Dr. Barbara Shinn Cunningham

Professor

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Biography

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham is the Glen de Vries Dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. She joined Carnegie Mellon University in 2018 as the founding director of the Neuroscience Institute, after spending 21 years on the faculty at Boston University. Her research combines behavioral, neuroimaging, and computational methods to understand brain processes related to sound. She is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and is recognized for her expertise in spatial hearing, auditory attention, and sensory deficits related to hearing. Shinn-Cunningham holds degrees in electrical engineering from Brown University and from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has received numerous honors, including recognition from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Whitaker Foundation. She was president of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) in 2019 and has received several prestigious awards, including the Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal.

Research Interests

Awards

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Named Luncheon Honoree

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Fellow

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Mentorship Award

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Fellow

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Associate Member

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National Security Science Engineering Faculty Fellow

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Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow

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Whitaker Foundation Biomedical Engineering Fellow

Requirements for Carnegie Mellon University

Doctorate Program
Requirements
GPA Requirement
Required:3.5
GRE General
Verbal
Required:158
Quantitative
Required:149
Analytical Writing
Required:4
Overall
Required:4
Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Psychology or related field Research experience/publications
Application Checklist
  • Online application
  • Statement of Purpose
  • Three letters of recommendation
  • Transcripts
  • GRE scores (optional but reported in profile)
  • English Proficiency (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo)
Specialization Notes

Admission is extremely competitive with no strict GPA cut-offs; holistic review is used.