The following was written by RDS student worker Devon Smith.
Project Overview
The Carnegie HERO (Hero-Inspired Education and Research Outreach) Project is an exciting new collaboration between the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission (Hero Fund) and the Responsible Data Science initiative at the University of Pittsburgh (RDS@Pitt), within the broader Roddey Altruism Program—an ambitious effort to build a thriving interdisciplinary community centered on the study of altruism and heroic acts as a way to demonstrate that peace is possible and combat radicalism.
Established in 1904 by industrialist-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the Hero Fund awards the Carnegie Medal to individuals who take on extraordinary risk to themselves to save another human being. Every nomination for the Carnegie Medal involves an in-depth investigation to determine if the act meets the stringent requirements of the Carnegie Medal.
Led by Hero Fund President Eric Zahren and the University of Pittsburgh’s Associate Vice Provost for Data Science Michael Colaresi, the initiative enters the first phase with the development of a new, open-access digital portal that will make the Hero Fund’s rich trove of heroism data and narratives available to researchers, educators, and the public. The portal will include structured documentation, interactive dashboards, and tools to support new users and foster meaningful engagement with the stories of heroes.
The project aims to harness the rich data collected over the past 121 years at the Hero Fund that highlights heroes who have risked their lives to save others. Stored in its archives are the investigative reports of more than 10,500 heroes who received the Carnegie Medal, as well as more than 90,000 additional cases that were nominated and reviewed by the Hero Fund but did not meet the stringent requirements of the Carnegie Medal.
Using an actively developing narrative and data web portal as a focal point, the initiative hopes to bring together researchers from different disciplines. Bringing this data—both quantitative and narrative—together in one place allows for people to engage with these stories in new and exciting ways.
Responsible data science practices ensure the Hero Fund’s data positively impact the communities that the data represents.
Through various in-person meetings, networking opportunities, and workshops, the initiative hopes to bring everyone’s strengths together to get a better working understanding of altruism.
Understanding altruism helps us understand our history, our present, and our future, for how we model peace and selflessness.
Three-year Vision
- Launch and Expand the HERO Data Platform: The platform will provide streaming access to detailed information about heroic acts, Carnegie Medal recipients, and nominees. Built for transparency and ease of use, it will support new scholarship by reducing technical barriers and offering high-quality research-ready documentation.
- Grow a Cross-disciplinary Research and Education Network: HERO will foster collaboration among psychologists, neuroscientists, historians, political scientists, sociologists, librarians, educators, and more—bridging disciplinary divides that have traditionally hindered progress in this space. Regular annual workshops will serve as touchpoints for researchers and educators to connect, share work, and co-develop tools and curriculum.
- Humanize the Data through Narrative and Community Engagement: HERO will complement its data-driven work with in-person convenings that connect researchers with people whose lives have been impacted by heroic acts. These meetings will elevate storytelling, emphasize lived experiences, and help shape education and communication efforts rooted in real-world impact.
What Does This Look Like for the Summer Project?
Over the course of my internship this summer, my aim is to facilitate the foundational work of the HERO platform, while ensuring effective collaboration between RDS@Pitt and the Hero Fund.
- Embedding Myself in the Hero Fund’s History: One of the most important aspects of building this platform is truly understanding and humanizing the data. I have been continuing to read through hundreds of reports regarding the heroic actions of these ordinary people, to ensure I am following the Hero Fund’s mission of having these stories seen and respected.
- Ensuring the use of Responsible Data Science Principles: During this past school year, I participated in the Responsible Data Science Scholars Program, which had a focus on the field of data science through an ethics lens. I am using my insights from that program to both handle the data responsibly while organizing and analyzing it, as well as ensuring a respectable environment to ensure other researchers follow these vital principles. I am currently facilitating this process through the creation of a codebook, which emphasizes the importance of responsible data use to researchers, as well as translates internal Hero Fund jargon to broader language
- Organizing/Analyzing the Hero Fund’s Current Data: Through analyzing and organizing the Hero Fund’s data, I hope to streamline access to this platform to ensure this information can be accessible by any researcher interested. In doing so, this will help grow an interdisciplinary network that would allow any researcher of any background to use the platform efficiently and help generate public interest. Researchers will be able to reference the HERO Codebook if they have any issues or concerns.
- Impact Assessment: During weekly meetings between the Hero Fund and RDS@Pitt, we are working to ensure beneficence throughout the data lifecycle, as well as complete future impact assessments to ensure this project is benefiting both the people the data represents and the observers to the information the research will provide.
Even though the HERO Project is in its preliminary stages, I have felt extremely fulfilled to apply my knowledge from the Responsible Data Science initiative at Pitt to an organization with such an inspiring mission. I cannot wait to see the beneficial impact that this will have on how we study altruism, as well as how we use interdisciplinary collaboration to drive positive change.