News

Yomna Badawi
Dietrich School Faculty Member Among CMRF Grant Recipients

Yomna Badawi, research assistant professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Neuroscience, is among 11 University of Pittsburgh biomedical researchers to receive a grant from the Competitive Medical Research Fund.

Cathedral of Learning with fountain
Dietrich School Faculty Member Wins ACS Award

Alexander Deiters, professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Chemistry, is the 2023 recipient of the Pittsburgh Award from the local branch of the American Chemical Society. Created in 1932, the honor recognizes outstanding local leadership and distinguished service to the field of chemistry.

tony novosel
Dietrich School Faculty Member Appointed to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire

Tony Novosel, a senior lecturer and advisor in the Dietrich School, has been appointed as a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his contributions to peace in Northern Ireland.

Adam Lowenstein with posters from George Romero movies
Just in Time for Halloween: Dietrich School Faculty Member Explores the Gifts of Horror

George Romero and his body of work, beginning with the 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead, are an essential part of Pittsburgh’s identity. Romero worked in Pittsburgh as an independent filmmaker specializing in the horror genre for more than four decades. His work lives on, thanks to Adam Lowenstein, professor of English and of film and media studies at the Dietrich School and director of Pitt’s Horror Studies Working Group,

researchers and weather balloon
Dietrich School Researchers Head to Texas to Follow the Eclipse

This month a team of researchers from the Dietrich School's Department of Physics and Astronomy will collect atmospheric data for NASA as part of the agency’s Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning project. They’ll launch one weather balloon every hour for 31 hours, giving them a clear sense of conditions before, during and after the eclipse.

PQI Co-Directors
New Co-Director Joins Dietrich School Faculty Member to Head Up PQI

Michael Hatridge, associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Physics and Astronomy and co-director of the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute (PQI), just welcomed a new partner to PQI: Benjamin Hunt, associate professor of physics at Carnegie Mellon, has been named PQI's co-director.

candle burning
A Message from Chancellor Joan Gabel

Like many of you over the past several days, I have continued to watch the horrific and heartbreaking scenes resulting from Hamas’ unprecedented terrorist attacks against Israel and innocent civilians. In no uncertain terms, we condemn these unconscionable, barbaric acts. Over these same days, I’ve listened to our community’s voice, which, for so many, includes the heaviness of unthinkable loss. My heart goes out to all those pained by these events, and those tragically lost in these atrocious attacks, which include hundreds of young people — the age of our students — at a music festival with their whole lives ahead of them.

Excellence gears
Dietrich School Researchers Receive $3.3 Million Grant from the NIA

A team of researchers from the Dietrich School and Pitt's School of Medicine received a five-year, $3.3 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. The three principal investigators — Assistant Professor of Neurobiology Amantha Thathiah and Associate Professors from the Department of Biological Sciences Kirill Kiselyov and Andrew VanDemark — will investigate a mitochondrial target and whether it protects cells from the neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Exhibition of The Lottery
Dietrich School Faculty Member Featured in Juxtapoz Magazine

Melissa Catanese, Teaching Associate Professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Studio Arts, is featured in the October 4 online edition of Juxtapoz magazine. The article focuses on her photobook based on the Shirley Jackson short story, "The Lottery."

Venus volcano
Dietrich School Post-Doc Leads Team Studying Volcanic Activity on Venus

Spotting volcanic activity on another planet could give scientists insight into what’s going on under the hood. But that’s only if they recognize what they’re looking at. Recent research led by Ian Flynn, a postdoctoral fellow in the Dietrich School's Department of Geology and Environmental Science, aimed to model how lava flows might look on Venus, work that will inform three upcoming missions to the planet from NASA and the European Space Agency. Their paper was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

space telescope
Dietrich School Team Will Play Key Role with NASA's Next Space Telescope

Pitt people helped get the Hubble telescope into space. We were among the first to use the James Webb Space Telescope when it launched in 2021. Now, four Dietrich School researchers will play an integral role in developing the Nancy Grace Roman Telescope, which aims to better understand the nature of dark energy and of the dark matter that shapes the structures we see in it.

Omid Shekari
Dietrich School Faculty Member Awarded Sculpture Space Residency

Omid Shekari, Assistant Professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Studio Arts, was awarded a two-month residency in October and November at Sculpture Space in Utica, New York. A prestigious, international residency, Sculpture Space is invitational with small cohorts of artists - no more than six at a time. Sculpture Space provides specialized space for professional artists to focus on sculpture and connect with other artists, curators, and professionals in the field.

Adam Shear
Dietrich School Faculty Member Featured in Pitt Research Newsletter

“Books are the material form in which ideas move around,” says Adam Shear. “If we know one individual’s reading, we can see a micro-history. If we aggregate the data of what books were owned by many individuals where and when, we can see broader trends.”

Pitt campus in fall
Dean Adam Celebrates Long-Time Staff

On Wednesday, September 27, Dietrich School and College of General Studies Dean, Adam Leibovich, hosted a celebration at the University Club to recognize staff members from both units who’ve reached service milestones of five, 10, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 50 years.

Rosemary Capo
Dietrich School Faculty Member and Assistant Dean Joins AGU LANDIng Co-hort

Rosemary Capo, associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences and Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies, has joined the second-ever cohort of the American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Leadership Academy and Network for Diversity and Inclusion in the Geosciences (LANDInG) Academy.