Dietrich College News

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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Carnegie Mellon's Children's School Is a Caring Community for Groundbreaking, Interdisciplinary Research

Founded in 1968 as part of the Department of Psychology, the Children’s School is more than a day care or preschool — it’s what’s known as a "laboratory school". This means that not only does it supply top-notch education and enrichment for its students, but it’s also a bustling hub for interdisciplinary research.

And now, after more than three decades of leadership and service as the Children’s School’s director, Sharon Carver is passing the torch to Linda Hancock, the new education director, and Catarina Vales, the new research director. Carver will serve as emeritus director while mentoring the new leaders.

Read how the Children's School creates both a thoughtful educational environment and an unparalleled research setting.

English Faculty Talk About Kurt Vonnegut and His Carnegie Mellon Connection

In the summer of 1943, the Carnegie Institute of Technology, precursor to Carnegie Mellon University, transformed its grounds into the Army Specialized Training Program, a training school for the U.S. Army as America ramped up its engagement in World War II.

Three Department of English faculty members are quoted in a two-part series from CMU’s Michael Henninger on Kurt Vonnegut’s time at Carnegie Mellon, which included participation in the ASTP.

Read what Kathy Newman, Jake Grefenstette and Jeffrey Williams had to say about Kurt Vonnegut and his CMU connection.

Peacocks Eating Ice Cream: CMU Professors Teaching AI to Ask 'Why?'

At Carnegie Mellon University, a groundbreaking interdisciplinary team, led by Kun Zhang and Peter Spirtes, is teaching AI to understand the "why" behind complex problems, not just the “what.” By building systems that can identify causes rather than just predict patterns, their work has potential to improve health care, advance education, complement generative AI and tackle other urgent challenges.

For instance, as computer vision and generative technologies become more widely available, it’s increasingly important to teach AI models how to build and break down images accurately. This skill helps models combine concepts they haven’t seen together before, a skill humans use naturally but AI still finds challenging. 

Read about how causal AI is "the future of enterprise decision-making".

With "Stratospheric" Eval Scores and a "Flipped" Classroom Approach, Mark Patterson Earns the 2025 Dean's Innovation Scholar Award

"Mark Patterson is maybe the most energetic, excited, innovative and passionate teacher I've ever seen,” said Richard Scheines, Bess Family Dean of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Many years ago I got to actually co-teach with him, and it was a great experience. He is completely and totally dedicated to his students, and always looking to improve his teaching with technology, or pedagogical innovation or new material. He is a perfect candidate for this award.”

Read about how Patterson's "flipped classrooms", signature courses and prolific advising work helped earn him the 2025 Dean's Innovation Scholar Award.

Dietrich College Takes Home Two Andy Awards

Congratulations are in order for Amy Stoebe and Krystalyn Kovacs for winning Andy Awards in their respective categories. Stoebe (pictured above holding her award) is the assistant director of Writing & Communication for the Department of English and earned her award in the category Commitment to Excellence (Veteran). Kovacs is an M.A. student in Rhetoric, also in the Department of English, as well as a senior academic coordinator at the Mellon College of Science. Kovacs' award was for Innovative and Creative Contributions.

Read more about all of Dietrich College's Andy Awards nominees.

Upcoming Events

• Unlocking AI For Public Good: Western Pennsylvania: Join leaders from Pennsylvania's state and local governments, as well as CMU faculty and researchers to explore how emerging technologies can impact real-world policy challenges. Nov. 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Pittsburgh.

• Faculty Dialogues Webinar: Understanding Addiction: Join a panel of CMU experts as they explore the opioid and addiction crises through educational, social and community lenses. Hear from the panel before a discussion with Pulitzer Prize winner and alum Nick Thieme (DC 2013) about Baltimore's overdose crisis. Nov. 18 at 4 p.m. on Zoom.

• Dietrich College Mile High Meetup: Join fellow Dietrich College alumni for a fun, casual gathering featuring Social and Decision Sciences Department Head Gretchen Chapman and Professor Danny Oppenheimer at Tamayo, in the heart of the historic Larimer Square District. Nov. 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Denver, Colo.

• 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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