Philosophically Speaking

Kendra Albert walks into the office of her philosophy professor to discuss the topic of her final paper for his Causation, Law, and Social Policy class.

After the third-year student explains her desire to research Agent Orange—the science behind it and the court cases it sparked—she’s surprised by the response from Richard Scheines, who also heads the philosophy department. He tells her the scope of the subject goes far beyond a final paper.

1Philosoph NewsflashHowever, he doesn’t want to quash his student’s desire to learn. So he suggests that Albert make the topic her senior year honors thesis; he even offers to be her advisor. Albert leaves the office delighted at the prospect of her new project. And she’s pleasantly surprised that her professor volunteered to spend the following school year mentoring her, even though they have only interacted in this one class and she—a BHA history and drama major—isn’t even a student in his department.

Throughout her 2010-2011 senior year, Albert says Scheines encouraged her, in what she later came to know as his typical fashion, to explore the topic from multiple angles and to get advice and support from professors in various disciplines throughout the university to bolster her ideas. Scheines has promoted cross-disciplinary exploration of subjects since first coming to Carnegie Mellon in the 1980s, when the philosophy program was just getting off the ground and being developed with an emphasis on scientific, statistical, and computational work.

He has been head of the philosophy department since 2005, continuing to develop connections across the university, including computer science, brain science, medical ethics, statistics, and psychology. With him at the helm, the philosophy department has more than tripled external research funding and significantly advanced its reputation internationally.

When John Lehoczky decided to step down as dean of Dietrich College and return to a faculty position after the 2013-2014 school year, it became apparent to the dean search committee that the ideal replacement resided in Baker Hall. What set Scheines apart, in addition to how he grew the philosophy department, was his way of thinking, exemplified by how he encouraged Albert to knock on doors throughout campus for her research.

“He is particularly well-connected across programs, colleges, and academic institutions—for example: the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, the Machine Learning Department, and the University of Pittsburgh,” says the chair of the dean search committee. G. Richard Tucker, the Paul Mellon University Professor of Applied Linguistics.

Scheines is now at the helm of Dietrich, which encompasses about 1,300 students, 200 faculty members, and more than 60 majors and minors. “I will do everything I can to create an environment that is exciting and enjoyable for all of our faculty and students,” he says.

He hopes, just like Albert, that he can push students and faculty members to go beyond their comfort zones and “utilize some of the world-class expertise” that’s never more than a short walk in any direction.

Olivia London (DC’13)