Featured Stories
Virginia Tech: Physical Activity May Help Ease Fatigue in Children With Developmental Disabilities
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 (TNSjou) -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Physical activity may help ease fatigue in children with developmental disabilities
In a new study by university researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, parents reported that children with developmental disabilities who were more physically active tended to experience less fatigue.
By John Pastor
Fatigue can be a daily challenge for children with developmental disabilities, affecting participation in school, play, and other activities. In a new study by Virginia Tech researchers
... Show Full Article
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 (TNSjou) -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Physical activity may help ease fatigue in children with developmental disabilities
In a new study by university researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, parents reported that children with developmental disabilities who were more physically active tended to experience less fatigue.
By John Pastor
Fatigue can be a daily challenge for children with developmental disabilities, affecting participation in school, play, and other activities. In a new study by Virginia Tech researchersfrom the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, parents reported that children who were more physically active tended to experience less fatigue.
Published in Behavioral Sciences, the study examined relationships among physical activity, the physical demands of activity, and fatigue in children with cerebral palsy and Down syndrome compared with typically developing peers. Researchers collected information from both children and their parents through questionnaires focused on daily activity and fatigue.
"Fatigue is something that is not consistently measured across many developmental disabilities, yet it may influence a child's ability or willingness to participate in physical activity," said Stephanie DeLuca, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, director of the institute's Neuromotor Research Clinic, and senior author of the study. "Understanding fatigue is important because it may shape how children engage in healthy behaviors that support long-term health."
Parents of children with cerebral palsy also reported that children who spent more time being physically active tended to experience fewer fatigue-related challenges.
Importantly, parents and children separately reported on physical activity and fatigue, allowing researchers to compare how children experienced fatigue versus how parents observed it. The approach revealed differences between the two perspectives. Parents of children with disabilities appeared to recognize fatigue more than children themselves.
"One of the reasons we included both parent and child perspectives is that fatigue can be difficult for children to describe and understand," DeLuca said. "Parents often have a broader view of how fatigue affects a child's daily activities. Bringing those perspectives together gives us a more complete understanding of what families are navigating."
The study was led by Kavya Iyer Ph.D. '26 as part of her doctoral dissertation in the Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program and brought together researchers including DeLuca and Brittany Howell of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute, Vydia Permashwar, a general pediatrician with Carilion Clinic, and Richard Stevenson, a pediatrician with primary expertise in developmental disabilities with the University of Virginia.
"By bringing together researchers and clinicians with complementary expertise, we were able to better understand how physical activity and fatigue interact and explore ways to improve long-term health outcomes for children with disabilities," said Iyer, who recently completed her doctoral studies and will continue her training as a medical student at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. "The unique interdisciplinary nature of the project blended the scientific perspectives from researchers and the clinical background of various pediatric medical specialists. Our goal is to inform future research and support families, therapists, and health care providers working with these children ."
The study was funded by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Neuromotor Research Clinic.
Original study: DOI 10.3390/bs16060945
* * *
Original text here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/07/research-fralinbiomed-palsy.html
Virginia Tech: Experts Share How EV Batteries Could Soon Power Data Centers
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Experts share how EV batteries could soon power data centers
By Chelsea Seeber
Automakers say the batteries that power electric vehicles could provide a new way to store energy to help meet the growing electricity demand from data centers, artificial intelligence, transportation electrification and manufacturing reshoring.
Last month, Ford Motor Co.'s stock surged after it announced a plan to repurpose electric vehicle, or EV, batteries as energy storage systems for electric utilities and data centers. General
... Show Full Article
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Experts share how EV batteries could soon power data centers
By Chelsea Seeber
Automakers say the batteries that power electric vehicles could provide a new way to store energy to help meet the growing electricity demand from data centers, artificial intelligence, transportation electrification and manufacturing reshoring.
Last month, Ford Motor Co.'s stock surged after it announced a plan to repurpose electric vehicle, or EV, batteries as energy storage systems for electric utilities and data centers. GeneralMotors later followed suit with plans to develop a new type of battery that could support data centers and increase vehicle-to-grid capabilities.
Virginia Tech engineering experts Ali Mehrizi-Sani and Samji Samira explain how EV batteries could help power data centers and support the ever-increasing energy demands.
Why are EV batteries attracting so much attention in the power space right now?
"AI training and inference require far greater computational resources than traditional cloud computing and therefore much more electricity," said Mehrizi-Sani, director of the Power and Energy Center at Virginia Tech. "Repurposed EV batteries offer a potentially lower-cost and already-available way to deploy energy storage."
He added, "While an older battery may no longer meet the performance requirements of a vehicle, it can still provide valuable storage capacity in stationary applications. For data centers, these batteries can help shave peak demand and smooth large load variations."
What makes lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries ideal for power generation?
"Batteries enhance both reliability (preventing downtime and data loss) and resilience (enabling continued operation during power disruptions), making them an essential component of modern data centers," said Samira, assistant professor of chemical engineering.
These batteries are ideal for use in data centers because they are efficient, have a high-energy density, a long lifespan, and have operational advantages over traditional lead-acid batteries.
"Lithium-ion batteries can store more data in a smaller footprint, and they have a long lifespan and high cycle life," Samira said. "Think about a cell phone: An iPhone battery typically lasts four to six years before needing replacement. From a data center perspective, this reduces replacement frequency and maintenance costs."
However, current lithium-ion technology is approaching its practical performance limits, particularly in terms of energy density, Samira added.
"The current generation of lithium-ion batteries has been extremely enabling for our society, which resulted in the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2019 for its inventors," he said.. "Given the insatiable need of humanity and data centers to store more energy per unit mass, we will need to move beyond them."
* * *
About Mehrizi-Sani
Ali Mehrizi-Sani is a professor and Bradley Senior Faculty Fellow with Virginia Tech's Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Power and Energy Center. He leads research on power and energy systems, including grid resilience, integration of new energy resources, and the evolving interaction between energy infrastructure and large-scale computing and data centers.
* * *
About Samira
Samji Samira is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering. His research expertise focuses on electrocatalysis for energy conversion and storage, structure-performance relationships to enable active site design, and alkali metal-air battery catalyst design.
* * *
Interview
To schedule an interview with Ali Mehrizi-Sani or Samji Samira, please email mediarelations@vt.edu.
* * *
Original text here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/06/eng-coe-experts-share-how-ev-batteries-could-power-data-centers.html
Virginia Tech: Driver Monitoring Technologies Could Address One of the Biggest Traffic Safety Issues, Experts Say
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Driver monitoring technologies could address one of the biggest traffic safety issues, experts say
By Chelsea Seeber
More than 12,000 people die in the United States each year as a result of impaired driving. To combat this public safety issue, a federal law may soon require automakers to incorporate biometric monitoring systems in new vehicles.
These emerging technologies could help identify when a driver cannot operate a vehicle safely, encouraging safer transportation decisions before a crash occurs. However,
... Show Full Article
BLACKSBURG, Virginia, July 7 -- Virginia Tech issued the following news:
* * *
Driver monitoring technologies could address one of the biggest traffic safety issues, experts say
By Chelsea Seeber
More than 12,000 people die in the United States each year as a result of impaired driving. To combat this public safety issue, a federal law may soon require automakers to incorporate biometric monitoring systems in new vehicles.
These emerging technologies could help identify when a driver cannot operate a vehicle safely, encouraging safer transportation decisions before a crash occurs. However,the technology comes with trade-offs regarding privacy.
Virginia Tech transportation safety experts Miguel Perez and Naomi Dunn share the pros and cons of biometric monitoring systems and how they could prevent impaired driving fatalities.
What can current and future driver monitoring systems detect?
Today's monitoring systems already track several symptoms of impairment, including eye gaze and attention, drowsiness and fatigue, steering behavior, and lane-keeping performance.
"Anything that deviates from normal is a potential target for detection," said Perez.
While heart rate and respiration measurements are still in development, Dunn noted that what is really missing from the equation is "how to piece all of the information together to accurately and reliably identify an impaired driver."
Why were 2027 requirements for this technology delayed?
Originally slated as a requirement for all new 2027 vehicle models, federal regulators have stalled the implementation of these biometric analysis systems due to concerns about public acceptance and the technology's readiness.
"This is a safety feature that, if done correctly, could have a huge impact on road safety in the future, but it is far more complicated than it might seem," Dunn said. "There is currently no technology that is ready for widespread deployment, and rushing something like this would drastically impact consumer acceptance."
Could your car eventually stop you from driving?
Perez noted that technologically speaking, these biometric detection systems could certainly prevent a vehicle from operating if impairment is detected. However, he added that "current culture wouldn't perceive this as acceptable, even if the technology were 100% accurate."
"No one wants to be stranded on the side of the interstate or in a parking garage late at night," Dunn added.
While no technology is 100% accurate right now, these experts argue there needs to be some middle ground between doing nothing and completely disabling a vehicle.
"A more palatable alternative would be limiting operation of the vehicle, using something like a 'safe mode,'" Dunn said. "The system would hypothetically activate a protective mechanism limiting vehicle speed, controlling vehicle position in the lane, and increasing headway to the vehicle in front. This could help get the vehicle to a safe place to stop or allow you to get home."
"These technologies will get better," said Perez. "I expect automation will continue to be a driving force in this area, and could even get us to a point where a vehicle can automatically transport someone who is impaired to where they need to go or, if needed, call the right parties for assistance."
* * *
About Perez
Perez is an associate professor and head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Virginia Tech. As a research scientist at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in the Division of Data Analytics. Perez's research focuses on driver distraction, human modeling, collision avoidance systems, infotainment systems, and driver performance in test track and naturalistic environments.
* * *
About Dunn
Naomi Dunn is a research scientist at the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute in the Division of Vehicle, Driver, and System Safety. Dunn's research focuses on impaired driving, crash causation, and driver behavior and performance. Her recent work aims to better understand the impact of driving automation systems on driver-vehicle interactions and the potential unintended consequences associated with their use.
* * *
Interview
Miguel Perez and Naomi Dunn are available to discuss what it will actually take to get this technology into American cars, and why the future of traffic safety isn't disabling cars--it's a vehicle "safe mode." To schedule an interview, email mediarelations@vt.edu.
* * *
Original text here: https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/06/eng-coe-driver-monitoring-technologies-could-address-traffic-safety-issues.html
University of Michigan: Discovering the Most Ancient Quasars in the Universe
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 7 (TNSjou) -- The University of Michigan issued the following news:
* * *
Discovering the most ancient quasars in the universe
University of Michigan researchers were part of an international team that used the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope to discover 31 of the most ancient quasars ever observed.
They are so old, in fact, that they date back to the universe's so-called reionization era, when stars, galaxies and supermassive black holes were first forming.
"This is truly exciting," said Jinyi Yang, co-author of the new study published in the journal
... Show Full Article
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, July 7 (TNSjou) -- The University of Michigan issued the following news:
* * *
Discovering the most ancient quasars in the universe
University of Michigan researchers were part of an international team that used the European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope to discover 31 of the most ancient quasars ever observed.
They are so old, in fact, that they date back to the universe's so-called reionization era, when stars, galaxies and supermassive black holes were first forming.
"This is truly exciting," said Jinyi Yang, co-author of the new study published in the journalAstronomy & Astrophysics and assistant professor in the U-M Department of Astronomy. "These luminous quasars, shining from deep within the reionization era, the last major transition in our universe's history, offer invaluable insights into how the cosmos emerged from darkness and how the earliest supermassive black holes formed."
Quasars are among the brightest, most energetic objects in the universe and are powered by supermassive black holes devouring matter at the center of galaxies. They are short-lived compared to a galaxy's lifetime, but in that relatively brief moment, quasars can outshine the rest of their host galaxies by hundreds to thousands of times.
By finding the most distant quasars, astronomers can learn more about the early universe. But ancient quasars are rare because few galaxies had enough time to grow large enough to host one. These quasars are also hard to find because their primordial light is both faint and easy to confuse with stars.
But Euclid, which began its cosmological survey in February 2024, is ushering in a new era in that search, said study co-author Feige Wang, U-M assistant research scientist in astronomy.
"The Euclid mission is completely changing the game," Wang said. "Of those 31 quasars, 12 are above redshift 7, more than doubling all the known quasars that are beyond redshift 7."
Redshift is a measure of how much the wavelength of light from an astronomical object has been stretched due to the expansion of the universe. Light that travels longer to reach us--that is, light from distant sources that was emitted long ago--will have higher redshifts. In this sense, observing objects with high redshifts allows astronomers to look back in time and study the universe when it was younger, Wang said.
Previously, the record for the most distant quasar was held by one discovered in 2021 by Wang and Yang with a redshift of 7.64. The new study includes two quasars that break that record: one with a redshift of 7.69 and another with a redshift of 7.77. That means both emerged within 670 million years of the Big Bang and their light took more than 13 billion years to reach us.
To 8 and beyond
What sets Euclid apart is its unprecedented combination of depth and sky coverage. This allows the space telescope to detect quasars 10 to 100 times fainter than those found in earlier wide-field surveys.
"It's a unique tool for quasar hunting," said Daming Yang, lead author of the new study and a doctoral student at Leiden University in the Netherlands. "Before, we could only find a handful of the very brightest ancient quasars, but Euclid lets us search far more efficiently across huge areas of sky to capture much fainter light."
Although Euclid is now accelerating the discovery of ancient quasar candidates, astronomers also rely on a battery of other telescopes and instruments to confirm and characterize these objects. For instance, Jinyi Yang, Wang and their teams, including U-M postdoctoral researcher Xiangyu Jin, led efforts with the Magellan Telescopes at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile to analyze the Euclid quasar candidates. They confirmed 10 of the 31 quasars found in this study.
Moving forward, they and their colleagues on the Euclid Consortium--made up of 2,600 members from 18 countries--will keep searching for more and older quasars to answer questions about the early universe.
For their part, Yang and her team are investigating how these early supermassive black holes grow and impact the evolution of their host galaxies. Wang's team is exploring the large-scale environments around these quasars, examining their place in the cosmic web of galaxies and what they can tell us about how it was spun.
The newly discovered quasars could also help in both projects by providing targets for the Extremely Large Telescope when it comes online, which is anticipated to be 2029. The 39-meter telescope will be the world's largest working with visible and infrared light wavelengths and U-M is the only U.S. university participating in its design and construction. That means its students, staff and faculty will have unique opportunities to pursue their research goals with this state-of-the-art observatory.
"We want to answer questions about how these quasars formed, what were the black holes like that seeded them and how did they grow up," Yang said. "The current observations of distant quasars are challenging existing models of black hole seeds and early growth. Every time we get new observational evidence from new quasars, we can put tighter and tighter constraints on these models."
And Euclid will soon have more help in this new age of quasar discovery. The Vera Rubin Observatory started its survey of the heavens last year from a mountaintop in Chile using the world's largest camera. And the Roman Space Telescope is slated to launch Aug. 30 with a field of view that will be 100 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope.
"We will basically have three really powerful survey telescopes within the next year and they will allow us to push the redshift frontier," Wang said. "Pushing to redshift 9 may take a few years, but I think we may see a redshift of 8 very soon."
Study: Euclid: Discovery of 31 new quasars at 6.6
* * *
Original text here: https://news.umich.edu/discovering-the-most-ancient-quasars-in-the-universe/
Cure Parkinson's CEO Awarded University College London Honorary Fellowship
LONDON, England, July 7 -- The University College London posted the following news:
* * *
Cure Parkinson's CEO awarded UCL honorary fellowship
UCL has awarded Helen Matthews, CEO of the Cure Parkinson's charity, an honorary fellowship, recognising two decades of work that has helped reshape the global Parkinson's research landscape.
Being awarded the honorary fellowship reflects Cure Parkinson's long-standing collaboration with UCL and Helen's influential advocacy across the international charity sector. The charity's support has strengthened UCL's research and develop treatments that slow
... Show Full Article
LONDON, England, July 7 -- The University College London posted the following news:
* * *
Cure Parkinson's CEO awarded UCL honorary fellowship
UCL has awarded Helen Matthews, CEO of the Cure Parkinson's charity, an honorary fellowship, recognising two decades of work that has helped reshape the global Parkinson's research landscape.
Being awarded the honorary fellowship reflects Cure Parkinson's long-standing collaboration with UCL and Helen's influential advocacy across the international charity sector. The charity's support has strengthened UCL's research and develop treatments that slowthe progression of Parkinson's.
Helen has been a long-time advocate of Parkinson's research at UCL. This is reflected by the pound sterling13 million in Parkinson's disease grants awarded to UCL from Cure Parkinson's to cover cohort development, recruitment and genotyping (the PD Frontline study), a phase 3 clinical trial of ambroxol in slowing Parkinson's (the ASPro-PD study) and support for the new Parkinson EJS-ACT Multi-Arm Multi-Stage trial, the world's largest-ever clinical trial of treatments to slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's.
Researchers at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology are leading the ongoing ambroxol study, the first phase 3 clinical trial for genetically stratified Parkinson's disease. Cure Parkinson's also supported the UCL-led phase 3 exenatide study in Parkinson's disease.
Professor Tony Schapira (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) said: "I am delighted that Helen has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by UCL. She has worked tirelessly to improve the prospects of those who live with Parkinson's and to find a cure.
"She has been a fantastic supporter of all our research on Parkinson's at UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, which has been focussed on delivering and testing new treatments to slow and prevent this disease. The Fellowship is an excellent recognition of all her contributions over many years."
The Award was conferred on Monday 6 July at the UCL graduation ceremony at Royal Festival Hall in London. Helen said she was delighted to accept this accolade from UCL Vice-Provost (Faculties) Professor Jennifer Hudson, helping to inspire the new generation of the UCL community to excel in their next steps.
Helen said: "I am beyond thrilled to receive this award. It has been an honour and a privilege to work at Cure Parkinson's since its inception 20 years ago. Throughout that time, my mission has been to drive forward some of the most promising and valuable research into finding a cure for Parkinson's.
"There's still a long way to go, but as a charity, we're enormously proud of how much we've been able to help transform the Parkinson's clinical research landscape, both here and overseas, as we strive to offer hope and optimism to everyone living with the disease.
"We're looking forward to ensuring Parkinson's disease-modifying research in the UK flourishes, as we continue our shared commitment to education, innovation and enterprise in the field of Parkinson's."
Helen has been working with Cure Parkinson's since its inception in 2005. In that time, the charity has committed more than pound sterling28 million of funding for Parkinson's research into over 80 separate research projects and leveraged a further pound sterling100 million in funding from partner organisations.
The honorary fellowship is one of UCL's highest accolades, awarded each year by UCL Council to a select group of exceptional individuals who embody the university's founding values of independent thought, intellectual courage, and a genuine contribution to society. Helen joins a global community of honorary fellows recognised for work that has changed their field.
-
Links
* UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/ion)
* UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/brain-sciences/)
* Professor Tony Schapira's academic profile (https://profiles.ucl.ac.uk/5429-tony-schapira)
* Cure Parkinson's (https://cureparkinsons.org.uk/)
* * *
Original text here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/jul/cure-parkinsons-ceo-awarded-ucl-honorary-fellowship
CSUSB's Direct Admit Program Highlighted by Lumina Foundation
SAN BERNARDINO, California, July 7 -- California State University San Bernardino campus issued the following news:
* * *
CSUSB's Direct Admit program highlighted by Lumina Foundation
The university's effort at streamlining the admissions process for eligible high school students was featured in three articles and a video in the Summer 2026 edition of Focus, the foundation's magazine, which is dedicated to ways higher education institutions are working to streamline and simplify access.
-
Cal State San Bernardino's Direct Admit program was highlighted in the Summer 2026 edition of Focus magazine,
... Show Full Article
SAN BERNARDINO, California, July 7 -- California State University San Bernardino campus issued the following news:
* * *
CSUSB's Direct Admit program highlighted by Lumina Foundation
The university's effort at streamlining the admissions process for eligible high school students was featured in three articles and a video in the Summer 2026 edition of Focus, the foundation's magazine, which is dedicated to ways higher education institutions are working to streamline and simplify access.
-
Cal State San Bernardino's Direct Admit program was highlighted in the Summer 2026 edition of Focus magazine,a publication of the Lumina Foundation, the mission of which is to make "opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all."
The summer edition was dedicated to direct admissions programs in California, Hawaii and Wisconsin.
The CSUSB Direct Admit program, which featured student Milana Waggoner and admissions counselor Mark Rogers, was the topic of the article, "'Meeting students where they are' can help them go further," and in the accompanying video, "Direct Admissions at Cal State San Bernardino." Jose Munoz, professor of sociology and chair of the geography department, was also interviewed for the article.
In addition, President Tomas D. Morales and Provost Rafik Mohamed were interviewed for the related article, "In college admissions, the direct approach may aid students AND schools."
Jamie P. Merisotis, president and CEO of the Lumina Foundation, wrote an overview of the foundation's Summer 2026 edition in which he advocated for more direct admissions programs similar to CSUSB to make higher education accessible by streamlining and simplifying the application process.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.csusb.edu/inside/article/596972/csusbs-direct-admit-program-highlighted-lumina-foundation
'Build a School for My People:' Tuskegee Honors Founders and 145th Anniversary on July 4
TUSKEGEE, Alabama, July 7 -- The Tuskegee University posted the following news:
* * *
'Build a school for my people:' Tuskegee honors founders and 145th anniversary on July 4
Crystal Drake
Tuskegee University marked its 145th anniversary by honoring Lewis Adams, the formerly enslaved craftsman and community leader whose political negotiation led to the founding of the school, and Booker T. Washington, the pioneering educator who became its first principal.
At ceremonies on July 4 organized by the Tuskegee Historic Preservation Commission, Dr. Mark A. Brown, president and CEO, reminded attendees
... Show Full Article
TUSKEGEE, Alabama, July 7 -- The Tuskegee University posted the following news:
* * *
'Build a school for my people:' Tuskegee honors founders and 145th anniversary on July 4
Crystal Drake
Tuskegee University marked its 145th anniversary by honoring Lewis Adams, the formerly enslaved craftsman and community leader whose political negotiation led to the founding of the school, and Booker T. Washington, the pioneering educator who became its first principal.
At ceremonies on July 4 organized by the Tuskegee Historic Preservation Commission, Dr. Mark A. Brown, president and CEO, reminded attendeesthat without Adams' selfless and visionary deal-making with a political system not built to include him, Tuskegee University might very well not exist.
"This man - this Black man - dared to teach himself to read and write, which was illegal, developed economically valuable skills as a tinsmith, harness-maker, and shoemaker, and led his community into the future when he helped broker the agreement that created Mother Tuskegee and eventually brought us Booker T. Washington as the founding principal," Dr. Brown said.
TU Anniversary July 4In 1879, Alabama Senate candidate Col. W.F. Foster asked Adams what he wanted in exchange for his influence to secure the Black vote in an upcoming state election. Instead of personal gain, Adams requested funding for a school for his people. Foster honored the agreement, working with legislative colleagues to earmark funding to establish the Negro Normal School in Tuskegee.
Commissioner George Campbell soon contacted Hampton Institute in Virginia seeking a teacher. Booker T. Washington answered that call, arriving in Tuskegee on June of 1881 - and somehow galvanizing the community to open the doors of the school just one month later on July 4. He would lead the institution until his death in 1915, shaping it into an influential academic powerhouse that continues to produce graduates that excel, which was recently illustrated when 70% of the Class of 2026 graduated already employed in careers of their choice, accepted into graduate school, or off to serve our nation as newly commissioned military officers.
"That appropriation of $2,000 created what became this thriving university, which delivers back more than $230 million in economic impact to this state annually," said Dr. Brown. "It was a wise investment. During our Renaissance Era, we won't stop creating scholars, ensuring and expanding equitable access to opportunity and doing what Booker T. Washington said was most important - providing an accessible world-class education, not just for education's sake, but to empower the head, the heart and the hand of our students for purposeful work that will change the world."
The morning began at Adams' gravesite in Ashdale Cemetery in Tuskegee followed by a ceremony at Washington's gravesite on the university's campus. Dyann Robinson, chair of the Tuskegee Historic Preservation Commission, offered greetings, while former Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford served as master of ceremonies. Representing the Adams family, Reverend Rene Adams led participants in prayer at both ceremonies.
U.S. Representative Shomari Figures was also on hand to honor Tuskegee's founders.
"I want to do everything possible to ensure Tuskegee continues to secure resources and support from the federal government to do the extraordinary work that has happened right here in Tuskegee for 145 years," said Rep. Figures who represents the 2nd Congressional District of Alabama which includes Tuskegee.
Tuskegee Mayor Chris Lee shared with those gathered that the City of Tuskegee and Tuskegee University continue to rise together in the spirit of what both Adams and Washington worked tirelessly to accomplish for students and townspeople alike.
"Dr. Brown's leadership at this university and in our community is making transformational impact," he said of the deepening town and gown relationship Dr. Brown has championed.
Eminent Associate Dr. Elaine Harrington '61 also joined the ceremonies to introduce the annual Vester Marable Essay Contest winners: TrenDaja Warmack and Leah Bethune (Notasulga High School, 1st place tie), Kyleigh Jack (Booker T. Washington High School, 2nd place), and Jordan Johnson and Grayson Flowers (Notasulga High School, 3rd place tie). The students placed ceremonial wreaths and received cash prizes for essays they penned honoring figures from Tuskegee's long lineage of leaders.
The dual ceremonies underscored the intertwined legacies of Adams and Washington--and the United States of America as both the nation and the university both started with a fight for and celebration of freedom.
Dr. Brown recently contemplated this powerful connection in a video message on the topic.
"This is how our firecrackers pop!" he said on Saturday about his and First Lady Gwendolyn Brown's love for coming together on the Fourth of July every year to honor this uniquely shared anniversary.
* * *
Original text here: https://www.tuskegee.edu/news/2026/07/Build-a-school-for-my-people-Tuskegee-honors-founders-and-145th-anniversary-on-July-4.html
