social Science.

Linda Argote, the David M. Kirr and Barbara A. Kirr Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory and director of the Center for Organizational Learning, Innovation and Performance at the Tepper School of Business, has been elected a 2013 Fellow of the Academy of Management and will be officially inducted in August during the organization’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. This honor recognizes her significant contributions to the science and practice of management as a member of the institution. The Fellows Group provides a forum for discussion and opportunities for partnerships among honorees. The Academy of Management, founded in 1936, is the oldest and largest association of management scholars in the world with more than 20,000 members from 109 countries.

Joseph B. (Jay) Kadane recently wrote two blog posts for the Huffington Post, one titled "Man and Machine" on technology, drones and warfare, and another one on marriage equality, titled "Gay Marriage Is Coming to a State Near You." Kadane is the Leonard J. Savage University Professor of Statistics and Social Sciences.

Martin Griss, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Silicon Valley (CMU-SV) campus since 2009, has stepped down from the top post, but will continue on campus as a principal research scientist. CMU-SV will hold a reception for Griss on Aug. 10 at the Fourth Annual Technology Showcase and Alumni Reception. College of Engineering Dean James H. Garrett Jr. will appoint a new director of CMU-SV later this summer.

Pulkit Grover, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is developing tools that will help reduce the amount of energy consumed by data center networks by 30 to 50 percent. Grover, who is presenting his research at this week's International Symposium on Information Theory in Istanbul, Turkey, reports that his team is developing new energy-efficient protocols and circuits that can reduce energy consumption by including the right patterns of "redundancy" for correcting errors in communication links of big data centers. Read more.

Carnegie Mellon's Jay D. Aronson and Baruch Fischhoff and the University of Pittsburgh's Taylor B. Seybolt, have co-edited "Counting Civilian Casualties: An Introduction to Recording and Estimating Nonmilitary Deaths in Conflict." The new book surveys the challenges of counting civilian casualites, presenting and evaluating methods for ensuring that these tragic killings are properly acknowledged. Published by Oxford University Press, the book examines the most commonly used casualty recording and estimation techniques and evaluates their strengths and weaknesses, giving those who rely on these records — policymakers, humanitarian organizations, journalists and others — the best possible understanding of how to pursue their work. It also analyzes how figures are used — and sometimes misused — by governments, rebels, human rights advocates, war crime tribunals and others. The book contains contributions from the top researchers in the field, presenting case studies from Latin America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Read more.

Maggie Burke, a sound design major in the School of Drama, has received a 2013 John and Helen Meyer Scholarship. The Seattle native was one of six recipients of the scholarship, which is awarded to undergraduate students, graduate students and recent graduates for showing the most dedication and interest in their field through their scholarship application materials. The scholarship pays for tuition to the Broadway Sound Master Classes in New York City. Read more.

Drama student Michael Campayno is the lead male understudy in "Side by Side by Sondheim" at Pittsburgh CLO's Cabaret through Aug. 18. A rising senior majoring in musical theatre, Campayno is a graduate of Pittsburgh's Central Catholic High School and a native of nearby Forest Hills. Campayno won the 2008 Pittsburgh CLO's Gene Kelly Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Gaston in Central Catholic's production of "Beauty and the Beast." He has been in several Pittsburgh CLO productions, including "Jekyll and Hyde," "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Love Changes Everything" and "The Sound of Music." He also has been in the North Shore Musical Theatre's production of "All Shook Up" and the CLO Cabaret's production of "S'Wonderful." Read more.

Vivian Wang (A'11), a product designer at Facebook, and five other CMU alumni have been named to Business Insider's 2013 list of 75 best designers of technology. Wang is joined by Justin Edmund (A'11), a product designer at Pinterest; Sabrina Majeed (A'10), lead designer at Venmo; Julius Tarng (A'11), a designer at Branch; David Yen (A'11), a product designer at Lore; and Albert Yih (A'11), a motion and visual designer at Wieden + Kennedy. Read more.