Graduation and induction ceremony for the Charpie Leadership Institute in April 2025.
The Charpie Leadership Institute
The Charpie Leadership Institute is a robust two-semester learning experience for second-year undergraduate students—from all majors and colleges—that endeavors to cultivate principled, action-oriented and democratically engaged student leaders who are agents of positive social change in a complex and diverse world.
Built on the principles of The Social Change Model of Leadership, this program includes a one-semester for-credit course on leadership development, year-long regular check-ins with a one-on-one mentor and an individually designed democratically engaged project in an impact area of concern to the student.
Through participation in this program, students will:
- Identify and address impact areas at CMU and in the greater Pittsburgh community.
- Earn course-credit while investing in personal, professional and leadership development.
- Gain access of up to $5,000 from a fund earmarked for democratically engaged projects and professional development opportunities.
- Develop networking opportunities with students, alumni and community leaders.
Apply
Charpie Institute applications include:
- a leadership portfolio
- forward visioning documentation of personal and career aspirations
- in-person interviews
Applications for the 2026-2027 cohort open in fall 2025.
The Charpie Leadership Institute is made possible in part by a generous fund established by Dr. Robert Charpie along with the generosity of the rest of the Charpie Family. Dr. Charpie graduated from Carnegie Mellon with B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in theoretical physics. He recounted many times that the most important lesson learned throughout his career was the importance of identifying and attracting people with strong leadership skills.
Prior to the establishment of The Charpie Leadership Institute, these funds supported the Charpie Scholarship program, which was awarded to newly admitted CMU students with an exemplary academic record and promise of leadership potential. Charpie scholars engaged in leadership training, experiential learning and civic engaged endeavors designed to cultivate their sensibilities as scholars.
The Social Change Model
The Charpie Leadership Institute is conceptually founded on The Social Change Model (Higher Education Research Institute), which describes leadership as a purposeful, collaborative and values-driven process.
This framework is amended with resources from Jordan Harper and Adrianna Kezar's Leadership for Liberation (National Association of Student Personnel Administrators), which is designed to address gaps in The Social Change Model that have arisen in the decades since its introduction.