News

Dietrich School Faculty Member Receives 2022 Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award
Terry Smith, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory, received the 2022 Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award from the College Art Association, the premier professional body for art historians, artists and museum people.

Upload Proof of COVID-19 Booster Shots
If you've been boosted, upload a new image of your vaccination card and your booster details online. Not boosted yet? The Pitt CoVax Vaccination Center is open five days a week (appointments preferred).

Faculty Member Wins North Central Sociological Association's (NCSA) Scholarly Achievement Award
Waverly Duck, an associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Sociology, won the North Central Sociological Association's (NCSA) Scholarly Achievement Award for his book "Tacit Racism." A three-member committee of NCSA judges called it a “wonderful piece of research and scholarship.”

Dietrich School Faculty Members Among Recipients of Pitt Momentum Funds
Awards are made across the breadth of interdisciplinary scholarship at the University, and all eligible faculty are encouraged to propose new, innovate ideas that can contribute meaningful insight, understanding, or solutions to societal challenges. Teamed projects are reviewed by multidisciplinary faculty panels and individual projects are reviewed by one of four committees: Creative Arts, Performing Arts & Humanities; Engineering, Technology, Natural Sciences, and Mathematical Sciences; Health & Life Sciences; and Social Sciences, which includes Business, Policy, Law, Education, Informatics, and Social Work.

Dietrich School Faculty Member Recognized with 2022 Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award
Jeffrey Brodsky, Avinoff Chair of Biological Sciences in the Dietrich School, was honored for his research in cell biology and biochemistry, connecting basic research to health applications. Among his contributions to the field, Brodsky discovered a quality control system in a part of the cell that breaks down proteins that have folded incorrectly, a pathway related to many human diseases.

The University of Pittsburgh issues a statement of support for Ukraine
The University of Pittsburgh stands with those across those across higher education in condemning Russia’s invasion of the independent and democratic nation of Ukraine.

Dietrich School Economics Faculty Member Shares Firsthand Account from Kyiv
Dietrich School Department of Economics faculty member Tymofiy Mylovanov--former Ukrainian minister of economic development, trade and agriculture--shares his firsthand account from Kyiv after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Dietrich School Africana Studies Faculty Member Leads Conversation on Class, Gender and Fiction
Black History Month celebrations at Pitt kicked off with an event featuring Dietrich School Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Robin Brooks discussing her latest book, “Class Interruptions: Inequality and Division in African Diasporic Women’s Fiction.”
Brooks spent a year in Jamaica conducting research for the book, which Robert J. Patterson, chair and professor of Africana Studies at Georgetown University, described at the event as a “timely” and “fascinating” intervention between humanities and social sciences.

Statement from Dean Kathleen Blee
Offensive comments that target or disparage any ethnic, racial, religious or other underrepresented group are dangerous, hurtful and stand in direct opposition to the University’s values and the Dietrich School’s values. We remain committed to creating a safe and welcoming environment for all our students, faculty, and staff members and we know that the work of fostering a truly inclusive community must be ongoing.

Dietrich School Physicists Connect the Qubits to Build Quantum Computer
One day, quantum computers may overtake our current technology, harnessing the strange properties of quantum mechanics to crack codes and solve problems that are impossible for modern computers to tackle. It’s a distant dream, but one that a team of Dietrich School researchers are helping to bring closer to reality with a quantum computer that uses Lego-like components hooked together in a unique shape that’s more efficient than others that exist today.

In Recent "Nature Communications" Article, Dietrich School Biologists Show That Many Viruses Travel on Pollen
We rely on pollinators like honeybees to grow a wide array of the world's crops. But that same reliance may put plants at risk of disease, according to new Pitt research. In the first study to take a broad look at virus hitchhikers on pollen grains, Dietrich School biologists show that a variety of viruses travel on pollen — especially in areas close to agriculture and human development where honeybees dominate.

Dietrich School Associate Dean Named AAAS Fellow
Kay Brummond, associate dean of faculty and a professor of chemistry in the Dietrich School, is among four University of Pittsburgh faculty members named to the most recent class of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows, one of the most distinct honors within the scientific community — and a historic one as well, dating to 1874.

Dietrich School Faculty Member Receives Grant to Study Korean Language Learning
Boo Kyung Jung, instructor of Korean in the Dietrich School's East Asian Languages and Literatures Department, has received a $21,000 grant from the Academy of Korean Studies to explore how students learn and use a unique, crucial, and complex aspect of Korean grammar -- honorifics -- terms that show respect when addressing an older person or someone of high status. Most languages use some honorifics, such as "sir" or "ma'am” in English, but in Korean they are essential.

Dietrich School Political Scientist Receives Fulbright Specialist Program Award
Scott Morgenstern, professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Political Science, has earned a Fulbright Specialist Program award. Morgenstern intends to complete his project in Spain at the Universidad de Salamanca.

Smithsonian Magazine Recognizes Dietrich School Historian's Book Among Best of 2021
Smithsonian Magazine has named history Dietrich School Associate Professor Keisha N. Blain’s new book, “Until I am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America” (Beacon Press, 2021), as one of the best history books published in 2021. The book is one of ten selected by the magazine.