Nevada Silver & Blue, Winter 2008

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Nevada Silver & Blue, Winter 2008

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Nevada Silver & Blue, Winter 2008 Nevada Silver & Blue: The magazine of the University of Nevada, Reno.

A Letter from President: Graduation rates matter

A new year is upon us. As we look ahead to 2008 and beyond, we continue to work toward the University of our future. In November, we celebrated the grand opening of the Joe Crowley Student Union.

This fantastic new space will be instrumental in creating a “sticky” campus: a learning environment that attracts and retains great students. Student success is of paramount importance to our University and we will continue to work to improve on all measures related to student success. As a land-grant institution, we are called on to serve the state in multiple ways.

Facilitating an educated citizenry is a critical part of our mission as is the creation and dissemination of new knowledge through research. Scholarly activity is the engine that drives the creation of new knowledge. University discoveries underpin many of the major knowledge-based industries and universities anchor clusters of innovation.

We provide an environment that attracts and sustains the creators of new knowledge. Here is just one quick example. About four years ago, a young man named Richard Kraus, a recent graduate of Reno High School, began his studies at our University in physics. He began spending time—a lot of time—in one of our research labs, working closely with one of our excellent undergraduate physics instructors, Aaron Covington. Knowledge was gained. The special bond between teacher and student was affirmed, and just as importantly, a career path was forged. Today Richard is attending Cambridge University in England, pursuing his doctorate in physics. He has told many people that the time he spent in Aaron’s lab is one of the main reasons why he is at Cambridge today.

We have an ambitious goal to be among the top 100 research universities in the United States. This means having a total University portfolio, but it also means creating critical mass in several areas. One of the ways to build critical mass is through the recruitment of faculty members who can play the role of franchise players—faculty with extensive research portfolios who can elevate the status and visibility of a program. More modern research space is critical to our efforts to recruit top-notch faculty and increase research productivity.

For every important research project, there is usually an equally important human element that combines the experienced “know-how” of a veteran faculty member and the exuberant “why-not” of a younger faculty member. Just one example is occurring through the work of professors Suk-Wah Tam-Chang, Ken Hunter and Nelson Publicover. Suk-Wah is a chemist, Ken a microbiologist, Nelson an electrical and biomedical engineer.

Together, they are making important advances in the field of biosensors, which uses biological molecules as sensing elements. And to think that the partnership began because of the mentorship that Ken, our former vice president for research, provided to a younger faculty member, Suk-Wah. In order to meet the needs of our state—serve students, create new knowledge and contribute to the community—growth is an imperative. We need to do more for Nevada.

Sincerely,
Milton D. Glick
President
http://www.unr.edu/president

View Nevada Silver & Blue, Winter 2008

Nevada Silver & Blue is published quarterly by Development and Alumni Relations University of Nevada, Reno.

Download Nevada Silver & Blue, Winter 2008

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The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada or UNR) is a university located in Reno, Nevada, USA, and is known for its programs in agricultural research, journalism, animal biotechnology, and mining-related engineering and natural sciences. Additionally, the university is fast becoming known for its journalism school, which has produced several Pulitzer Prize winners, and for its program in seismology, which is one of the most technologically advanced in North America. It is the land grant institution for the state of Nevada.

The university is also home to the University of Nevada School of Medicine, which was founded in 1969. The medical school specializes in family medicine. (From wikipedia.org)

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