New dean joins Carnegie Mellon science college

Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon College of Science has a new dean, Barbara Shinn-Cunningham. Her tenure begins in January.

Shinn-Cunningham came to Carnegie Mellon in 2018 as founding director of the Neuroscience Institute. A faculty researcher and an engineer by training, she is a professor of auditory neuroscience.

Shinn-Cunningham heads two large-scale Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative projects funded by the U.S. Defense Department’s Office of Naval Research.

In announcing the appointment, Provost James Garrett Jr. pointed to her scholarly career and ability to lead.

“Her distinguished research background and proven leadership skills position her to propel the future of science initiative forward and guide MCS toward even greater heights.” he said in a statement.

Prior to coming to Pittsburgh, she was a member of Boston University’s faculty for 21 years.

Curtis Meyer is the college’s interim dean.

Founded in 1967, the college has been home to 10 of the university’s 17 Nobel laureates, according to its website. The college enrolls approximately 800 undergraduates and 300 graduate students, and has approximately 130 faculty.

The new dean said she is humbled and thrilled with her appointment.

“Interdisciplinary approaches erase boundaries that have traditionally separated fields of study, thereby accelerating scientific discovery,” she said. “Such collaboration is part of CMU’s DNA, a fact that attracts some of the most creative and broad-thinking scientists to the Mellon College of Science.”

She has degrees in electrical engineering from Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.