Peter Spirtes To Head Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Philosophy

Carnegie Mellon University has appointed Peter Spirtes head of the Department of Philosophy , effective July 1. "I am excited to work with Peter in this new role," said Richard Scheines , Bess Family Dean of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. "He is not only a founding member of what is acknowledged to be one of the best philosophy departments in the world, but also a scholar of enormous impact, a faculty member of remarkably sound judgment and a person of enormous integrity." Spirtes will succeed David Danks, who has served as department head since 2014. "David Danks did an excellent job as head, and I am grateful for his service. Under his leadership the department thrived, and it became central to research and education at the intersection of humanity and technology," Scheines said. The Department of Philosophy emphasizes interdisciplinary research that directly impacts areas as wide-ranging as computer science, math, statistics, psychology, bioethics and human rights. Spirtes conducts research at the intersection of philosophy, statistics, graph theory and computer science.