Ana Maria Pinto da Silva Begins Role as Head of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design
Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design is thrilled to announce that Ana Maria Pinto da Silva has begun her role as Head of School on July 1st, 2025.
Pinto da Silva joins CFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, where she previously served as Director of UW’s Masters in Human Computer Interaction and Design program. At the University of Washington, Pinto da Silva worked with a team of staff, faculty, and industry educators, providing strategic program leadership, supporting academic and career advising, admissions assistance, and curriculum development, and providing key oversight for the focus of and launch of student capstone projects.
“What excites me the most about joining the School of Design is its community,” said Pinto da Silva. “Community is the heartbeat of innovation. The School of Design exemplifies this. This incredible community of dedicated and brilliant faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry practitioners, and campus partners come together, delivering world-class education propelled forward by a true sense of joy, curiosity, and inspiration.”
Pinto da Silva, who earned her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and her master’s degree in design studies from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, feels the interdisciplinary foundation of Carnegie Mellon University makes this a truly unique institution for learning and advancing the practice of design.
“CMU has embraced interdisciplinarity from its founding,” said Pinto da Silva. “CMU is one of the leading universities in the world when it comes to exploring and celebrating the dynamic intersections of multi-disciplinary innovation practices.”
Pinto da Silva’s own practice is steeped in interdisciplinarity having worked at the forefront of early-stage technology development throughout her career, leading future-forward design innovation initiatives traversing architecture, game development, product design, policy implementation, housing, education, and healthcare for Amazon, Microsoft, NBBJ, and others.
An accomplished designer, technologist, educator, and public speaker, Pinto da Silva is committed to advancing the role designers, engineers and researchers play in the development of future-defining technology innovation centered on equity, inclusion, and innovation.
“To be part of a university that is so foundational in its commitment to interdisciplinarity as a central means of delivering the future, is deeply exciting.”
The School of Design shares this excitement and is looking forward to the future under Pinto da Silva’s leadership.