Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private
research university located in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was formed in
1967 by the union of the
Carnegie Institute of Technology (founded 1900) and the
Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded 1913). Today, Carnegie Mellon attracts students from all 50 U.S. states, 93 nations, and is world-renowned for its unique interdisciplinary environment and as an innovative leader in education. The computer science, computer engineering, information systems, public policy, logic, and business programs are considered to be among the best in their fields.
Carnegie Mellon is affiliated with
13 Nobel laureates, 9
Turing Award recipients, 7
Emmy Award recipients, 3
Academy Award recipients, and 4
Tony Award recipients.
Carnegie Mellon's 103 acre (0.4 km²) 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 neighboring
University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as "Pitt." Many Pitt professors also hold adjunct professorships at Carnegie Mellon and vice versa.
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 to it. The Cut was formerly a valley which was filled in with dirt from a nearby hill that was being leveled to build the College of Fine Arts building. The campus was the first post-secondary institution in the world to be completely covered by a wireless network. The campus computer network,
Andrew, is considered one of the most advanced networks on any campus in the world today.
In addition to its main Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon University also has smaller campuses in
Silicon Valley and
Qatar, and opened a new campus in
Adelaide,
Australia, in May
2006. Both the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management and the Entertainment Technology Center are delivering masters programs in Adelaide. The Entertainment Technology Center will also open a campus in
South Korea in the fall of 2007.
Moreover, the
Tepper School of Business maintains a satellite center in
New York.
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.
See also:
Post-
Civil War industrialists accumulated unprecedented wealth and were eager to found institutions in their name.
Leland Stanford at
Stanford University,
John D. Rockefeller at the
University of Chicago, and
Phoebe Hearst at the
University of California, Berkeley were just a few. Hearst funded a design competition for Berkeley. Competitions were clearly in the
Beaux-Arts tradition, with its emphasis on design contests.
Washington University in St. Louis, the
U. S. Military Academy at West Point and the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the
University of Pittsburgh) all held competitions for their campus plans.
Carnegie Technical Schools was founded in
1900 in
Pittsburgh by industrialist and philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie, who wrote the time-honored words "My heart is in the work" when he donated the funds to create Carnegie Technical Schools. 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.
There was little change to the physical campus during the period of the two
World Wars and the
Great Depression between them. A
1938 master plan by Githens and Keally addressed new campus land along Forbes Avenue, but the plan was little realized. 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 had to respond to the university's growing national reputation in artificial intelligence, applied research, robotics, and the arts. Expanding student population resulted in improved facilities for student life, athletics, and libraries. The campus finally grew from its original land along Schenley Park to Forbes Avenue. The Cut, a ravine that had been gradually filled to campus level, joined the Mall as a major campus open space. (Source: Carnegie Master Campus Plan)
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 the historical styles. By the
1960s it was seen as way to accomplish the needed expansion and at the same time give the campus a new image. Each building was a unique architectural statement which may have acknowledged the existing campus in its placement, but not in its form or materials.(Source: Carnegie Master Campus Plan)
During the
1970s and
1980s, the tenure of University President
Richard M. Cyert (
1972-
1990) witnesses 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 annually ranks among the country's top national universities, according to U.S. News & World Report magazine. Its overall undergraduate program ranked 22nd in the magazine's 2006 survey. The 2006 survey also ranked Carnegie Mellon's undergraduate business program 5th and its engineering program 8th in the nation. Carnegie Mellon's job network is consistently ranked among the best in the nation. It was recently ranked by Newsweek as the "Hottest [college] for getting a Job" [
1].
In specialty business areas ranked by U.S. News & World Report in 2006, Carnegie Mellon was 2nd in Management Information Systems and 2nd in Quantitative Analysis and Productions/Operations and 1st Information and Technology Management. In specialty areas in engineering, Carnegie Mellon was 3rd in Computer Engineering.
Carnegie Mellon has consistently ranked 1st for graduate studies (Ph.D) in Computer Science [
2]
For more on undergraduate and graduate school and department rankings by U.S. News & World Report, visit http://www.cmu.edu/clips/rankings.html
The university today consists of seven colleges and schools:
| Colleges of Carnegie Mellon University | founding | Notes | | School of Computer Science (SCS)| 1965 | Formerly a department within the Mellon College of Science, SCS was established as a separate school in 1988. |
| Carnegie Institute of Technology (CIT) | 1900 | Formerly the Carnegie Technical Schools, the CIT ("Carnegie Tech") namesake was adopted in 1912 as the name of the university. That name was transferred to the engineering college after the university's merger (and final name change) in 1967. |
| College of Fine Arts (CFA) | 1906 | Awarded the nation's first undergraduate degree in drama in 1917. Formerly the School of Fine and Applied Arts. |
| College of Humanities and Social Sciences (H&SS) | 1919 | Established as the Division of Academic Studies, shortly thereafter, the Division of General Studies. In 1941, became the Division of Humanistic and Social Studies. The College of Humanities and Social Sciences was organized in the mid 1970s. |
| Mellon College of Science (MCS) | 1905 | Formerly the College of Engineering and Science (E&S). Earlier there was a School of Science and Technology. |
| H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management | 1968 | Formerly the School of Urban and Public Affairs, the Heinz namesake was adopted in 1992. |
| David A. Tepper School of Business | 1949 | Formerly the Graduate School of Industrial Administration, the Tepper namesake was adopted in 2004. |
The branch campuses of the university offer business and technology-related degrees.
The university houses famous research centers such as the
Robotics Institute, which is the first of its kind in the world and considered a leader in the field of robotics, and the
Software Engineering Institute which undertakes projects relating to software security, code re-use, and development models and is largely funded by the
United States Department of Defense. The Software Engineering Institute's
Capability Maturity Model is used widely.
The University also hosts the
Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences, a state funded summer program which aims to foster interest in science amongst gifted high school students.
On April 15, 1997,
Jared L. Cohon, former dean of
Yale University's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, was elected by the Board of Trustees to become school president. During Cohon's presidency, Carnegie Mellon has continued its trajectory of innovation and growth. President Cohon leads a comprehensive strategic plan that aims to leverage the university's existing 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.
The presidents prior to Cohon are:
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Carnegie Mellon University student organizations*
Carnegie Mellon University in popular culture*
Movies filmed at Carnegie Mellon University*
List of Carnegie Mellon University people*
Carnegie Mellon University traditionsOfficial information
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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)
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Carnegie Mellon Factbooks*
Carnegie Mellon Today, connecting the university community*
U.S. News & World Report - America's Best Graduate Schools - Computer Science (Ph.D)*
Carnegie Mellon's Da Vinci Effect
