Barbara Shinn-Cunningham Installed as Glen De Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham's intellect is as sharp as her saber. She’s always on point.

Colleagues celebrated the new Glen De Vries dean of Carnegie Mellon University’s Mellon College of Science, who is also a world-class fencer, at her installation ceremony on Thursday, April 3.

“It’s no secret that she’s deeply beloved and admired here at CMU,” said CMU President Farnam Jahanian(opens in new window).

The dean installation took place during Carnegie Mellon’s Spring Carnival(opens in new window), an annual celebration that brings Tartans back to campus.

“This year’s Carnival theme is Hollywood, which is quite fitting as we celebrate Dr. Shinn-Cunningham — a true CMU ‘star’ — as she steps into her deanship,” said CMU’s Provost and Chief Academic Officer James H. Garrett Jr.(opens in new window) “Barb is an innovator, a leader and a passionate educator who has had a positive impact on this university since joining Carnegie Mellon.”

Jahanian and Garrett formally installed Shinn-Cunningham and presented her with a quaich. CMU provides deans with the ceremonial drinking cup, which symbolizes new ventures and mutual trust between the giver and receiver. In Scottish tradition, a quaich (pronounced “quake”) is offered in friendship or welcome.

Shinn-Cunningham shared that, as a scientist, she spent time mentoring students and postdocs, teaching them how to be deep and inventive thinkers.

“It took some soul searching before I was ready to step back from 30 years as a scientist-mentor to take on the responsibilities of dean,” she said. “But I realized that being dean of the Mellon College of Science would enable me to mentor and help not just individuals but the entire community that makes up the college. I would have the chance to make CMU better by elevating MCS.”

Shinn-Cunningham, who is the eighth dean to lead MCS, joined Carnegie Mellon in 2018 as the founding director of the Neuroscience Institute(opens in new window) and the George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Professor of Auditory Neuroscience. She held courtesy appointments in the departments of Psychology(opens in new window), Biomedical Engineering(opens in new window) and Electrical and Computer Engineering(opens in new window). Her appointment as dean was announced in September 2024.

“When I first committed to becoming dean in September, I was excited. But now, I feel an urgency in our mission,” she said. “As scientists, we excel at bringing clarity — solving problems head-on and steering through uncertainty. These challenges have only strengthened my resolve to be an unwavering advocate for MCS. I will champion facts, defend our work, and stand firm for the scientists who face increasing scrutiny simply for seeking truth.”

Tim Verstynen(opens in new window), the interim head of the Neuroscience Institute, said she has endless energy, boundless compassion and is fearless.

“It’s both intimidating and oddly comforting to know that your boss is proficient with a sword,” Verstynen said, referencing her skill as a fencer. Shinn-Cunningham was a member of the 2019 veteran U.S. women’s saber team that took third place at the world championship. “You can see that same courage and strategic thinking in her professional choices. Coming to CMU to build a brand-new institute from the ground up was a big risk. People who play it safe simply don’t do that.”

Before joining CMU, she spent 21 years on the faculty of Boston University(opens in new window). In addition to directing the Neuroscience Institute at Carnegie Mellon, Shinn-Cunningham leads two large-scale Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative(opens in new window) projects funded by the Office of Naval Research, each of which brings together researchers from different backgrounds at different institutions to address problems that cannot be solved through individual disciplines.

An author of more than 200 scientific articles, she is recognized for her expertise in spatial hearing, auditory attention and sensory hearing deficits. She succeeds Rebecca Doerge and interim dean and current Otto Stern Professor of Physics Curtis Meyer.

Glen de Vries, a 1994 graduate of the Mellon College of Science, endowed the Mellon College of Science deanship in 2017. The alumnus and Board of Trustee member died in 2021, but his legacy as a champion of the Mellon College of Science’s vision for a technology-driven future of science echoed throughout the installation ceremony. Shinn-Cunningham said she worked with him as the director of the Neuroscience Institute.

“He was brilliant, creative and dynamic. He was a faithful and generous supporter of the Mellon College of Science, and of science more broadly — both within Carnegie Mellon, and in the world,” she said.

Shinn-Cunningham has degrees in electrical engineering from Brown University(opens in new window) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(opens in new window). Her research combines behavioral, neuroimaging and computational methods to understand how the brain processes sound. She has received honors from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation(opens in new window), the Whitaker Foundation(opens in new window) and the Vannevar Bush Fellows(opens in new window) program.

Shinn-Cunningham is the president of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA), and in 2019, she accepted its Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal(opens in new window) in Psychological and Physiological Acoustics, Speech Communication, and Architectural Acoustics. She previously served as the treasurer/secretary of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology(opens in new window). Her mentorship has been recognized by awards from both the ASA and the Society for Neuroscience. She is a Fellow of the ASA(opens in new window), a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering(opens in new window), and a lifetime member of the National Research Council.