Barbara Shinn-Cunningham Selected to Lead the Acoustical Society of America

Barbara Shinn-Cunningham, the director of the Neuroscience Institute and the George A. and Helen Dunham Cowan Professor of Auditory Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has been named president-elect of the Acoustical Society of America. Founded in 1929, the society promotes the knowledge and practical application of the field of acoustics. It has about 6,000 members.

Known for her work in auditory attention, Professor Shinn-Cunningham has been involved with ASA for most of her career. She has served as vice president and as a member of its executive council. She is also a fellow of the society and received a silver medal from the society in 2019 for her work in the cognitive and neural bases of speech perception in complex acoustic environments.

“The Acoustical Society is the scientific society in which I grew up,” Dr. Shinn-Cunningham said. “All of my advisers and mentors came through ASA. I have very deep roots here and am proud to help lead. I’m so excited to work to bring more people into the society. We want to ensure everyone is supported, encouraged and given opportunities to succeed.”

Before joining Carnegie Mellon in 2018, Professor Shinn-Cunningham spent over 20 years on the faculty of Boston University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in electriccal and computer engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.