Brand Foundation & Pillars

Our Foundation and Pillars define the essence of the Carnegie Mellon University brand.

As communicators, we must show and tell a unified story with a distinct point of view and an understanding of our shared mission and values.

Read Our Mission and Values

At the Leading Edge of Human Progress

The world wants and needs what Carnegie Mellon University does, and always has done. We learn, we make, we solve, we create, and we give it back to benefit people and the planet. Since the beginning, we’ve taken an audacious and creative approach to research, education and performance. United by curiosity and driven by passion, we reach out across schools and disciplines to forge new ground and make real, practical change that benefits all of humankind.

With characteristic Tartan ambition and entrepreneurial spirit, we deploy our expertise and world-leading digital technologies across business, engineering, the sciences, the humanities and the arts. Simply put, we do the work that matters.

Academic Excellence

Across an enviable spectrum of core academic strengths, from musical theater to artificial intelligence, from engineering to design to digital-age ethics, CMU brings together the best minds. We push one another to go farther. United by curiosity and passion, we are problem solvers driven to explore the questions that lead to change. We push boundaries, ignore conventions and find new paths to lead in many fields and disciplines. And we educate and inspire the next generation to delve even deeper.

Real, Practical Impact

We want to change the world. Our research and education are aimed at real-world outcomes that benefit real people. Our calling is progress, not process. The world wants pragmatic leaders, practical solutions and creativity that can be seen and touched — and we’ve got it. No university is better positioned to improve the human condition on a global scale than Carnegie Mellon University.

Crossing Intellectual Boundaries

As a young university, we are free from many of the bureaucratic tendencies and silos that harden over time, dimming ambitions and slowing momentum. As students, scholars, researchers and performers, we are propelled to take risks, to go wherever the most important questions take us. At every step, we are founders — founders of new inventions, endeavors and forms of expression; founders of whole new fields. We embolden the entrepreneur in everyone with tools and inspiration to work at the edges and intersections of established disciplines and diverse backgrounds. And we always encourage thinking big over thinking safe.

Partnership in Action

You won’t find us in an ivory tower. Our students, alumni, faculty and staff are in the trenches doing the work that matters, arm-in-arm with partners who are driving change across society. Whether it's from Silicon Valley or Broadway, Wall Street, Washington, D.C., or Pittsburgh, innovators and disrupters come to work with CMU because we get things done. We are the R&D&D — the second “D” stands for deployment — department of the world. And our deep engagement with the leaders in so many fields puts CMU in the driver’s seat as the engine for a new economy.

Unorthodox Culture

Being different is woven into the fabric of CMU, so much so that there’s a phrase for it: “That is SO CMU.” Our intellect is unconventional, our efforts are audacious and relentless, and our fun is quirky. From a tartan for our color, to Buggy, to a poker-playing robot, we’ve got our own way of doing things. Those traits color every part of the CMU experience, shaping our campus community and inspiring our students, alumni, faculty and staff to carry that distinctive spirit around the world.