CMU’S NEWS SOURCE FOR FACULTY & STAFF 5/15 ISSUE cmu.edu/piper Read about Carnegie Mellon’s 118th Commencement New Business Plan activities in a special pullout section. Pages 5-8 Awards Honor Magnificent Mentors, Terrific Teachers n Kelly Saavedra You always remember the teachers or advisers who helped shape who you are today. They saw your potential before you did, and nurtured it without fail. They listened patiently and offered expert guidance. They made recommendations that expanded your career possibilities. They helped pick up the pieces when everything seemed to be falling apart. D ESIGNS FOR THE NEW T E pp ER S CHOOL OF B USINESS , THE FIRST BUILDING IN THE T E pp ER Q U A D , WERE UN V EILED A T A TOWN At this year’s Celebration of H A LL MEETING IN E A RLY A P RIL . T E pp ER S CHOOL D E A N R OBERT D A MMON S A ID THE NEW BUILDING , F A CING F ORBES A V ENUE , Education, CMU paid tribute to the WILL M A R K A NEW V ISION FOR THE BUSINESS SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE . R E A D MORE ON pa GE NINE . extraordinary efforts and achievements of four distinguished educators for their unparalleled commitment to helping others succeed. 40,000 and Counting And this year’s winners are: Steidel Marks Enrollment Milestone The William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award n Mike Yeomans A weary tension was written on the As many times as he’s had to say no, staffers’ faces as they awaited Steidel’s Steidel has had plenty of opportunities to for Meritorious Teaching March was fading fast. Only a week feedback: thumbs up for two, thumbs say yes. Rebecca Nugent remained before the eagerly awaited down for one. Sometime before the May 1 dead- “Fat Letters” were to be mailed to the se- “This is the hardest thing for us. line for enrollment, one of the 4,863 Rebecca Nugent is a demanding instruc- lect high school students from around the You hate to turn down good kids,” prospective Tartans offered admission tor and mentor known for her high stan- world vying for admission to Carnegie Steidel said. C ONTINUED ON pa GE THREE dards and profound impact on students. Mellon, from a record 20,560 applica- She is co-director of the fast-grow- tions. ing undergraduate program in the Depart- Two staff burst through Director ment of Statistics, where she has helped of Admission Mike Steidel’s doorway shepherd the growth of the undergraduate and began peppering him with details statistics major and advised innumerable of three applicants on the fence. Seven- students toward careers in the field. teen full-time admission staff and 23 Nugent teaches a wide variety of part-time readers had been poring over statistical methodology classes at CMU applications without a day off since the but is probably most famous for forcing beginning of January. They had painstak- everyone to rewrite their data analysis ingly shaped the acceptance lists for each reports several times. Students flock to of the university’s six undergraduate her for advice and write about her ability schools and colleges, and were down to C ONTINUED ON pa GE TEN the final few spots. O NE Artfully Done Alumna Paints Broad Impact on Cultural Scene n Kelly Saavedra When you’re a kid growing up abroad, pushed to a whole new level with regard moving from country to country, the arts to data-driven management within the can come in handy. arts,” she said. Music, dancing, visual arts — even That’s when she decided to move to culinary arts — were universal languages Pittsburgh and enroll in Heinz College’s that helped Kathryn Heidemann accli- MAM program. The Pittsburgh Cultural mate to every new culture she lived in, Trust hired her when she graduated, and from Venezuela to Germany to the Land for eight years her list of professional Down Under. successes grew by leaps and bounds. “There were times when I was She founded and managed 200 arts uprooted right in the middle of a school master’s degree programs in conjunction year. Sometimes I had to learn to speak with the Dance Council, PNC Broadway a whole new language. The arts were Across America and TrustPresents se- my means of universal communication ries. She produced 30 of the city’s popu- and social survival,” said Heidemann, lar Gallery Crawls, which are quarterly director of the Heinz College’s Master showcases of arts entertainment. And of Arts Management (MAM) program. she oversaw three First Night Pittsburgh They also were the foundation festivals, the region’s largest single night for a career that enables her to support arts festival that takes place on New the arts in ways that help ensure their Year’s Eve, breaking attendance records survival. and reaching millions of students, teach- Heidemann studied dance and arts ers and community members during her BRAIDIC PHOTO BY MATTE management in Chicago and enjoyed tenure. P ITTSBURGH M AYOR B ILL P EDUTO app OINTED CMU ’ S K ATHRYN H EIDEM A NN TO THE working at various arts organizations During that time, she also took two CITY ’ S A RT COMMISSION . there and in New York City and Detroit, working sabbaticals to assume leader- but something was missing. ship roles abroad and domestically as “As a creative person I was re- a venue manager for the Edinburgh “W HAT I mp RESSES M E mo S T AB O U T CMU IS T HE S T UDEN T S . ally looking for a rigorous academic Festival Fringe, the world’s largest arts M ANY O F T HE M com E FR om ART S BA C KGR O UNDS BU T LEARN to program that would unify my right and festival, and as an operations manager ‘ S P EAK DATA ’ VERY QUI C K LY . T HEY QUI C K LY ADA pt to NEW WAYS left brain, while giving my left brain a for Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in the ‘boost’ of sorts with quantitative man- Berkshires. O F T HINKING , NEW WAYS O F SEEING T HE W O RLD AND NEW WAYS O F agement skills. I had worked in the field Consider Mayor Bill Peduto among S O LV I N G P R O BLE M S .” — K AT HRYN H EIDE M ANN for a number of years and I wanted to be the people on whom she left a lasting impression. He recently appointed her to the City of Pittsburgh’s Art Commission, which works to improve the aesthetic festivals before, but her affiliation with ‘speak data’ very quickly. They quickly quality of the city’s public spaces. CMU has enabled her to work on inter- adapt to new ways of thinking, new “Mayor Peduto is, was and always national partnerships. She leads the dual ways of seeing the world and new ways will be a very strong advocate for the degree partnership with the University of solving problems,” she said. “Many arts. I am honored and humbled to have of Bologna’s GIOCA (Graduate Degree of them have specific goals in mind PIPER been chosen as an art commissioner in Innovation and Organization of when they arrive here, but may quickly 5/15 Issue under his leadership, and hope that Culture and the Arts) program in Italy. find a whole new course to chart and a P UBLISHER my background in arts management, She enjoys working with international whole new part of themselves that they Ken Walters understanding of arts policy issues, and students and arts performers, attends didn’t know was there. I love to see E DI to R M ANAGING E DI to R Bruce Gerson Kelly Saavedra passion for the arts and our communities many international performances and what they do, where they end up. They will help me be the best servant to this speaks at arts administration conferences just continue to surprise me.” W RI T ERS Cindy Carroll city that I can be,” she said. around the globe. And sometimes, she surprises her Bruce Gerson Heidemann feels the arts can play a Kelly Saavedra “Due to the nature of my job and students. Heidemann has often been Erin Keane Scott big role in fostering innovation and cre- the diversity of my students’ interests, I found playing bass guitar in local and Mike Yeomans ativity, both within ourselves and within have to have my finger on the pulse of national rock, punk and classic country the community. every facet of the arts industry — what’s bands. D ESIGN & P H oto GRA P HY Digital & Creative Services “There are ways you can do that happening in the museum, gallery, sym- An active member of her commu- which don’t necessarily mean you have phony, opera, theater and dance com- nity, Heidemann was recently named by To contact The Piper staff, call 412-268-2900 or email [email protected]. to be an artist for a living. The arts are pany worlds. Certainly my favorite part Pittsburgh Magazine as one of the city’s Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate in a right, not a privilege. If we all tap into about the job is not just about breadth “40 Under 40” honorees for her passion, admission, employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, out inner artist, we can learn to better of access to the arts, but also about the commitment and overall impact on the sex, handicap or disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or engage in creative problem-solving and people.