The Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
“A gift that enhances educational opportunities creates a multiplier effect for our communities and our country — in other words, it is a mode of giving that leverages a gift to achieve its maximum effectiveness. Serving as a trustee of Carnegie Mellon convinced me that Carnegie Mellon is not only a great university, but that it is an important driver of the future success of this region and its citizens. I have seen first-hand how Carnegie Mellon has maintained the same ‘can-do’ spirit and multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving that was part of its founding, and that it is one of a handful of universities in the world that has the potential to become a truly global institution. All of this makes Carnegie Mellon a great investment.”
– William S. Dietrich II
Since its founding in 1900, Carnegie Mellon University, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, continues to be one of the world’s leading research institutions. Each year more than 13,000 students, representing 100+ countries, attend the University.
In recognition of Bill’s $265 million announced gift in 2011 (i.e., the then-current estimate of the present value of future annual donations from his Foundation), the University named the College of Humanities and Social Sciences after Marianna Brown Dietrich, his late mother. The Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences is the second largest of Carnegie Mellon’s seven schools and colleges serving near 1,500 students. The college has eight academic departments and some 60 majors and minors spanning disciplines as varied as cognitive neuroscience and modern languages. Annual distributions to Carnegie Mellon from The Dietrich Foundation have been directed to, among other things, fund scholarships and critical research, as well as recruit world-class faculty, among other mission-related initiatives.