News
Dietrich School Recognizes Graduate Mentors
Six current and former Dietrich School faculty members were recently recognized for excellence in graduate mentoring at a celebration hosted by Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Jon Woon.
Dietrich School Historian Goes Behind the Ballot with New Video Series
With the midterm elections just one week away, Dietrich School historian Lara Putnam of Pitt’s Disinformation Lab explains mail-in voting, disinformation on social media and how to spot credible election information in a new video series.
Dietrich School Mathematicians Explain How Some Fireflies Flash in Sync
Stake out in Pennsylvania’s Cook State Forest at the right time of year and you can see one of nature’s great light shows: swarms of fireflies that synchronize their flashes like strings of Christmas lights in the dark. A new study by Dietrich School mathematicians shows that math borrowed from neuroscience can describe how swarms of these unique insects coordinate their light show, capturing key details about how they behave in the wild.
Dietrich School Physicists Break Down How Cells Communicate
“Cells need to work together to perform complex tasks — that can include synchronizing together, performing a function all at once,” said Ryan Lefebre, co-lead author of the paper and a physics PhD student in the Dietrich School. “You would think that the better they can communicate with each other, the more they’d become more synchronized. But that’s not quite true.”
Dietrich School, Humanities Engage Alumna Uses Performance and Writing to Help People in Prison Overcome Trauma
“The vision for the Unit Literacy Group is more than just continuing education,” said Courtney Colligan (A&S '22G). “The ULG grounds itself in recovery by rectifying literacy gaps, building self-esteem and self-worth and fighting against the carceral state — and, within that state, the disillusionment of the detained.”
Dietrich School Faculty Member Recognized for Creative Chemistry
Peter Wipf, a distinguished professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Chemistry, has received the 2023 Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from the American Chemical Society.
Dietrich School Faculty Honored by American Physical Society
Chandralekha Singh and Vittorio Paolone, faculty members in the Dietrich School's Department of Physics and Astronomy, have received honors from the American Physical Society, their discipline’s leading organization.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Named Packard Fellow
Evan Schneider, whose research focuses on the digital modeling of galaxies, has become the third faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh to be named a Packard Fellow since the award’s inception in 1988.
Schneider, an assistant professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Physics and Astronomy, is one of 20 early career professors nationwide to receive a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering.
Dietrich School Alumna Named Publisher of the Year
Dietrich School alumna Jennifer Bertetto (A&S '97), president and CEO of Trib Total Media, has been recognized as Publisher of the Year by Editor & Publisher, the leading trade publication for the newspaper industry. Editor & Publisher names its Publisher of the Year annually to honor a publisher “who has risen above the rest and accomplished what seems like the impossible, outmaneuvering the competition, outthinking the future and maintaining profitability.”
A Message Regarding Recent Campus Crime Alerts
In the past several weeks, the Pitt community has received crime alerts from Pitt Police about incidents both on and off campus. The Dietrich School is committed to the safety and well-being of our students, faculty and staff, and these incidents are deeply concerning. To learn more about the University's response and the resources that are available to support our community, please read the statements from Carla Panzella, Dean of Students, and Ted Fritz, Vice Chancellor for Public Safety and Emergency Management.
Pitt Alumni Association Honors Three Dietrich School Graduates
Deborah J. Gillotti (A&S ’77), Kevin J. Zedack (A&S ’17), and Christopher Luccy, DMD, (A&S ’70, DEN ’73), were recognized for their contributions and achievements during the University's Homecoming celebration. Read more about these remarkable Dietrich School graduates.
Dietrich School Students Recognized for "Spirit of Pitt"
The University of Pittsburgh’s homecoming is a time to celebrate reunions, make new connections and honor traditions new and old. In 2021, the Pitt Alumni Association (PAA) put a new spin on a cherished custom by rebranding the phrase “Homecoming court” to the “Spirit of Pitt.”
The effort is a gender-neutral academic award for two students chosen from a group of juniors and seniors who meet specific criteria, including exhibiting academic excellence, engaging in community service and embodying the values of the PAA.
Dietrich School Distinguished Professor Elected President of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology
Edouard Machery, distinguished professor in the Dietrich School, has been elected president of the Society for Philosophy and Psychology for 2023-24. The society is a professional organization for “philosophically interested psychologists and psychologically interested philosophers” in North America.
Dietrich School Biologists Are Making Fieldwork More Equitable
Doing research outside of the lab is important to career advancement in scientific fields like ecology, geology and paleontology, but it comes with a host of unique challenges. That’s why a team from the Dietrich School’s Department of Biological Sciences developed a guide for making fieldwork safer and more equitable, especially for researchers from marginalized groups.
Dietrich School Chemist Featured in Pittwire
Lillian Chong, a professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Chemistry, creates simulations that mimic biological processes too small and too fast to be observed by even the most sophisticated microscope. The result is videos that show what’s happening with every atom of a protein cell, down to the quadrillionth — a million billionth — of a second. Using this technology, Chong helped crack the mystery of how the coronavirus’s spike protein opens in order to attach to human cells.