The Thinkers

A monthly series will highlight people from Western Pennsylvania who are on the forefront of new ideas in their fields.

5.5.08 / CMU researcher connects emotions and decisions

When it comes to such varied behaviors as taking advice, promoting an employee or deciding what is unethical, we are all irrational in a very predictable way.

That's the conclusion that Carnegie Mellon University researcher Francesca Gino and her colleagues have reached after doing a series of innovative experiments on how our emotions and hidden biases affect everyday decisions.

Photo by Lake Fong• Story by Mark Roth

3.24.08 / Theologian's mission is to interpret violence in the Bible

It's not a Bible verse you hear in many churches. At the end of Psalm 137, a lament by the Jewish people exiled in Babylon, come these words:

"O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back for what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!"

Those are just two of the scores of verses in the Bible that speak of wrath and vengeance and portray violence and destruction.

In the face of this disturbing imagery, Jerome Creach has set himself a daunting task: to explain why these verses are in Scripture, and how Christians should interpret them.

Photo by Darrell Sapp• Story by Mark Roth

3.3.08 / Technology helps patients recover after intensive care

Marilyn Hravnak, an acute-care nursing professor at the University of Pittsburgh, is excited about a new technology that may tell nurses which patients are vulnerable to reversals much earlier than in the past.

The system automatically monitors vital signs and issues an alert when a patient's heart rate or breathing starts to get out of control. And that could make a big difference in step-down units, where each nurse has more patients to keep track of.

Photo by Bob Donaldson• Story by Mark Roth

1.28.08 / Prof says women vital to the birth of America

There is no doubt that George Washington was an inspiring general and the Continental Army was a courageous and resourceful band of soldiers.

But there wouldn't be a United States of America today if it hadn't been for the women -- and not just the ones who kept the home fires burning.

That is the thesis that Duquesne University history professor Holly A. Mayer has developed in her years of research on the "camp followers" who accompanied the army during the Revolutionary War.

Photo by Darrell Sapp • Story by Mark Roth

12.31.07 / Playing fair, even when it hurts in the pocketbook

Christina Fong grew up near Purdue University, where she met many poor Indiana residents who believed strongly in the free enterprise system, even if it wasn't benefiting them very much.

Then, every other summer, she would spend six weeks in her mother's native Sweden, meeting wealthy Swedes who happily supported the heavy taxes on the rich that financed that nation's expansive social welfare system.

Photo by Bill Wade • Story by Mark Roth

11.26.07 / Student success tied to teacher mentoring

All across the nation, school districts are under pressure to raise the quality of their teachers by training them better or monitoring them more closely. They might be better off just giving them a chance to talk to each other, says Carrie Leana, the Gordon H. Love professor of organizations and management at the University of Pittsburgh's Katz Graduate School of Business.

In an award-winning study of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Dr. Leana found that in the schools where teachers talked to each other the most about their jobs, and where the principals did the best job of staying in touch with the community, students had noticeably higher reading and math test scores.

Photo by Darrell Sapp • Story by Mark Roth

10.29.07 / The Bible and history of Israel shape a life

Ron Tappy became a committed Christian in his mid-20s, after deciding to read the Bible straight through.

When he did, "the Old Testament just floored me, and the history of Israel became my history, and I became a Christian in that process. To this day, I have an abiding respect for the texts of Scripture," he said.

It seems fitting, then, that Dr. Tappy's most famous discovery as a biblical archaeologist is a 38-pound limestone rock inscribed with a 2,900-year-old alphabet.

Photo by Andy Starnes • Story by Mark Roth

10.01.07 / Pitt prof's new book an entree to recesses of slave trade

In many ways, Marcus Rediker believes, the African slave trade actually created the black and white races.

Before the slave trade to North America took hold strongly in the 1700s, the University of Pittsburgh history professor said, most Africans thought of themselves as members of different tribes and language groups.

And the sailors on sea- going vessels at that time were true "motley crews" of British, American, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian and even some African seamen.

Photo by Steve Mellon • Story by Mark Roth

09.03.07 / He's taking unknown out of teaching algebra

Dr. Steve Ritter is the chief scientist at Carnegie Learning Inc., a Downtown company that markets one of the leading computer-based math teaching programs in the United States. The company's a spinoff from Carnegie Mellon University.

The company's Cognitive Tutor programs in algebra, geometry and integrated math are being used by 475,000 students in 1,300 school districts across the country, and the Rand Corp. is currently testing it against traditional math classes in several school districts nationwide.

The program recommends two days of computer work a week and three days of classroom sessions.

Photo by V.W.H. Campbell, Jr. • Story by Mark Roth

07.30.07 / Plastics future fantastic in CMU prof's view

This is one of Richard McCullough's visions.

In the not-too-distant future, a student will sit down outside a coffee shop, pull a rolled-up plastic sheet out of her backpack, flatten it on the table, and immediately be able to read a newspaper, magazine or book of her choice, displayed in glowing colors.

And the whole thing will be made possible by a thin layer of plastics that conduct electricity.

Photo by Andy Starnes • Story by Mark Roth

06.24.07 / Wheelchairs compound troubles for some users

As the baby boomers get ready to surge into retirement, the sheer number of people with chronic disabilities will undoubtedly increase, including more than 1 million people who will have to rely on wheelchairs.

Unless current policies change, that could also mean more and more people will be afflicted with problems that come from using lower-grade, badly adjusted wheelchairs, says University of Pittsburgh researcher Fabrisia Ambrosio.

Photo by Annie O'Neill • Story by Mark Roth

06.04.07 / CMU prof shows benefits of emotional support

Research has shown that when parents pick up crying babies and soothe them, those children cry much less often as time goes on than babies who are left to wail away in their cribs.

The children who are picked up also show more security and independence as they grow up. Brooke Feeney, a social psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University, has found the same kind of effect in adults.

Photo by Steve Mellon • Story by Mark Roth

05.07.07 / CMU prof using game theory to match kidneys

As scientific discovery evolves, researchers in one discipline are increasingly entering other fields through a side door.

That is how Tuomas Sandholm ended up working on kidney transplants.

Dr. Sandholm is a Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist who specializes in game theory, which is often used to find the best solutions to problems when there are millions of alternatives.

Photo by Robin Rombach • Story by Mark Roth

03.26.07 / Duquesne prof studies marketing of rebels

In southern Mexico, descendants of the Maya Indians have been at odds with the government ever since the days of the Spanish conquistadors. But most people were unaware of that until 1994, when a group known as the Zapatistas suddenly entered the international spotlight. The armed rebels took over several cities, only to be quickly driven back into the hills by the Mexican Army. But the Zapatista movement stayed alive, and it has been Duquesne University professor Clifford Bob's mission to explain why.

Photo by Bill Wade • Story by Mark Roth

02.26.07 / Her world is the stage and she sees bright future

Despite viruses, errant cell phones and the other challenges of putting on live performances, Tracy Brigden believes theater has a vibrant future across the country -- even in an age where people have more and more entertainment choices. "I love to watch TV and I'm in front of a computer screen much of the day," she said, "but even in this media age, I want to see a human being perform, and I think other people feel the same way."

Photo by Annie O'Neill • Story by Mark Roth

01.29.07 / He brings higher mathematics to bear on high finance

In Steven Shreve's world, there is a magical connection between the people who invest in convertible bonds and the ones who get frustrated watching a YouTube video that keeps stopping and starting. It's called stochastic calculus, a branch of mathematics that measures what happens in any system that is beset by random fluctuations.

Photo by V.W.H. Campbell Jr.• Story by Mark Roth

12.25.06 / He helps people give away their money

Like other banks, PNC has specialists who help wealthy people increase their assets. They also have R. Bruce Bickel. His job is to help them give them away.

Photo by Tony Tye • Story by Mark Roth

11.27.06 / Prof says former Soviet republic can teach about hospitality

Jennifer Cash is an expert on Moldova. No, not the mythical kingdom in the 1980s' TV series "Dynasty" -- that was Moldavia -- but the former Soviet republic nestled between Romania and Ukraine in southeastern Europe.

Photo by Steve Mellon • Story by Mark Roth

10.30.06 / He attacks social woes to save the environment

Most teenagers display pictures of their family or friends on their desks. Robbie Ali had a picture of the orangutan at the Pittsburgh Zoo. So it's not surprising that 30 years later, he has become involved in two projects in Indonesia that are trying to save the endangered primates from extinction.

Photo by Steve Mellon • Story by Mark Roth

09.25.06 / She studies 'i-deals,' perks for individual employees

Special working arrangements are not just for superstars anymore. Research by Denise Rousseau, the H.J. Heinz II professor of organizational behavior and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University shows between 25 and 35 percent of all employees have bargained for special workplace arrangements, which she calls idiosyncratic deals, or "i-deals."

Photo by Darrell Sapp • Story by Mark Roth

09.05.06 / Biologist focuses on intricate 'dance' of soil, crops

The typical soybean field in Western Pennsylvania contains 1¹/₂ million plants. And that gives Valerie Oke several hundred million nodules to love.

Photo by V.W.H. Campbell • Story by Mark Roth

08.07.06 / He studies the Scots-Irish place in the region's history

All over Allegheny County, you can find Presbyterian churches within a stone's throw of each other, and despite population losses, Western Pennsylvania continues to have more Presbyterians than any other region of the nation.

Photo by Steve Mellon • Story by Mark Roth

06.26.06 / Building a search engine that 'does search right'

Raul Valdes-Perez is heading up an effort to create better online searching using applications that cluster information together in ways more useful to people. His company, Vivisimo, is already selling its software and services to companies and government agencies, such as Firstgov.org, the federal government's official Web portal.

Photo by Tony Tye • Story by Mark Roth

05.29.06 / Pitt anthropologist thinks Darwin's theory needs to evolve on some points

Jeffrey Schwartz, a noted anthropologist at the University of Pittsburgh is one of a growing group of critics of the standard Darwinian theory of evolution, taking issue with two key parts of the Darwinian framework -- gradualism and adaptation.

Photo by John Beale • Story by Mark Roth

04.24.06 / Studies show women don't savor competition and suffer as a result

When Lise Vesterlund came to the United States to study economics about 15 years ago, "one of the first things I saw was that the female graduate students didn't ask questions in class." It started her on a quest to understand why men and women might behave differently in the classroom and in the marketplace.

Photo by Bill Wade • Story by Mark Roth

03.27.06 / Celebrity deaths shine light on lung cancer

There is no denying the tragedy of Dana Reeve's death from lung cancer at the age of 44 earlier this month. But there may be a small silver lining from the passing of Christopher Reeve's widow, says Jill Siegfried, a nationally known lung cancer expert at the University of Pittsburgh.

Story by Mark Roth

02.27.06 / Lawyer's specialty: Advice for gay, unmarried couples

Maureen Cohon heads Buchanan Ingersoll PC's Nontraditional Couples and Families practice group, which specializes in doing legal work for gay and lesbian couples, as well as unmarried heterosexual partners.

Photo by Tony Tye • Story by Mark Roth

01.30.06 / CMU researcher says toddlers are most physically aggressive

Everyone knows that violence in America rises on a surge of testosterone when boys become teenagers, peaks in their early 20s and then declines. But everyone is wrong, says Daniel Nagin, a criminologist and professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Photo by Pam Panchak • Story by Mark Roth

12.26.05 / Data privacy drives CMU expert's work

When Latanya Sweeney clicked on a computer link recently that she thought would take her to a student newspaper Web site, she quickly realized with a groan that she had been scammed.

Photo by Pam Panchak • Story by Mark Roth

11.28.05 / Pollution expert calls for proactive approach

In her 50s, Devra Lee Davis was diagnosed with asthma. It may seem a cruel irony that one of the nation's leading experts on air pollution and health would come down with a respiratory condition, but it didn't surprise Dr. Davis, given where she grew up. She is a native of Donora in Washington County, site of one of the worst air pollution disasters in modern history. The Donora incident became the jumping off point for Dr. Davis' 2002 book, "When Smoke Ran Like Water -- Tales of Environmental Deception and the Battle Against Pollution," which was a National Book Award finalist that year.

Photo by Alyssa Cwanger• Story by Mark Roth

10.31.05 / She specializes in gender in law firms and on the stand

Several years ago, M.J. Tocci was prosecuting two ministers in California who had bilked hundreds of elderly people out of their life savings in a condominium investment scam.

Photo by Robin Rombach• Story by Mark Roth

10.03.05 / Pitt dean pondering future of race relations

Dr. Larry E. Davis, 59, came to Pitt largely because of the school's commitment to his idea to set up a Center on Race and Social Problems, a broad-based research institution that was established in late 2002.

Photo by Alyssa Cwanger• Story by Mark Roth

09.12.05 / Pitt researcher thinks genes play a big part in eating disorders

The University of Pittsburgh's Dr. Walter H. Kaye, 61, is in the forefront of a group of researchers who are convinced that genes contribute strongly to anorexia and bulimia, so that these disorders can't be prevented simply by enlightened education.

Photo by Martha Rial• Story by Mark Roth

07.25.05 / Reed Smith partner predicts more mergers of law firms

Greg Jordan, 45, is managing partner Reed Smith, the biggest law firm in Pittsburgh and one of the 25 largest in the world. In the 4¹/₂ years Jordan has been the top partner at Reed Smith, the firm has grown from about 600 attorneys to nearly 1,000, and its U.S. ranking by the National Law Journal has climbed from 38th to 17th.

Photo by Annie O'Neill • Story by Mark Roth

06.27.05 / A life dedicated to her faith, and to questioning its policies

Sister Joan Chittister 69, is entering her sixth decade as a Benedictine nun, based in Erie. Known worldwide as a speaker and writer, she has just authored her 32nd book, "The Way We Were: A Story of Conversion and Renewal," about the changes the Benedictine sisters have gone through since Vatican II.

Story by Mark Roth

05.30.05 / An advocate assesses use of standards in education

The University of Pittsburgh's Lauren Resnick, director of Pitt's Learning Research and Development Center since 1977, has been a key figure in the nation's educational standards movement since it started to blossom in the 1980s. But standardized tests, she notes, are only one element in any efforts to raise educational attainment.

Photo by Pam Panchak • Story by Mark Roth

04.25.05 / Historian's book on losers is a winner

Carnegie Mellon University historian Scott Sandage was always fascinated by the row upon row of self-help books at Barnes & Noble and Borders -- so many evangelistic prescriptions for how to become richer, happier, smarter and better-looking. But as a historian and a student of human nature, he wondered: Why aren't there any books on failure? The smug answer might be that nobody would pay money to learn how to fail. Still, failure is a hard reality of daily life.

Photo by Robin Rombach • Story by Mark Roth

03.28.05 / Emotion's effect on decisions is her field

Carnegie Mellon University professor Jennifer Lerner is one of a growing cadre of academics in the field of "decision science," an intriguing mix of psychology, economics and neuroscience. They try to unravel how emotions and cognition interact, and how this stew of feeling and thinking governs people's real-world choices. Lerner's research has made anger her signature work -- in particular, understanding how it shapes people's views of life and influences the decisions they make.

Photo by Tony Tye• Story by Mark Roth

02.28.05 / Engineer believes hybrid vehicles will gain ground

Auto industry analyst J.D. Power has predicted the new hybrid gasoline-electric cars on the road will never gain more than 3 percent of the total U.S. market, or about 535,000 vehicles, largely because they cost several thousand dollars more apiece than standard cars and trucks. Isaac Porche III, a 36-year-old policy expert at the Rand Corp. think tank in Oakland, believes the consultant is wrong -- but not for the reasons one might think.

Photo by Tony Tye• Story by Mark Roth

01.31.05 / Pitt expert talks up new approach to depression

A blanket of blue smothers millions of Americans. Chronic emotional depression afflicts nearly 10 percent of all adults in the United States -- nearly 20 million people nationally and 170,000 in the Pittsburgh region alone. Yet it doesn't have to be that way, says Dr. Michael E. Thase, a University of Pittsburgh psychiatrist and a leading expert on depression and other mood disorders.

Photo by Tony Tye • Story by Mark Roth