May 2026
At Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, we celebrate the many contributions of the faculty and staff who make the Libraries the destination for scholarly information, creative inquiry, and intellectual collaboration across disciplines, propelling the significance, reach, and impact of the university.
Business and Entrepreneurship Librarian Ryan Splenda was a panelist for the AACSB Business Librarian Affinity Group's Measuring Research Impact Panel Presentation on April 9, 2026. His presentation was titled “Research Impact Services @ CMU Libraries.”
Splenda also presented at the 2026 Academic Business Library Directors (ABLD) Conference on April 21, 2026. His presentation was titled “Adapting an AI-Powered Tool Assessment Framework for Evaluating AI Tools in Business & Other Databases.”
STEM Librarian and Open Science Program Director Melanie Gainey was a panelist on the LyrOpen Fair Open Access and AI panel hosted by Lyrasis and held virtually on March 31st.
Senior Communications Coordinator Sarah Bender won a Communicator Award of Excellence, awarded by the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts (AIVA), for her IDeATe news story “Making AI Approachable: Tactile Tool Simplifies Neural Networks for Middle Schoolers.”
The Carnegie Mellon University Press website redesign also won a Communicator Award of Excellence. University Communications and Marketing Senior Digital Content Specialist Alexis Morrell submitted the project, in which Communications Coordinator Hannah Kinney-Kobre also played a significant role.
The 2024-2025 Libraries Year in Reflection won a PR Xchange Award in the category of Advocacy/Fundraising/Annual Reports/Strategic Plans. The Year in Reflection was designed by Graphic Designer Jon Young, written by Bender, and edited by Associate Dean for Marketing and Communications Shannon Riffe.
Image found in the General Photograph Collection of CMU's Digital Collections. Highland Fling (c.1920)