Carl Sell

Dr. Carl B. Sell (he/him) serves as Assistant Director of the TRIO McNair Scholars program, assisting first-generation, limited-income, and students from under-represented backgrounds in pursuit of graduate study. He also leads the Friends of McNair Program for students interested in undergraduate research who may be unable to join the TRIO McNair Scholars Program, and may represent other at-promise student populations. To assist in these pursuits, Dr. Sell collaborates with the various research programs and departments on campus, including specialized NSF REU Grant Supplement applications for faculty interested in adding student funding to their own research grants. He also helped to establish a university-wide definition and framework for undergraduate research at Pitt. 

Dr. Sell graduated with his PhD in English Literature and Criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he also received his master's degree in English Literature.  

Outside of his work on the Student Success Team, Dr. Sell is an Advisory Board Member for The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain and The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture, and serves as an external peer reviewer for various academic journals in medievalism and popular culture.   

Those interested in learning more about undergraduate research options, presenting at the Fall and Spring Undergraduate Research and Creative Expression Fairs, or who are interested in becoming a faculty mentor should contact Dr. Sell to collaborate.