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Chorus of Praise
I wanted to express my gratitude for Nicolas Ducassi’s heartbreaking story about Lauren Eshbaugh’s and Jamie Burrow’s enduring friendship [April issue’s “Duet”]. The love and understanding displayed by these remarkable young people and the Carnegie Mellon faculty are tremendous and make me so proud of the school and all it stands for. My sympathies to Lauren’s family and to all those who knew and loved her. The forever bond between Jamie and Lauren is special and will never be broken or forgotten. Thanks for a wonderful story.
—Maynard A. Holliday (E’84)
    Danville, Calif.

In this profoundly touching and spiritually reassuring story, it’s evidence that love, devotion, and Christian living are, in fact, alive and in motion. Let me express my unforgettable thanks to [Carnegie Mellon Today] for “DUET.” The heart of Andrew Carnegie is evident through the role Carnegie Mellon personnel played and in the ongoing recognition of Lauren through the “Lauren Eshbaugh Memorial Award.”
—Harry B. West (E’39)
   Elizabethtown, Pa.

In 2006, my daughter’s Carleton College swim teammate Ted Mullin succumbed to the rare rhabdomyosarcoma soft-tissue cancer that targets young adults. I was saddened to read in “Duet” that Carnegie Mellon music major Lauren Eshbaugh also lost a brave fight to this same disease, but I proudly note that CMU’s swim team has annually participated with other collegiate teams in a nationwide “Hour of Power” sprint relay fundraiser to find a cure. I urge all CMU students and faculty to enthusiastically support next fall’s CMU Hour of Power.
—H.E. “Scott” Miller (E’72)
   San Francisco, Calif.
 

Presidential Search
The first formal step of the process to seek a successor to President Jared L. Cohon, who will be stepping down on June 30, 2013, is now in place with the naming of a distinguished 17-member search committee. The committee—chaired by James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC Financial Services Group and chair of the board’s Nominating and Governance Committee— is a diverse group of members of the Board of Trustees and faculty members representing all seven colleges and schools.

The trustee members are:

• Andress Appolon (CMU’02)
  Founder and president, Appolon Strategies LLC
• John Bertucci (E’63, TPR’65)
  Chairman, MKS Instruments, Inc.
• Howard Ellin (DC’85)
  Partner, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher and Flom
• Edward Frank (CS’85)
  Vice president, Apple, Inc.
• Larry Jennings Jr. (S’84, TPR’87)
  Senior managing director, ValStone Partners
• Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds
• Manoj Singh (TPR’76)
  Global managing partner, Operations, Deloitte
• Paula Wagner (A’69)
  Producer/owner, Chestnut Ridge Production

The faculty members are:

• Irene Fonseca
  Professor, Department of Mathematics, Mellon College of Science
• Terrance Hayes
  Professor, Department of English, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Ramayya Krishnan
  Dean, H. John Heinz III College
• Anthony Rollett
  Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Carnegie Institute of Technology; chair, Faculty Senate, and chair of the Faculty Committee
• Teddy Seidenfeld
  Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Statistics, Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• Dan Siewiorek
  Buhl University Professor of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Computer Science
• Susanne Slavick
  Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art, School of Art, College of Fine Arts
• Chester Spatt
  Pamela R. and Kenneth B. Dunn Professor of Finance; director, Center for Financial Markets, Tepper School of Business

Although the committee, aided by a search firm, will lead the process and ultimately recommend a candidate to the board, every member of the university community—students, alumni, faculty, and staff—will have the opportunity to participate and provide input through open forums and a public presidential search Web site (www.cmu.edu/presidential-search), which has information about the search process, including a general timeline.

The goal is to name the new president in the spring of 2013.

I’m confident that by working together we will find the right individual to continue the momentum we’ve achieved under President Cohon and to help propel Carnegie Mellon to even greater heights.
—Ray Lane, Chairman of the Board
    Carnegie Mellon University

Editors Note: This update was sent to the university community.

In Memoriam
I am saddened to inform you that Dr. William Cooper, a visionary educator and researcher at Carnegie Mellon for 30 years, passed away on June 20 in Austin, Texas. He was 97.

Bill was the founding dean of the School of Urban and Public Affairs (now the H. John Heinz III College) and a founding faculty member of the Graduate School of Industrial Administration (GSIA — now the Tepper School of Business). Often described as an “academic entrepreneur,” Bill had a profound impact on a variety of academic fields, including operations research, accounting, marketing, risk management and public policy.

Bill came to Carnegie Mellon in 1945 with a background in industrial engineering and was one of the founding architects of mathematical modeling and was responsible for the first applications in linear programming. In true Carnegie Mellon style, Bill espoused the need for problem-driven research, recognized the need of management researchers to be closely connected with the problems faced by organizations, and pioneered research and curricula that combined academic disciplines utilizing a scientific approach to problem solving.

Along with Lee Bach and Herbert Simon, Bill was one of the founding fathers of GSIA and played a key role in developing its faculty and curriculum. What Bill helped start in the 1950s at Carnegie Mellon has now become the standard for business curricula.

At GSIA, Cooper teamed up with Mathematics Professor Abe Charnes to develop mathematical models that would radically change how we look at problems. Their work, which created a new field called management science, was recognized with the John Von Neumann Theory Prize, an award given to individuals who have made fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operations research and management science. In 2010, Cooper was inducted into the Tepper School’s inaugural Wall of Fame.

His vision when he established what is now the Heinz College was to educate “men and women of intelligent action” and he developed a curricular framework and experiential learning activities that are at the core of what the college continues to do today. Bill also saw the college as a place to try untested ideas in the marketplace. Knowing that more African-Americans were moving into urban centers, Bill and Otto Davis, an associate dean, realized that a pressing need for African-American managers lay ahead. Minority representation soon became one of the school’s striking achievements. 

A prolific researcher, Bill's career spanned nearly seven decades and included stints at the University of Chicago, the Harvard Business School, and the University of Texas, where he was a professor of management, finance and accounting before retiring in 1993.

In addition to his accomplishments in higher education, Bill was the founding president of The Institute for Management Science, which later became part of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the leading operations research society in the world today.

On behalf of Carnegie Mellon University, my condolences go out to Bill’s family, friends and colleagues. The university is planning a memorial service in the fall.
Sincerely,
Jared L. Cohon
President, Carnegie Mellon University

In Memoriam
David L. Maloney
February 11, 1941 - September 3, 2012
 
Dave Maloney, former alumni relations director and director of development at Carnegie Mellon University, died on September 3 in Oklahoma City. He was 71. Maloney was also the CMU men’s basketball coach (1975–1983; 87-84 overall record). He led the Tartans to the Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship and the NCAA playoffs in 1977 and was named the Pittsburgh Basketball Writers Coach of the Year. He left the university in 1993 for a fundraising position with Oklahoma University, where he remained until his 2006 retirement.
 
“Coach Maloney had a tremendous impact on Carnegie Mellon University and the men’s basketball program. The entire athletics family is saddened to hear of his passing,” said Director of Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation Susan Bassett. “Coach Maloney returned to campus in February 2011 to be recognized with the 1976-77 team he led to the conference championship and NCAA tournament. His passion for the university and the men he coached was apparent, and we are grateful we had the opportunity to celebrate his outstanding achievements with the Tartans.”
 
He is survived by his wife, Roberta, two daughters, Denise and Kelly (Lynch), son-in-law Gary Lynch and two grandchildren.
Learn more: David L. Maloney Biography