Cassidy R. Sugimoto, a globally recognized scholar whose work lies at the intersection of information science and science policy, will join Carnegie Mellon University as the next Bess Family Dean of the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window), effective July 1, 2026.
Sugimoto joins CMU from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she serves as school chair, Tom and Marie Patton Chair and Professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy.
“Dr. Sugimoto is profoundly in step with CMU’s interdisciplinary culture and our commitment to the ethical inquiry required to address complex societal challenges,” said Carnegie Mellon Provost James H. Garrett Jr.(opens in new window) “She understands that the humanities and social sciences are not just complementary to our technical strengths but are foundational to how we understand and improve the human condition.”
Sugimoto shared her enthusiasm for joining the college.
“I am thrilled and honored to lead Dietrich College, where we ask the most fundamental human questions — about minds and brains, choices and justice, language and culture — and pursue answers through distinctive excellence in teaching and research,” Sugimoto said. “This is a moment to be bold: to harness interdisciplinary strength to reimagine how we live together, how we govern and create, and to ensure that human well-being remains at the center of a rapidly changing world.”
An academic leader and champion of interdisciplinary inquiry
At Georgia Tech, Sugimoto led a strategic and philanthropic initiative to name the School of Public Policy after Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, a milestone accomplished in 2025 and supported by $10 million in development funds. Since becoming school chair in 2021, she has guided significant growth in student enrollment, national program expansion and the creation of four new interdisciplinary undergraduate minors.
Prior to Georgia Tech, Sugimoto was on the faculty at Indiana University Bloomington from 2010 to 2019. She began in the Department of Library and Information Science and later joined the Department of Informatics within the School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, where she also served as director of graduate studies.
Sugimoto holds three degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: a bachelor’s degree in music performance, a master’s degree in library science and a Ph.D. in information and library science.
Advancing research on the human element of discovery
Sugimoto has spent her career examining the “science of science” and the formal and informal ways in which knowledge is produced, disseminated, consumed and supported. A socially engaged scholar, she served as program director for the Science of Science and Innovation Policy program at the National Science Foundation from 2018 to 2020.
Her most recent book, “Equity for Women in Science,” underscores her dedication to evidence-based equity and the dismantling of systemic barriers in academia.
In addition to co-authoring and editing several books and book chapters, she has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and is a member of the editorial boards for Scientific Reports, Angewandte Chemie, Quantitative Science Studies, Cultural Science Journal, eLife, PLOS One, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, and Scientometrics.
Sugimoto is the past president of the International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics and has received numerous honors, including the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award, a national service award from the Association for Information Science and Technology, and a Bicentennial Medal for service from Indiana University.
The search for Dietrich College’s next dean
Sugimoto was selected following a national search led by Barbara Shinn-Cunningham,(opens in new window) Glenn de Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science, and Kevin Zollman(opens in new window), Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences.
“I extend my sincere gratitude to the search committee, for their diligent work in identifying such a visionary leader. I also thank the Dietrich College community for their engagement and feedback throughout this process,” Garrett said.
Sugimoto succeeds Richard Scheines(opens in new window), who has served as Dietrich College’s dean since 2014 and previously led the Department of Philosophy(opens in new window) from 2005 to 2014. He will return to the faculty and continue to serve as faculty director of the Simon Initiative(opens in new window).
“Richard has laid a strong foundation for the college, and his dedication to the Dietrich community has been truly impactful,” Garrett said. “We are grateful for his many years of service and his continued contributions to the university.”
Shaping the future of humanities and social sciences
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences welcomes dreamers and doers to confront and solve society’s most complex problems. Situated at the intersection of humanity and technology, Dietrich College fosters collaboration across disciplinary boundaries, empowering students, faculty and staff to explore different points of view and do work that matters.
As Sugimoto takes on this new leadership role, Dietrich College is poised to expand its influence on how we understand human behavior in a time of technological and societal change.
Supported by world-class faculty and dedicated advisers, Dietrich College students develop analytic reasoning, communication, collaboration and ethical decision-making skills. Through significant investments in experiential learning(opens in new window) opportunities — including internships, undergraduate research, study abroad and community engagement — students graduate with the competencies they need today and in the future.
Dietrich College faculty and alumni are leaders in their fields, earning recognition from prestigious national and international organizations.(opens in new window) The college has been home to a Nobel Prize winner, two Turing Award winners, two members of the National Academy of Medicine, 11 Guggenheim Fellows, 12 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 15 members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and more than 50 Fulbright Scholarship recipients. In addition, six of CMU’s seven most recent National Academy of Sciences members have been from Dietrich College. In 2025, both a faculty member from the humanities and an alumnus from the social sciences won Pulitzer Prizes in history and local reporting, respectively.
“Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The institution was originally established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical School. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology and began granting four-year degrees.”
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