A Responsible Data Science project will explore extreme human altruism

The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund and the University of Pittsburgh’s Responsible Data Science Initiative will collaborate on a project that aims to make the Hero Fund’s 121 years of data on heroes available to researchers and others interested in the study of altruism and its societal relevance.

Led by the Hero Fund’s Eric Zahren and Pitt Associate Vice Provost for Data Science Michael Colaresi, the Carnegie Hero-Inspired Education and Research Outreach (HERO) Initiative — within the broader, newly-created Roddey Altruism Program — is an ambitious effort to build a thriving interdisciplinary community centered on the study of altruism and heroic acts as a way to demonstrate peace is possible and combat hate-based radicalism.  

“Through the wide-ranging study of what is likely the world’s largest records repository related to extreme human altruism and utilizing modern AI-centered technology, we are hoping, for the first time, to be able to mine integral data for the various study fields examining altruism as a possibility within human behavior, and how it applies to societal issues,” said Zahren.

Over the next three years, the Hero Fund and the School of Computing and Information’s Department of Data Science will launch and expand the HERO Data Platform, grow a cross-disciplinary research and education network, and humanize the data through narrative and community engagement. This initiative was funded jointly by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Hero Fund.

“Our partnership will unlock decades of data revealing the essential essence of heroism,” said Colaresi, who is also William S. Dietrich II Professor of Political Science in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. “This will launch a new frontier of understanding of how altruistic human behavior can weave communities together even in what seems to be polarizing and challenging times.”

In its current phase, the development of a new open-access digital portal will make the Hero Fund’s rich trove of data on more than 100,000 instances of nominated heroic action and associated narratives available to researchers, educators and the public worldwide. The portal will include structured documentation, interactive notebooks and onboarding tools to support new users and foster meaningful engagement across fields. Other altruism-centered organizations will also be invited to share their data.

The 121-year-old Hero Fund was started by Andrew Carnegie in 1904 and has awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism more than 10,000 times to civilians who risk themselves to an extraordinary degree to save or attempt to save the lives of others. Grants totaling more than $45 million have been given to awardees or their survivors and include scholarship aid, continuing assistance and death benefits.

Responsible Data Science is a University-wide initiative dedicated to advancing data science that is human-centered and impactful. Rooted in the belief that data science is about people — not just models, code or computation — the initiative fosters an ecosystem where data-driven breakthroughs support the public good and aligns with societal and organizational values. Operating out of the Office of the Provost, Responsible Data Science’s mission is guided by a commitment to innovation with appropriate transparency and accountability, powered by interdisciplinary collaboration.