Released at the beginning of each month, Dietrich College News is your chance to stay up-to-date on the latest news, events and accomplishments of Dietrich alumni, students, staff and faculty.

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Julie Downs Named Head of Carnegie Mellon's Department of Social and Decision Sciences

Carnegie Mellon University has appointed Julie Downs head of the Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS), effective July 1. Downs, professor of social and decision sciences, succeeds Gretchen Chapman, who was appointed department head in July 2021 and will serve in the role through June 2026.

“First of all, huge thanks to Gretchen Chapman. She was an excellent head in a difficult time for higher education. The department is thriving — its research is relevant, impactful and of the highest quality,” said Richard Scheines, Bess Family Dean of CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Having worked with Julie Downs for several years as Dietrich’s associate dean for research, I am delighted that Julie agreed to succeed Gretchen. Julie is an amazing problem solver, a top-notch researcher and one of the most positive people I’ve ever worked with.”

Learn about Downs' previous roles as director of CMU's Center for Risk Perception and Communication and associate dean for research.

Neurosurgeons Are Really Good at Removing Brain Tumors, and They're About to Get Even Better

When removing cancerous tissue in the brain, neurosurgeons often use “awake brain mapping” to minimize the risk of causing unintended disruptions to a patient’s quality of life while removing as much tumor as possible. This practice, which has been used for decades, involves waking a patient up mid-surgery to test their neurocognitive functions in real time by stimulating the brain surface and assessing for functional changes.

But now, a new study published in the journal Science Advances by Bradford Mahon, a cognitive neuroscientist at CMU’s Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, details a promising new avenue toward improving awake brain mapping results. The advance comes as a result of investigating the tiny, nearly imperceptible variabilities in patient behavior that occur during the procedure. This work points to a future where brain surgeries are not just safer, but more precisely tailored to protect each patient’s speech, movement and quality of life.

Learn how Mahon's work could usher in a leap for personalized medicine.

Study Shows Game-Based Learning as Effective as Intentional Instruction

When Seth Wiener, associate professor of second language acquisition and Chinese studies, and his colleagues set out to study how people learn the sounds of a new language, they did not expect a video game about shooting aliens to rival established speech learning methods. But that is exactly what they found.

Wiener, who directs the Language Acquisition, Processing and Pedagogy (LAPP) Lab recently completed a multi-year study showing that learners can improve their ability to perceive and categorize unfamiliar speech sounds by playing a specially designed video game. In fact, participants who trained with the game performed just as well as those who used more conventional explicit learning exercises.

“At the most basic level, people got better at listening,” Wiener said. “They improved their ability to discriminate and learn words with tone, and they did so by playing a game we created.”

Read more about how learners can improve language listening skills through gameplay.

Faculty Spotlight: Nupoor Ranade

Nupoor Ranade is an assistant professor of rhetorical and technical communication in Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of English. Her expertise stems from a humanities and engineering education which has helped her bring together critical questions about ethics, inclusion and communication from the humanities, to rapidly changing and advancing technologies such as AI, that lie at the intersection of humanities and technology.

"My work is primarily in the technical communication field," said Ranade. "What’s bothering the field right now is the adoption of AI systems, especially because this is a primarily writing-focused field. AI, the advancement in the technology and the quick adoption has brought the relationship between trust and technology to the center stage. While AI assistance can improve speed and efficiency, scaling and sophistication, it also produces threats, such as content bias, misinformation and deepfakes that impact human behavior."

Read why Ranade believes CMU is a "dream school" for her research.

Upcoming Events

• CMU Night at the Opera (Pittsburgh): Join your fellow Tartans for a night out at the opera in support of librettist Crystal Manic (CFA 2004, HNZ 2005). Meet up for both pre-show and post-show gatherings at the Bitz Opera Factory on March 6 from 7 to 8 p.m.

• Faculty Dialogues (London): On March 10 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., experience an exclusive fireside chat with CMU experts, including Ian Glasner (DC 2016, TPR 2016), Group Head of Emerging Technology, Innovation and Ventures at HSBC. The conversation is titled, "AI at the Crossroads: Innovation, Policy and Business Strategy," and will take place at the Frontline Club in London.

• Pi(e) Day at Bubby's Tribeca (New York City): Join us for an irrational gathering where mathematics meets pie-making mastery! CMU swag will go to the winners of a Pi Recitation Challenge. Meet on March 14 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

• Dietrich Dialogues (Princeton): Join your fellow Dietrich College alumni and current parents for a fun, casual gathering featuring Social and Decision Sciences Professor Danny Oppenheimer at The Meeting House in downtown Princeton, New Jersey, on March 31 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

• Alumni Events: From cherished, in-person Carnegie Mellon traditions to virtual learning experiences with researchers at the cutting-edge of their fields, CMU offers a variety of events for alumni to connect with each other and the university, expand their knowledge and networking opportunities, and make memories together. Explore alumni events.

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