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About Heinz College
Heinz College was founded as the School of Urban and Public Affairs in 1968. The animating vision that lead to the founding of the school was to bring a systems analytic approach (inspired by engineering and the mathematical social sciences) to the study of important questions of public interest – at that time particularly questions related to U.S. urban environments. At the time, no similar academic institution even contemplated the possibility that engineering, operations research, or computing systems had even the remotest relation to the conduct of policy and public management. Indeed, even more traditional mathematically-based social science disciplines brought into the School at that time - economics and statistics, in particular – were quite unusual in the environment of schools of “public affairs”.
Despite the significant changes in the world since 1968, our basic approach to solving real problems has remained incredibly durable and is the soul of who we are today. But the contexts in which we have chosen to apply that approach have expanded remarkably. They include the expansion of public interest domains beyond urban development and poverty to areas like health, globalization and social innovation. We have also gone beyond the traditional boundaries of the domain of the public interest to explore deeply the impact of information technology on organizations, markets and societies. Finally, we have persistently explored the ways in which we could make our educational programs more relevant and effective in their curriculum, in their delivery models, and in their degree of connection to external partners.
Unlike many graduate schools, we are not organized along academic departments. Faculty collaborate in instruction and research, an operating model we believe leads to innovation in research and a superior educational experience. Our strengths span the applied disciplines of empirical methods and statistics, economics, information systems and technology, operations research and organizational behavior.
Our faculty focus their research efforts on a vast array of issues. They have established worldwide reputations for excellence in areas such as the study of crime and criminal justice, urban policy, health care policy and management, arts management, information security policy, and information systems management.
In addition to full-time, on-campus programs in Pittsburgh and Adelaide, Heinz College offers graduate-level programs to nontraditional students through part-time on-campus and distance programs, customized programs delivered virtually anywhere in the world, and executive education programs for senior managers.
Heinz College exists to improve the ability of public, not-for-profit and private organizations to address the most difficult challenges facing society, as well as to strengthen and exploit our cultural resources through skilled leadership and management. Our success is reflected in the contributions our more than 5,000 graduates have made to society, through their work in international, national, state and local public agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and private corporations.
H. John Heinz III College adheres to Carnegie Mellon University's governing policies, which are available on the University's website.