CMU’S NEWS SOURCE FOR FACULTY & STAFF 9/15 ISSUE 2 G OOD A S G OLD Playfair Portraits 4 G ROWIN G P A INS 6 A NDY A WA RD N OMIN ATIONS 11 T ROUBLE ON THE T R A IN T R A CKS Parents’ Perspectives A New Orientation to CMU n Abby Simmons Anne Witchner has been leading CMU’s orientation for more than two decades, but this year, she arrived on Move-In Day with a different title: Mom. Although she could have moved in her son, David, early, Witchner and her husband, Michael Levin, opted to navi- gate through the frenzied early morning traffic with fellow first-year parents. Like Witchner, many faculty and staff across the university are seeing CMU through the eyes of parents this fall, some for the first time, and others PHOTO BY ERICA DILCER as veterans. While the tuition benefit is S ELFIE S WERE RAMPANT AMONG PROUD FIR S T - YEAR S TUDENT S DURING P LAYFAIR ON THE C UT , WHERE THE C LA ss OF 2 0 1 9 CAME attractive, parents cite numerous other TOGETHER A S ONE GROUP FOR THE FIR S T TIME . T HI S YEAR ’ S CLA ss OF MORE THAN 1 , 5 0 0 S TUDENT S HAIL S FROM 4 0 COUNTRIE S AND 4 2 U . S . S TATE S . S EE THI S YEAR ’ S CLA ss AT A GLANCE ON PAGE 5 . C ONTINUED ON PAGE FI V E Gender Equity TCS Invests in CMU’s “Secret Sauce” CMU Expands n Bruce Gerson, Kelly Saavedra Title IX Efforts Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the latest company to get a taste of Carnegie n Kelly Saavedra Mellon’s “secret sauce.” And it wants a whole lot more. Reports of sex discrimination, sexual Millions of dollars’ worth, in fact. violence and harassment make the TCS — the fastest growing global headlines nearly every day. But many IT and consulting company with offices people affected by misconduct never in more than 46 countries and clients in report it to anyone. every major industry — is tapping into This year, the university has a the university’s recipe for success with new office with staff dedicated solely a donation of $35 million to fully fund to these areas. Located in West Wing, a new facility on CMU’s Pittsburgh PHOTO BY KEN ANDREYO P RE S IDENT S UBRA S URE S H AND TC S CEO N ATARAJAN C HANDRA S EKARAN Suite 102, on the Pittsburgh campus, Campus and support students through CELEBRATE THE NEW PARTNER S HIP . the Office of Title IX Initiatives is ex- CMU’s Presidential Scholarships and panding the university’s efforts to raise Fellowships program. awareness, change mindsets, provide It’s the largest gift TCS has ever support and effectively resolve issues given to a university and CMU’s largest that are reported. corporate gift. “At Carnegie Mellon, we have The company’s CEO and manag- long been committed to providing a ing director, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, safe environment to all community said partnerships like this are critical C ONTINUED ON PAGE TEN C ONTINUED ON PAGE EIGHT O NE P O -S HEN L O ( FAR LEFT ) PO S E S WITH THE IMO CHAMPION S HIP TEAM . T HE TITLE WA S THE FIR S T FOR THE U . S . S INCE 1 9 9 4 . Good as Gold Math Professor’s Olympiad Team Takes Home Top Medals n Jocelyn Duffy Every coach wants nothing more than was named the deputy team leader, and the college-level, and from college math to torics. The problems are so hard, that to see his or her team succeed. As team in 2014 he was appointed team leader — the type of math that is done in academia often the best competitors complete leader of the United States’ Internation- equivalent to the head coach — of the and industry. His hope is that he prepares only one. The difficulty is by design — al Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) team, United States’ IMO team. his students to be successful not only in the Olympiad aims to test students on Associate Professor of Mathematics As team leader, Loh brought the class or math competitions, but in their creative problem-solving, not advanced Po-Shen Loh proudly watched as his summer training program to Carnegie adult and professional lives. techniques. team achieved the ultimate success — Mellon’s Pittsburgh campus. Each sum- “Mathematics is not just about Loh and the team’s other coaches winning the IMO. mer, around 60 of the nation’s top high memorizing a bunch of formulas, but prepared the students well. At the A “mathlete” himself, Loh was a school mathematicians participate in in fact is as creative as the humanities international competition, five of the six silver medalist at the 1999 International the three-week-long boot camp where and the arts,” Loh told NPR after the high schoolers won gold medals and one Math Olympiad. His experience in the they are immersed in creative problem- competition. won silver for their individual results, realm of competitive mathematics was solving techniques. Six high school students from across and team U.S.A. was awarded first place extremely influential in his life, and The idea that math can be seen as the country are selected for each year’s overall — something that they hadn’t something he wanted to bring to other creative problem-solving is something IMO team. In July, the team traveled to accomplished since 1994. aspiring mathematicians. that Loh teaches all his students, those in Chang Mai, Thailand, to compete against “This historic result reflects an In 2002, Loh began teaching at the the Olympiad program and those at CMU. some of the world’s best teen-aged math- enormous amount of work by students, Mathematical Association of America’s He says that learning these skills will help ematicians. In the two-day competition, families, teachers and coaches, as well Mathematical Olympiad Summer Pro- students make the jump between what each student did their best to complete as an extensive national infrastructure gram, which prepares students for the they have learned in their high school six math problems in topics like algebra, for the cultivation of extraordinary international competition. In 2010, he classes and the type of math that is done at geometry, number theory and combina- mathematical talent,” Loh said. Libraries Launches “#OpenCMU” PIPER Campaign To Benefit Researchers 9/15 Issue P UBLISHER n Denise Troll Covey Attempts to replicate research new topic, describing what it is, why Ken Walters findings often fail, eroding the public’s it’s important, how it will benefit University Libraries is hoping to E DI T OR M ANAGING E DI T OR trust. But making research data openly you, CMU’s position on it and what Bruce Gerson Kelly Saavedra engage CMU researchers in practices available could facilitate reproducibility, University Libraries is doing about it. W RI T ERS that will enhance the discovery, use Denise Troll Covey Kelly Saavedra deter research misconduct and accel- The topics will include discussion and impact of their work. Jocelyn Duffy Erin Keane Scott erate the pace of scientific discovery. of ORCID IDs, CMU’s Research Bruce Gerson Abby Simmons With that goal in mind they Ken Walters Open licenses granting designated usage Showcase, publishing, copyright, Lisa Kulick have launched #OpenCMU, aimed rights also could speed things up, as author’s rights and licenses, and more. D ESIGNER at getting people to “open up” about Melissa Stoebe would-be users wouldn’t have to seek Followers of the campaign openness. It’s a university-wide Communications Design and Photography Group out copyright owners and ask and wait on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ campaign emphasizing the many P HO T OGRAPHY for permission. cmulibraries and Facebook at www. Ken Andreyo & Tim Kaulen ways in which open access, open Communications Design and Photography Group Most importantly, openness is just facebook.com/CMULibraries will find data, open licenses and open peer To contact The Piper staff, call 412-268-2900 plain good for researchers. information disseminated in bite-sized or email [email protected]. review can benefit them. “More access means more users, bits — quick to consume, and easy to Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate in admission, “Some people don’t have access employment, or administration of its programs or activities on the more citations, greater impact and digest. basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, to expensive books and journals, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. Furthermore, enhanced recognition,” Webster said. To learn more about #OpenCMU, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and is required which hampers research worldwide, not to discriminate in violation of federal, state, or local laws or Throughout the fall semester, go to http://goo.gl/30GYAS. To executive orders. impedes the application of research Inquiries concerning the application of and compliance #OpenCMU will teach researchers how schedule a presentation or Q&A for with this statement should be directed to the vice president for campus affairs, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, findings and slows the pace of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, telephone 412-268-2056. to increase access to their work as well your department or class, contact Carnegie Mellon University publishes an annual campus innovation,” said Keith Webster, security and fire safety report describing the university’s security, as how to get credit for their work. Denise Troll Covey, Scholarly alcohol and drug, sexual assault, and fire safety policies and dean of University Libraries.