ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½

Monday, August 25, 2025

Dear Members of the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Community,

Welcome to the start of the 2025-2026 academic year! Each fall, the return of our students, faculty and staff brings a renewed sense of energy and possibility to ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Mellon. I could not be more excited for the year ahead.

This will be a year of building community. Together, we now welcome nearly 5,900 new undergraduate and graduate students and more than 11,000 returning students, alongside our 6,700 faculty and staff and a global network of nearly 137,000 alumni. Across our campuses in Pittsburgh, Silicon Valley, Doha and Kigali, we are united by a spirit of creativity and collaboration — and time and again, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ has shown that when great talent comes together, extraordinary things happen.

It will also be a year of meaningful conversations. In 2024, we launched Deeper Conversations, a university-wide initiative devoted to promoting the power of civil discourse and tackling some of the most intractable issues facing society today. This year’s theme, Universities in the Balance, will invite us to reflect on the role, impact and relevance of higher education through lectures, panels and other opportunities to bring our community together in dialogue.

Beyond the Deeper Conversations programming, in the months ahead, my leadership team and I will continue to share updates and convene discussions about the broader challenges and opportunities facing higher education and ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½. I look forward to those dialogues and to engaging with members of our community directly.

And finally, this will be a year of celebration. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Mellon marks its 125th anniversary in 2025, and throughout the year we will honor our university’s legacy of impact and innovation. We will officially launch ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½125: The Power of Possibilities during Homecoming Weekend, November 6-8, with events designed to celebrate our past and inspire our future.

At this pivotal time for society, I am truly in awe of all that ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ Mellon has to offer, fueled by your extraordinary energy. Whether you are a returning or incoming student, a member of our faculty or of our staff, I encourage you to seize the opportunities this new academic year offers. Claim your role in propelling ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ to new heights, even as you find your own path to success. I look forward to hearing your aspirations for the future — and working with you to make them possible.

Thank you for the role you each play in making ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ such a remarkable community. Here’s to a fantastic start to the semester!

Warm regards,

Farnam Jahanian
President
Henry L. Hillman President’s Chair