News
Call for Nominations: Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring
The Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring will annually recognize outstanding mentoring of graduate students seeking a research doctorate degree. Up to four awards will be made each year. Each Provost’s Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring will consist of a cash prize to the graduate faculty member of $2,500 to recognize excellence in mentoring. All persons selected for this award will be honored publicly.
Call for Nominations: Chancellor's Distinguished Awards
The call for nominations for the annual Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching, Research and Public Service Awards is now open. The closing date for letters of nomination for all three awards is Friday, Oct. 15, 2021
Dietrich School's Levy Leads Project to Develop New Type of Memory for Quantum Computers
A research team led by Jeremy Levy from the Dietrich School’s Department of Physics and Astronomy has received a five-year, $7.5 million grant to develop a new type of quantum memory for quantum computers.
Africana Studies Faculty Member Receives NEH Grant
Michele Reid-Vazquez, associate professor in the Department of Africana Studies, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for Higher Education grant for her proposed institute, “Transnational Dialogues in Afro-Latin American and Afro-Latinx Studies.”
Physics and Astronomy Faculty Member's Paper Earns Editors' Suggestion Distinction
Andrew Mugler, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has published a paper in Physical Review Letters that has been recognized as an Editors’ Suggestion.
Dietrich School Alumna Helps Injured and Abandoned Animals Make It Back Home
Working with non-domesticated animals has been Katie Kefalos's ambition since she was 8 years old and first attended Zoo Camp at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. After viewing a shark feeding, the Dietrich School alumna remembers thinking, “This is it. This is so cool.”
Pitt's Vaccination Center Offers More Than Just Shots
Are you aware of the resources available through the Pitt Vaccination Center at Nordenberg Hall? Not only do they have all three options (Pfizer, J&J and Moderna) available, they are also happy to answer questions or help if you’ve lost your card. The center is currently open Wednesdays from 1-4:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The center, located at 4140 Fifth Ave. at the base of Nordenberg Hall, will expand hours as the fall term begins.
Partnership Between Dietrich School and Swanson School Helps High School Students Experience Architecture
When Sara Pettit heard that some of her students in the new “Experiencing Architecture” summer program were still working on their house-design projects at night, at their kitchen tables, she knew the program was having an impact. Pettit, who began in January as the summer program coordinator of Pitt’s Architectural Studies program, headed the first four-week “Experiencing Architecture” program this summer for local high-school students.
Dietrich School Faculty Member Wins Charles Horton Cooley Book Award
Waverly Duck, an associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Sociology, has won the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction’s Charles Horton Cooley Book Award for “Tacit Racism.”
Chancellor Gallagher's July 23 Message on Pitt's Virus Control Program
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the University of Pittsburgh’s fundamental strategy has focused on minimizing the risk of infection related to the coronavirus while maximizing our ability to carry out our mission activities of teaching, research and service.
Dietrich School, SCI Partner on Joint Data Science Major
This fall, current and incoming Pitt students can begin pursuing a joint Data Science major between the Dietrich School and the School of Computing and Information. Sixty-one credits in courses across several departments will prepare students to enter the burgeoning field of data science with the necessary competencies drawn from statistics, mathematics, and computer and information science.
Dietrich School Alumnus Donates Rare Book Collection to ULS
Actor, bibliophile, philanthropist and two-time Dietrich School alumnus Richard E. Rauh (A&S ’62, ’64G) has donated his extraordinary collection of rare books and manuscripts valued at more than $1.4 million to the University of Pittsburgh Library System (ULS).
Deputy Vice Chancellor for Research--and Former Dietrich School Dean--Steps Down
N. John Cooper is stepping down as Pitt’s deputy vice chancellor for research, effective Aug. 1, 2021. Cooper has held that post since January 2018. Prior to that, he served as dean of the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences for 19 years.
Dietrich School Initiatives Among 20 Projects Receiving Pitt Seed Funding
“Once again this year, proposals for Pitt Seed Grant funding were exceptional,” said Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Ann E. Cudd. “That said, this year’s selected projects—focused on transformative ideas in the social justice, equity and inclusion spaces—are particularly exciting, and I look forward to seeing the results of those efforts.”
Dietrich School Experts Weigh in On Unidentified Flying Objects
In June, a public report about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), also known as UFOs, will be delivered to the U.S. Congress’ Intelligence and Armed Services committees. The document is expected to evaluate reported UAP sightings from U.S. military members and include analysis from the Pentagon. This news, recently featured on 60 Minutes, has fueled a flurry of speculation, excitement and conspiracies among the public. But interest in UAPs is certainly not new. Curiosity around unusual objects in the sky spans decades and crosses political aisles. To help unpack the science, politics and psychology of this phenomenon, Dietrich School experts weighed in.