April 17, Vol. 24, No. 38                             

Discussing the "Heart of the Matter"      
Carnegie Mellon and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences will host a discussion of the "Heart of the Matter," a report released by the academy on the state of the humanities and social sciences and their role in creating a vibrant, competitive and secure nation.

The panel discussion, titled "Mapping the Future of the Humanities and Social Sciences," will be held from 4 - 5:45 p.m., Monday, April 21 in the Jared L. Cohon University Center's Rangos Hall.

President Subra Suresh will provide opening remarks and Dietrich College Dean John Lehoczky will moderate the panel, which will include two members of the commission that produced the report, Norman Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, and Hunter Rawlings III, president of the Association of American Universities. Joining the panel from CMU will be:
  • Baruch Fischhoff, the Howard Heinz University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy;
  • Susan G. Polansky, teaching professor of Hispanic studies and head of the Department of Modern Languages;
  • David R. Shumway, professor of English and director of the Humanities Center; and
  • Kiron K. Skinner, associate professor of social and decision sciences and director of the Center for International Relations and Politics.
Learn more.

Google VP Returns To Lead Computer Science  
Google Vice President Andrew W. Moore has been named the new dean of the School of Computer Science (SCS), effective this August. He succeeds Randal Bryant, who is stepping down after 10 years as dean.

A distinguished computer scientist with expertise in machine learning and robotics, Moore served as a professor of computer science and robotics at CMU before being named founding director of Google's Pittsburgh engineering office in 2006.
 
"Andrew Moore combines an expansive vision, scientific expertise, and leadership strength that make him extraordinarily well suited to be dean of the School of Computer Science," said President Subra Suresh.

"Some of Google's strongest talent has come out of CMU, and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the university. I know Andrew will help inspire the next generation of innovators," said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google Inc., and a former member of the CMU Board of Trustees.

Read more.

Awards To Be Presented for Excellence in Teaching, Mentoring and Outreach  
This year's Education Award winners will be honored at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 22 in Rangos 1 and 2 of the Cohon University Center.

The Celebration of Education consists of five main awards: the Ryan Award, the Gelfand Award, the Doherty Award, the Academic Advising Award and the Barbara Lazarus Award.

This year's recipients are:
  • Michael Murphy, the Robert Doherty Award for Sustained Contributions to Excellence;
  • Anne Mundell, the William and Frances Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching; 
  • Marion Oliver, the Outstanding Academic Advising and Mentoring Award; 
  • M. Granger Morgan, the Barbara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student and Junior Faculty Mentoring; and 
  • Jim Daniels, the Mark Gelfand Service Award for Educational Outreach.
Read about the recipients.
Learn more about the awards.

Dietrich Names New Department Heads         
The Dietrich College recently named two new department heads.

Christopher R. Genovese
(right) will head the Department of Statistics and David Danks (below) will lead the Department of Philosophy. Genovese succeeds Mark Schervish who has served as department head the past 10 years, and Danks succeeds Richard Scheines who was recently named dean of the Dietrich College, effective July 1.

Genovese, a professor of statistics, joined Carnegie Mellon in 1994. His research focuses on solving complex and high-dimensional problems in the sciences.

Danks, an associate professor of philosophy and psychology, has been on the CMU faculty since 2003. The majority of his research involves computational cognitive science and focuses on the nature of cognitive representations and the role that goals and challenges play in learning and reasoning.

Learn more about Genovese.
Learn more about Danks.

Unplug It!
Dashboard Can Help Save Energy in the Office  
A team at Carnegie Mellon's School of Architecture has developed a dashboard that helps people to see how much energy they use at work and how they can reduce their use to help the environment.

Ray Yun, a doctoral student, has developed an Intelligent Dashboard to evaluate plug load energy savings in the workplace. Plug load refers to how many things are actually plugged into outlets at your desk and, as a result, use energy.

By helping building occupants see their actual energy use, see recommendations for ways to save energy, and allowing the online ability to control plug loads at each desk, Yun and the Center for Building Performance team are proving that dashboards save energy.

A CMU study showed that using the CMU Intelligent Dashboard offered significant energy savings for corporations. Those savings were most visible when laptops, computer monitors, lights and phones were turned off at night and on weekends.

 Learn more.

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Calendar Highlights 

 Personal Mention
 

Gunjan Kedia and Sridhar Tayur

Luis von Ahn

Margaret Richards and Peter Friedman
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