Information about Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon University
Motto	"My heart is in the work" (Andrew Carnegie)
Established	1900
Type	Private university
Academic term	Semester
Endowment	US $1.056 billion[1]
President	Jared Cohon
Faculty	1,421
Undergraduates	5,495
Postgraduates	4,393
Location	Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Campus	Urban, 140 acres (0.57 km²)
Colors	Cardinal, Gray, and Tartan Plaid[2]
Nickname	Tartans
Mascot	Scottie Dog[3]
Athletics	NCAA Division III UAA 17 varsity teams[4]
Website	www.cmu.edu
Carnegie Mellon wordmark

Coordinates: Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It began as the Carnegie Technical Schools, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1900. In 1912, the school became Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees. In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to form Carnegie Mellon University. The University’s 140-acre main campus is three miles from Downtown Pittsburgh and abuts the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the city's Oakland neighborhood. The University has seven colleges and schools: the Carnegie Institute of Technology (engineering), the College of Fine Arts, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mellon College of Science, the Tepper School of Business (formerly the Graduate School of Industrial Administration), the School of Computer Science, and the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management.

Since its inception, Carnegie Mellon has grown into a world-renowned institution, with programs that are frequently ranked among the best in the United States. In the 2008 edition, U.S. News and World Report ranked Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate program 22nd in the nation, while graduate programs in Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Public Policy Analysis, and Graphic Design were ranked 1st, 6th, 17th, 4th, and 6th respectively. The University attracts students from all 50 U.S. states and 93 countries and was named one of the "New Ivies" by Newsweek in 2006.

History

Post-Civil War industrialists accumulated unprecedented wealth and were eager to found institutions in their names. Washington Duke at Duke University, Leland Stanford at Stanford University (for his late son), John D. Rockefeller at the University of Chicago, Cornelius Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt University, and Phoebe Hearst at the University of California, Berkeley were just a few. Carnegie Mellon University was another one of these schools.

Carnegie Technical Schools was founded in 1900 in Pittsburgh by the Scottish American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, who wrote the time-honored words "My heart is in the work" when he donated the funds to create the institution. Carnegie's vision was to open a vocational training school for the sons and daughters of working-class Pittsburghers. The name was changed to the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1912, and the school began offering four-year degrees. In 1967, it merged with the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research to become Carnegie Mellon University. In addition, Carnegie founded Carnegie Mellon's coordinate women's college, Margaret Morrison Carnegie College in 1903 (the college closed in 1973). [1]

There was little change to the campus during the period of the two World Wars and the Great Depression. A 1938 master plan by Githens and Keally suggested acquisition of new land along Forbes Avenue, but the plan was not fully implemented. The period starting with the construction of GSIA (1952) and ending with Wean Hall (1971) saw the institutional change from Carnegie Institute of Technology to Carnegie Mellon University. New facilities were needed to respond to the University's growing national reputation in artificial intelligence, business, robotics, and the arts. In addition, an expanding student population resulted in a need for improved facilities for student life, athletics, and libraries. The campus finally expanded to Forbes Avenue from its original land along Schenley Park. A ravine long known as "the cut" was gradually filled in to campus level, joining "the Mall" as a major campus open space.

The buildings of this era reflect current attitudes toward architectural style. The International Style, with its rejection of historical tradition and its emphases on functionalism and expression of structure, had been in vogue in urban settings since the 1930s. It came late to the Carnegie campus because of the hiatus in building activity and a general reluctance among all institutions of higher education to abandon historical styles. By the 1960s, it was seen as a way to accomplish the needed expansion and at the same time give the campus a new image. Each building was a unique architectural statement that may have acknowledged the existing campus in its placement, but not in its form or materials.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the tenure of University President Richard M. Cyert (1972–1990) witnessed a period of unparalleled growth and development. The research budget soared from roughly $12 million annually in the early 1970s to more than $110 million in the late 1980s. The work of researchers in new fields like robotics and software engineering helped the university build on its reputation for innovation and practical problem solving. President Cyert stressed strategic planning and comparative advantage, pursuing opportunities in areas where Carnegie Mellon could outdistance its competitors. One example of this approach was the introduction of the university's "Andrew" computing network in the mid-1980s. This pioneering project, which linked all computers and workstations on campus, set the standard for educational computing and established Carnegie Mellon as a leader in the use of technology in education and research.

Carnegie Mellon today

In the 1990s and into the 2000s, Carnegie Mellon solidified its status among elite American universities, consistently ranking in the top 25 in US News and World Report rankings. Carnegie Mellon is distinct in its interdisciplinary approach to research and education and through the establishment of programs and centers that are outside the limitations of departments or colleges has established leadership in fields such as computational finance, information systems management, arts management, product design, behavioral economics, human-computer interaction, entertainment technology, and decision science. Within the past two decades, the university has built a new University Center, theater and drama building (Purnell Center), business school building (Posner Hall), and several dormitories. Baker Hall was renovated in the early 2000s, and new chemistry labs were established in Doherty Hall soon after. Several computer-science buildings, such as Newell Simon Hall, also were established, renovated, or renamed in the early 2000s. The university is in the process of building the Gates Center for Computer Science and renovating historic academic and dormitory halls.

The Gates Building will sit on a 5.6-acre site on the university's West Campus, surrounded by Cyert Hall, the Purnell Center for the Arts, Doherty Hall, Newell-Simon Hall, Smith and Hamburg halls and the Collaborative Innovation Center. It will contain 318 offices as well as labs, computer clusters, lecture halls, classrooms and a 250-seat auditorium. The Gates Center for Computer Science was made possible by a $20 million lead gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The building is anticipated to be completed within 2 years.

On April 15, 1997, Jared L. Cohon, former dean of Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, was elected president by Carnegie Mellon's Board of Trustees. During Cohon's presidency, Carnegie Mellon has continued its trajectory of innovation and growth. He leads a strategic plan that aims to leverage the University's strengths to benefit society in the areas of biotechnology and life sciences, information and security technology, environmental science and practices, the fine arts and humanities, and business and public policy.

Campus

Carnegie Mellon's 140-acre main campus is three miles (5 km) from downtown Pittsburgh, between Schenley Park and the Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, and Oakland neighborhoods. Carnegie Mellon is bordered to the west by the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

A large grassy area known as "the Cut" forms the backbone of the campus, with a separate grassy area known as "the Mall" running perpendicular. The Cut was formed by filling in a former ravine (hence the name) with soil from a nearby hill that was leveled to build the College of Fine Arts building.

The northwestern part of the campus (home to Hamburg Hall, Newell-Simon Hall, Smith Hall, and the site of the future Gates Center for Computer Science) was acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Mines in the 1980s.

Beyond Pittsburgh

In addition to its Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon has extension campuses in Mountain View, California in the heart of Silicon Valley (offering masters programs in Software Engineering and Software Management); Qatar; and a new campus in Adelaide, Australia. The Adelaide campus, opened in May 2006, delivers masters programs from both the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management and the Entertainment Technology Center. The Tepper School of Business maintains a satellite center in downtown Manhattan. Carnegie Mellon also maintains the Carnegie Mellon Los Angeles Center in North Hollywood, California. Students in the Master of Entertainment Industry Management program are required to relocate to Los Angeles in their second year and attend classes at this facility. Carnegie Mellon's Information Networking Institute offers graduate programs in Athens, Greece and Kobe, Japan, in collaboration with Athens Information Technology and the Hyogo Institute of Information Education Foundation, respectively. Starting in the fall of 2007, the cities of Aveiro and Lisbon, Portugal will be added to the Information Networking Institute's remote locations, and the Entertainment Technology Center will offer a graduate program in Seoul, South Korea.

In media, entertainment & culture

The Carnegie Mellon University campus in Pittsburgh served as the locale for many of the on-campus scenes in the 2000 film Wonder Boys, starring Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire.

Schools and divisions

• The College of Engineering includes seven academic departments: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, and two institutes, the Information Networking Institute and the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems.
• The College of Fine Arts was founded in 1905, and today is a federation of schools with professional training programs in the visual and performing arts (Architecture, Art, Design, Drama and Music). The college shares research projects, interdisciplinary centers and educational programs with other units across the university.
• The H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management offers masters degrees in Public Policy and Management, Health Care Policy and Management, Medical Management, Public Management, Arts Management, Entertainment Industry Management, and Information Security Policy and Management. The school is a partner in the Universitywide Master of Information Systems Management and Master of Science in Information Technology programs. It also offers a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Management as well as executive education programs.
• The College of Humanities and Social Sciences departments include Economics, English, History, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Psychology, Social and Decision Sciences and Statistics. The college also offers an undergraduate degree program in Information Systems.
• The Mellon College of Science includes four departments: Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Mathematical Sciences and Physics. In addition, the college is expanding efforts in green chemistry, bioinformatics, computational biology, nanotechnology, computational finance, sensor research and biological physics.

• The School of Computer Science: Carnegie Mellon University helped define, and continually redefines, the field of computer science. The School of Computer Science is recognized internationally as one of the top schools for computer science.^[6]
• The Tepper School of Business (Tepper) offers undergraduate programs in Business Administration and Economics. The Tepper School offers masters degrees in Business Administration (MBA) and joint degrees in Computational Finance (MSCF) with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mellon College of Science and the School of Computer Science. In addition, joint degrees are offered with Civil and Environmental Engineering. The Tepper School offers doctoral degrees in several areas and presents a number of executive education programs. Until 2004, the Tepper School was named the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA).

In addition to the research and academic institutions, the University hosts the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences, a state-funded summer program that aims to foster interest in science amongst gifted high school students. The Cyert Center for Early Education is a child care center for Carnegie Mellon faculty and staff, as well as an observational setting for students in child development courses.

Undergraduate profile

For the undergraduate class of 2010, the admission rate was 33.7%. In 2006, the University received a record 18,864 undergraduate applicants, an increase of 19.6% from 2005, and admitted 6,357. This class had an average SAT verbal score of 657 and math score of 728. Also, 71% of the admitted students for the class of 2010 were in the top 10% of their graduating high school classes. In 2006, the most selective undergraduate college was the Tepper School of Business, which admitted only 20% of total applicants. The largest college, in terms of enrollment, is the Carnegie Institute of Technology with 434 students in the class of 2010, followed by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (with 290 students) and the College of Fine Arts (with 249). The smallest college in terms of total undergraduate students is the Tepper School of Business, with 82 undergraduate students enrolled for the class of 2010. Carnegie Mellon enrolls students from all 50 states, and 13% of the students are citizens of counties other than the United States. About 94% of first-year students return for their second year, and 69.3% graduate within four years (86.2% within six). Undergraduate tuition is $34,180 for the class of 2010 and room and board is $9,280.

For the class of 2010, Carnegie Mellon had the highest overlap in applications with Cornell University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Pennsylvania. The class of 2010 had the highest overlap in acceptances with Case Western Reserve, the University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University.^[7]

Research

For the 2006 fiscal year, the University spent $315 million on research. The primary recipients of this funding were the School of Computer Science ($100.3 million), the Software Engineering Institute ($71.7 million), the Carnegie Institute of Technology ($48.5 million), and the Mellon College of Science ($47.7 million). The research money comes largely from federal sources, with federal investment of $277.6 million. The federal agencies that invest the most money are the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense, which contribute 26% and 23.4% of the total university research budget respectively.^[7]

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) is a joint effort between Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, and Westinghouse Electric Company. PSC was founded in 1986 by its two scientific directors, Dr. Ralph Roskies of the University of Pittsburgh and Dr. Michael Levine of Carnegie Mellon University. PSC is a leading partner in the TeraGrid, the National Science Foundation’s cyberinfrastructure program.^[8]

The Robotics Institute (RI) is a division of the School of Computer Science and considered to be one of the leading centers of robotics research in the world. The Field Robotics Center (FRC) has developed a number of significant robots, including Sandstorm and H1ghlander, which finished second and third in the DARPA Grand Challenge. RI is sited along the Allegheny River in the Lawrenceville neighborhood, a few miles away from Carnegie Mellon's main campus.^[9]

The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense and operated by Carnegie Mellon University, with offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Redstone Arsenal, Alabama; Arlington, Virginia, and Frankfurt, Germany. The SEI publishes books on software engineering for industry, government and military applications and practices. The organization is most famous for its Capability Maturity Model software (CMMI), which identifies essential elements of effective system and software engineering processes and can be used to rate the level of an organization's capability for producing quality software systems. The SEI is also the home of CERT, the federally-funded computer security organization. The CERT Program's primary goals are to ensure that appropriate technology and systems management practices are used to resist attacks on networked systems and to limit damage and ensure continuity of critical services subsequent to attacks, accidents, or failures.^[10]

The Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a division of the School of Computer Science and is considered one of the leading centers of human-computer interaction research, integrating computer science, design, social science, and learning science.^[11] Such interdisciplinary collaboration is the hallmark of research done throughout the university.

Alumni

Main article: List of Carnegie Mellon University people

There are more than 70,000 Carnegie Mellon alumni worldwide. Famous alumni include former General Motors CEO and Secretary of Defense, Charles Erwin Wilson; billionaire hedge fund investor David Tepper; James Gosling, creator of the Java programming language; Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems; Vinod Khosla, billionaire venture capitalist and co-founder of Sun Microsystems; pop artist Andy Warhol; and astronaut Judith Resnik, who perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

Carnegie Mellon alumni have won Nobel prizes, Turing awards, Academy awards, Emmy awards, and Tony awards. John Forbes Nash, a 1948 graduate and winner of the 1994 of the Nobel Prize in Economics, was the subject of the book and subsequent film A Beautiful Mind. Alan Perlis, a 1943 graduate was a pioneer in programming languages and recipient of the first ever Turing award. Overall, Carnegie Mellon is affiliated with 15 Nobel laureates, nine Turing Award winners, seven Emmy Award recipients, three Academy Award recipients, and four Tony Award recipients (including Andrew Omondi).

Carnegie Mellon also has produced several alumni who have had success in Hollywood, Broadway and the music industry. They include Best Actress Academy award winner Holly Hunter, actor James Cromwell, Get Smart actress Barbara Feldon, actor Ted Danson, director George Romero, and actor Blair Underwood, among many others.

Rankings and reputation

Carnegie Mellon's offerings in arts, business, computer science, engineering, psychology, and public policy are often considered among the best in their fields. Carnegie Mellon is ranked 22nd amongst national research universities in the most recent US News and World Report rankings. Carnegie Mellon has consistently ranked first for graduate studies in computer science in the US, in rankings released by the US News and World Report.^[12] In the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) ranking of world universities, Carnegie Mellon ranks fifth in the United States (10th in the world) in the "technology" category^[13] and 17th overall in the United States (35th in the world).^[14] The university is one of 60 elected members of the Association of American Universities and its academic reputation has led it to be included in Newsweek’s list of “New Ivies”.^[15]

Detailed information on the rankings of undergraduate and graduate programs at Carnegie Mellon is available on the University website.^[16]

Student life

Traditions

Main article: Carnegie Mellon University traditions

• The Fence - The fence at Carnegie Mellon lies at the center of campus, in the area known as “the cut." Due to its prominent location, it has been a popular tradition for students to paint the fence with their personalized messages. Students “guard” the fence 24 hours a day, and as long as this vigil is maintained no other students may “take” the fence. Once the fence is taken, however, the painting traditionally happens only after midnight.
• Mobot - "Mobot,' a general term resulting from shortening "mobile robot," is an annual competition at Carnegie Mellon that made its debut in 1994. In this event, robots try (autonomously) to pass through gates, in order, and reach the finish line. There is a white line on the pavement connecting the gates, and the line is normally used to find the gates, though it is not mandated by the rules that the robots follow the line.
• Spring Carnival - Usually held in April, Spring Carnival is the biggest event of the school year. In addition to classic carnival attractions, the Spring Carnival features the “Buggy Sweepstakes” and "Booth" (a competition between various organizations to build small, elaborate booths based around a theme chosen each year).
• Buggy Races - Buggy, officially called Sweepstakes, is a race around Schenley Park. It can be thought of as a relay race with five runners, using the buggy vehicle as the baton. Entrants submit a small, usually torpedo-shaped, vehicle that is pushed uphill and then allowed to roll downhill. The vehicles are unpowered, including the prohibition of such energy-storing devices as flywheels. They are, however, steered by a driver who is usually a petite female student lying prone, arms stretched forward to steer via a turning mechanism. Space is so tight inside the buggies that the drivers usually cannot change position beyond turning their heads.
• Bagpipers - As the only College offering a degree in bagpipe music,^[17] Carnegie Mellon's Pipe Band features the sounds of Scottish bagpipes and performs at University events. Head of the Pipe Band is world champion piper Alasdair Gillies, formerly a highly decorated pipe major in the British Army.[

• Autographing the Green Room - Seniors in the College of Fine Arts sign the Green Room's walls and ceilings before leaving the university. Supposedly, Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter broke university tradition by signing the Green Room during her freshman year.
• The Kiltie Band- Carnegie Mellon's Kiltie Band, dressed in full Scottish regalia including kilts and knee socks, performs during every home football game.

Fraternities / sororities

The Greek tradition at Carnegie Mellon University began nearly 100 years ago with the founding of the first fraternity on campus, Theta Xi, in 1912. The Panhellenic sorority community was founded in 1945, by Delta Delta Delta, Delta Gamma, Kappa Alpha Theta, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. During the spring semester of 2006, the Greek community consisted of 26 active fraternities and sororities: 5 Panhellenic sororities; 12 Interfraternity Council fraternities; 4 Asian American groups, 2 fraternities and 2 sororities; and 4 National Pan-Hellenic (historically African American) chapters represented on campus (3 fraternities and 1 sorority). Of Carnegie Mellon’s undergraduates, 965 were members of social Greek-letter organizations. This number reflected 18.4 % of the campus population.

Athletics

The Carnegie Mellon Tartans were a founding member of the University Athletic Association of the NCAA Division III. Varsity teams are fielded in basketball, track, cross country, football, golf, soccer, swimming, volleyball, tennis, and cheerleading. In addition, club teams exist in Ultimate Frisbee,^[18] rowing,^[19] rugby, lacrosse, hockey,^[20], baseball,^[21] softball, and cycling.^[22] Carnegie Mellon Athletics runs a comprehensive and popular intramural system, maintains facilities (primarily Skibo Gymnasium, University Center, and Gesling Stadium), and offers courses to students in fitness and sports. Carnegie Mellon's primary athletic rivals are fellow UAA schools Case Western Reserve University and Washington University in St. Louis. The Tartans have an especially intense rivalry with the Washington University in St. Louis Football team.

• Football: In 2006, the varsity football team was offered a bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, and became one of the first teams in school history (the first team to win a division III playoff game was in 1977, when Carnegie Mellon beat Dayton) and University Athletic Association (UAA) conference history to win an NCAA Playoff game with a 21-0 shutout of Millsaps College of the SCAC conference. In addition to winning a playoff game, several team members were elected to the All American and All Region Squads. Seniors Aaron Lewis and J.P. White were named second team All Americans, while Junior fullback Travis Sivek was named first team All ECAC. In addition, juniors, Michael Reggie and Andrew Althouse, along with sophomore Derek Wisnieski, were named to D3Football.com All South Region second team. The 2006 team won more games in a single season than any other team in school history, and will be returning a majority of starters on offense and a strong core of defensive lineman and outside linebackers for the 2007 season.

Photo gallery

thumb| Image:Cmu.jpg Image:cmu1.jpg Image:cmu5.jpg Image:cmu6.jpg Image:Cmu2.jpg Image:Resnik_House.jpg Image:Posner_Center.jpg Image:College_of_Fine_Arts.jpg Image:Future_Gates_Center_for_Computer_Science.jpg Image:cmu7.jpg Image:cmu8.jpg Image:cmu9.jpg Image:cmu10.jpg ]]

See also

List of Carnegie Mellon University people Carnegie Mellon University traditions Scotch'n'Soda

The Tartan cmuTV The Carnegie Pulse

WRCT Carnegie Mellon West Carnegie Mellon Qatar Campus

References

External links

Official site All About Carnegie Mellon: its history, traditions, and other facts

Carnegie Mellon Campus Plan, approved by Pittsburgh City Council, May 20, 2002 (5.4MB PDF) Carnegie Mellon Factbooks

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