Allen Robinson has been named the next director of CMU-Africa, effective January 1, 2022. He succeeds Vijayakumar Bhagavatula, the U.A. & Helen Whitaker Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, who will return to the ECE faculty. Robinson has been selected to lead CMU-Africa because of his exemplary leadership of Mechanical Engineering. He is currently the David and Susan Coulter Head of Mechanical Engineering, the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished University Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and a professor in Engineering and Public Policy. During his time as department head, he transformed the MechE student experience and built a strong base of faculty and staff in the department. He has also managed large-scale projects such as the design and construction of the ANSYS Hall building, and now is directing the new Scaife Hall construction. “Leading growth strategies, fostering a culture of collaboration, and driving progress is something Allen does extremely well,” said Bill Sanders, the Strecker Dean of the College of Engineering. Learn more about Robinson.
Jenna Wise, a software engineering Ph.D. student in the Institute for Software Research, has been named a 2021 Google Ph.D. Fellow in programming technology and software engineering. Wise, a fourth-year Ph.D. student, is interested in the design of usable programming languages and practical software verification. Her current research aims to develop a novel approach to gradual verification — a method of software analysis that gives software developers explicit control over the trade-offs between static and dynamic program verification along a spectrum by tuning the precision of specifications. “Jenna is a fantastic student who understands both the mathematical and human sides of software engineering in a way that we rarely see, even at CMU,” said Jonathan Aldrich, Wise’s Ph.D. co-advisor alongside ISR's Joshua Sunshine. Learn more about Wise.
Scott Mory has joined the advisory board for The Andy Warhol Museum. As vice president for university advancement, he is responsible for overseeing CMU’s overall advancement efforts and for building partnerships with all of the university’s philanthropic and volunteer communities, including university alumni, parents and friends, charitable foundations and corporate donors. The Warhol, which holds the largest collection of the CMU alumnus and Pittsburgh native's artworks and archival materials, is one of the most comprehensive single-artist museums in the world. “Scott Mory’s deep experience in the academic world is matched by his enthusiasm for our entire community. I’m grateful to have Scott’s support and counsel as The Warhol enters a particularly exciting and expansive stage,” said Patrick Moore, director of The Warhol. Learn more about the appointment.