Three Boxes (Box 1-3); 3 linear feet , 1968-2004

The School of Urban and Public Affairs was founded in 1968 with a $10 million endowment grant from Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Mellon. In a time of social unrest, the Mellons recognized the growing need to educate future leaders of urban areas in a new way, using new knowledge and technology to create positive change. They saw Carnegie Mellon University as a good place to establish this new type of business school because if its urban setting, small size, and its history of interdisciplinary studies and research.

President Stever, Graduate School of Industrial Administration Dean Cyert, William Cooper, and Otto Davis were instrumental in bringing the new school into reality. Otto Davis drafted much of the initial proposal. William Cooper from the GSIA was chosen as the first Dean and began recruiting faculty (on joint appointments) and laying out the groundwork for curriculum. It was decided that the School would seek to incorporate modern developments in scientific analysis and decision making skills as well as bring attention to important areas of research. In these new programs, research and practice would have more emphasis than courses and exams.

Located in the Margret Morrison Carnegie College, the first academic year (1970-1971) began at SUPA with 30 students including some Ph.D. candidates. There were 14 faculty members who represented a diverse set of subjects including architecture, sociology, economics, statistics, urban processes, engineering, political science, and anthropology. Three collaborative research programs were started as well- the Institute of Physical Planning (with the Architecture Department), the Urban Systems Institute (with GSIA), and the Joint Urban Sciences Information Institute (with the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs).

One of the innovative new course models developed for the School was called a project course. It was designed to teach valuable lessons in teamwork, oral presentations, and problem-solving skills. The class was given a real-life problem with a real-life customer- such as air pollution control for the Allegheny County Air Pollution Control Variance Board. In an interactive style, the students were expected to take the initiative and solve the problem together and give periodic reports to their customer. Students gained additional experience through required internships.

The curriculum continued to evolve over the next few years, developing more cooperative programs with almost every department on campus. In 1972, 11 students graduated with a Masters degree. The next year, 17 students graduated. And in 1974, 20 students were added to the alumni list. Despite periodic hiring freezes in the public sector, almost all graduates found employment soon after graduation.

In 1975, William Cooper resigned as Dean, and Otto Davis was appointed as the second dean. One of the specific goals of the School was to train minorities to be skilled managers of urban area. To that end, Marion Oliver, who was head of the C-MAP program, was appointed to Associate Dean. He began developing a plan to ensure that minority students were consistently attracted to the School. Along with other programs, he created the Quantitative Skills Summer Institute to help minorities with the advanced mathematical skills needed to pass the entrance examination. Throughout the 1970s the ratio of minority students attending SUPA rose until it hit 40% in the early 1980s.

A special curriculum for mid-career working professionals as first offered in the spring of 1980 and eighty students enrolled. More research institutes were also added. Full-time class sizes continued to increase during the 1980s and soon were consistently around 165 per class. By 1985, SUPA was recognized with other established qualitative-based business schools in the rankings.

In 1987, after $8 million in renovations, the School moved to the old Bureau of Mines building (now called Hamburg Hall) on Forbes Avenue.

In 1992, the School for Urban and Public Affairs accepted the Congressional papers of Senator John Heinz III after his untimely death in 1991. The School was renamed the John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management. An annual public policy symposium was also created in his memory.

• 1968-1975 William Cooper
• 1975-1981 Otto Davis
• 1981-1986 Brian Berry
• 1986-1992 Alfred Blumstein
• 1993-2000 Mark Kamlet
• 2001-2002 Linda Babcock
• 2002 -2003 Jeffery Hunker
• 2004 -2007 Mark Wessel

The John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management/SUPA are housed in three archival boxes and are arranged in five series. Series have been designated for administrative material, Dean Kamlet’s records, publications, activities, and papers. These records include annual reports, correspondence, pamphlets and brochures, staff and student directories, School publications, reports, and research articles. Due to the nature of the School and its faculty, cooperative projects dealing with public issues in Allegheny County can be found in this collection. Specific course and individual student information is scarce in the collection, but may be found in Publications (series III) and Activities (series IV).

The provenance is unknown at this time (6/2007).

The papers of Dean Kamlet include a few faculty files which contain personal information. These files are restricted. Access will be considered on case by case biases by the University Archivist and access cannot be guaranteed.

None

Cassandra Nespor