Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science: Sea Level Rise is Swallowing Mid-Atlantic Farmland Faster Than Expected, Study Finds
GLOUCESTER POINT, Virginia, May 19 (TNSjou) -- William and Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science issued the following news:
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Sea level rise is swallowing Mid-Atlantic farmland faster than expected, study finds
By Joseph Caterine
Ghost forests, the cemetery-like groupings of dead trees killed by saltwater intrusion, have become haunting symbols of sea level rise overtaking land along the Mid-Atlantic coast. But a new study in Nature Sustainability led by William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS points to even more dramatic land losses in the region's coastal farmlands, where the rate of
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GLOUCESTER POINT, Virginia, May 19 (TNSjou) -- William and Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science issued the following news:
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Sea level rise is swallowing Mid-Atlantic farmland faster than expected, study finds
By Joseph Caterine
Ghost forests, the cemetery-like groupings of dead trees killed by saltwater intrusion, have become haunting symbols of sea level rise overtaking land along the Mid-Atlantic coast. But a new study in Nature Sustainability led by William & Mary's Batten School & VIMS points to even more dramatic land losses in the region's coastal farmlands, where the rate ofmarsh encroachment is happening nearly twice as fast.
Using satellite data spanning decades as well as recent field measurements, the study's authors found that between 1984 and 2022 approximately 25,000 acres of farmland was lost to sea level rise in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay watersheds, despite preventative measures taken by local farmers.
"There's this assumption that we'll never let sea level rise consume farmland, that people will protect valuable land. And it's just wrong," said Matt Kirwan, co-author and professor of marine science at the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS. "We found lots of examples where small levees were built at the edges of fields to prevent saltwater intrusion, but they only slowed down the loss. They couldn't stop it."
Measuring marsh encroachment
As sea levels continue to rise due to human-driven climate change, saltwater creeps farther inland through groundwater, tidal creeks and storm surges. This process, known as saltwater intrusion, gradually kills freshwater plants and replaces them with salt-tolerant marsh grasses. Scientists track this transformation by measuring how the boundary between dry land and marsh shifts over time, a metric known as retreat.
Rather than measuring only how far inland the marsh boundary moved, which can depend on how flat or steep the land is, the authors tracked the elevation of the boundary as well. This approach accounts for differences in terrain and allows for a more direct comparison of marsh encroachment between farmland and forest.
The mid-Atlantic coast experiences sea level rise at roughly double the global average, making it both a hotspot for these changes and an ideal location to study them.
The study shows that marsh encroachment can be up to seven times more frequent on agricultural land compared to forestland in the mid-Atlantic and that, regionally, agricultural land appears to have accelerated the impacts of saltwater intrusion.
"We hypothesized, and most people would intuitively expect, that marshes would migrate slower into farmland, that forests are more vulnerable than farmland. But we found the opposite," Kirwan said. "On farmland, it's much more subtle. It's a row of crops at the edge of the field that's brown instead of green, but it still adds up to thousands of acres of lost agricultural production."
Why coastal farmlands are vulnerable
The study references an assumption that coastal farmland's economic value incentivizes flood mitigation strategies to protect against sea level rise. In point of fact, mid-Atlantic farmers have built levees or earthen berms around their land to reduce inundation, along with other mechanisms like ditches.
However, because Virginia and Maryland made tidal wetlands protected ecosystems in the 1970s, few structural interventions have been built since then, raising doubts about whether coastal farmlands are as protected as presumed.
"Some of the berms are still being used and maintained, but a lot of them have been abandoned and are now surrounded by marsh," said the study's lead author and Batten School Ph.D. graduate Grace Molino '25.
To conduct field surveys for the study, Molino visited six farm sites on the Eastern Shore along with co-author and former Batten School & VIMS student intern Grace Levins. They found that levees and other structural interventions did mitigate saltwater intrusion, bringing the vertical retreat rate in line with that of forests in the same area.
While these individual efforts did reduce marsh encroachment locally, the study found that regionally farmland was still more vulnerable to saltwater intrusion than forests, using linear regression models based on ones developed by co-author and former Batten School & VIMS postdoctoral research fellow Yaping Chen. New construction is limited because of complicated permitting requirements, and the ones that are maintained cannot fully prevent land conversion to marsh. Additionally, crops are biologically less resilient than trees.
"It's not that farmland is flat and therefore it retreats faster," Kirwan said. "Trees have lifespans of hundreds of years. It can take decades to kill a tree. Agricultural crops have lifespans of less than a year."
The overlooked impact of farmland on coastal resilience
Discussions around the impact of human development on coastal habitats have traditionally been focused on urban flood prevention methods like hardened shorelines and seawalls, which have been shown to prevent wetlands from migrating inland as seas rise. And yet, less than 15% of coastal watersheds in the United States are heavily developed. The vast majority of the nation's coastline is rural, and the human footprint on those landscapes has been largely overlooked.
"It's really underappreciated how large human impacts can be even in rural areas where you don't have the big beach houses, you don't have the big seawalls," Kirwan said. "Everything's more subtle, but they're still having a big impact."
Rural communities are often not included in conversations about future flood infrastructure or coastal adaptation. The study argues that a paradigm shift is needed to understand the responses of these areas and the people who live in them.
Investigating these rural responses to marsh encroachment can be difficult. Researchers typically work on public land, where there is little barrier to entry. To access privately-owned farmland, Molino had to make old-fashioned cold calls and knock on doors. The effort was well worth it, she said.
"The landowners there have this unbelievable wealth of knowledge," Molino said. "Most of them have lived on the land for several generations and know a lot about the neighboring properties and how things have changed."
At one site in Maryland, a landowner who uses the property as a weekend hunting retreat during waterfowl season gave Molino a tour of two massive impoundment structures he had built on fields that were too salty to farm. One had been partially funded through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that pays landowners to create wildlife habitat.
Molino said she was struck by how this landowner had independently adapted to saltwater intrusion by completely changing his land use, and that a federal program existed to support that decision.
"Individual landowner decisions have such a strong influence on the changes that we're seeing on the coast," Molino said. "It's so important to actually get out into the field and talk with them and understand what's driving these decisions."
Marshes are also under threat from sea level rise. If they can't build soil fast enough to keep pace with rising tides, they must move to higher ground. So what may be bad for farmers in terms of land loss can at the same time be good for marshes, because agricultural land represents a new and faster pathway for them to migrate inland, potentially bolstering coastal resilience overall. But that comes directly at the expense of farmers' livelihoods.
Molino believes that science can help figure out a solution for all. She cited the mission of the Batten School & VIMS to provide solutions-based science and how these farmers are exactly the kind of people she hopes science can serve.
In carrying out this study, science already has benefited these landowners. During one field visit, a landowner asked Molino to let him know if she found any breaches in his levees so he could plug them. When she got back to the lab, she called him and gave him the breaches' exact GPS coordinates.
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Original text here: https://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/2026/sea-level-rise-is-swallowing-mid-atlantic-farmland-faster-than-expected-study-finds.php
Vandermeade Receives UW Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award
LARAMIE, Wyoming, May 19 -- The University of Wyoming posted the following news:
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Vandermeade Receives UW Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award
Samantha Vandermeade, an assistant professor in the Department of American Cultural Studies at the University of Wyoming, is known by her students for her engaging classes and compassionate approach to teaching.
Those accolades and others have resulted in Vandermeade being named one of 10 recipients of the 2026 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award at UW. The award was established in 1977 by businessman John P. "Jack" Ellbogen
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LARAMIE, Wyoming, May 19 -- The University of Wyoming posted the following news:
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Vandermeade Receives UW Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award
Samantha Vandermeade, an assistant professor in the Department of American Cultural Studies at the University of Wyoming, is known by her students for her engaging classes and compassionate approach to teaching.
Those accolades and others have resulted in Vandermeade being named one of 10 recipients of the 2026 John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award at UW. The award was established in 1977 by businessman John P. "Jack" Ellbogento "foster, encourage and reward excellence in classroom teaching at UW."
Throughout the past two years, Vandermeade has taught "Wyoming, Race and the Archive"; "Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Systems"; "Social Justice in the 21st Century"; "Introduction to American Studies"; "Coal Stories: Wyoming and Appalachia"; and "Institutional Violence."
One student, who describes Vandermeade as "an amazing teacher," wrote: "The content we cover and discuss is thought-provoking and profound. Our assignments include meaningful research that helps us effectively utilize multiple types of media. Professor Vandermeade engaged with us through games in class and presentations that demonstrated our knowledge."
UW English graduate student Liz Youngman describes Vandermeade as "remarkable."
Though Youngman had Vandermeade as an instructor during her undergraduate years, Vandermeade serves on her thesis committee.
"Dr. Vandermeade created a welcoming and safe environment that always made me feel comfortable to answer questions and engage in discussion," Youngman wrote. "Whether I was at the beginning or end of my college career, Dr. Vandermeade always made me feel seen as a student. I know I would not have ended up majoring in gender and women's studies if it wasn't for having her as an instructor."
"The work put into this course and the dedication to ensuring students enjoy the experience of working with and studying archive materials is amazing," another undergraduate student wrote. "This professor has been deeply kind and understanding and provides a classroom environment with great direction and confidence."
Tracey Owens Patton, a UW English professor, describes Vandermeade as "a highly competent professor who is skillful in the classroom."
Vandermeade has been a professor at UW since 2020, has published a variety of articles and has served on several campus committees.
She earned her Ph.D. from Arizona State University, a master's degree from North Carolina State University and a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University.
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Original text here: https://www.uwyo.edu/news/2026/05/vandermeade-receives-uw-ellbogen-meritorious-classroom-teaching-award.html
University of Northern Colorado: Bears Go Global - Student Receives Prestigious Fulbright Award
GREELEY, Colorado, May 19 -- The University of Northern Colorado issued the following news:
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Bears Go Global - Student Receives Prestigious Fulbright Award
Through her recognition as a Fulbright grantee, graduate Camryn Luksa will serve as a cultural ambassador on a global scale
Written by Duard Headley
For Camryn Luksa, the road to receiving a Fulbright grant started with a little white lie.
Luksa, a European Languages major with an emphasis in German, graduated this spring. Now that she has walked at commencement, she plans to ship out to Germany in September as an English teaching
... Show Full Article
GREELEY, Colorado, May 19 -- The University of Northern Colorado issued the following news:
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Bears Go Global - Student Receives Prestigious Fulbright Award
Through her recognition as a Fulbright grantee, graduate Camryn Luksa will serve as a cultural ambassador on a global scale
Written by Duard Headley
For Camryn Luksa, the road to receiving a Fulbright grant started with a little white lie.
Luksa, a European Languages major with an emphasis in German, graduated this spring. Now that she has walked at commencement, she plans to ship out to Germany in September as an English teachingassistant in the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program -- the United States' flagship international education initiative. Through the program, students and faculty are given the opportunity to visit one of over 135 countries around the world to conduct research and participate in cultural exchanges.
Long before she received this prestigious honor, however, Luksa found herself at a crossroads. As a high school student, she was required to take a foreign language course. The youngest sibling in a family with three older brothers, she wanted to set herself apart.
Since her brothers had all taken Spanish, that was a no-go. French was similarly impossible, due to the fact that her high-school "archenemy" had already enrolled in the class. That left Luksa with one option: German.
Unfortunately, her family didn't think her taking German was a good idea, citing the language's difficulty and comparative rarity in the United States as reasons. That didn't stop Luksa, however, and she forged her mother's signature in order to get into the class.
"They only found out six months later at parent-teacher conferences," Luksa said. "But by then, I was doing really well, so it ended up becoming kind of a joke. After that, I fell in love with the language."
From that small fib, a passion was born.
As a first-generation college student, when Luksa came to the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), she didn't quite know what to expect. She had originally planned to major in Economics, but upon discovering the German language track of the European Languages major, she switched up her plan, taking Economics as a minor (along with another minor in Teaching English as a Second Language) and majoring in the language she had come to love.
By all accounts, that decision paid off, culminating in her recognition as the eighth student in UNC's history to receive a Fulbright award. The most recent student to receive a Fulbright award prior to Luksa was Kristine Marie Bell, '19, who also earned an English teaching assistantship to Germany in the 2019-20 cycle.
In recent years, several other students have been named as semifinalists for Fulbright grants, including Pennie Nichol, '24 and Jenna Mischke, '24 in 2024-25 and Destri Johnson, '22, in 2021-22.
For Luksa, being named a recipient of such a renowned and distinguished recognition naturally came with a lot of emotions.
"I've had more than a few hard times in academia. I failed multiple classes in high school, I've withdrawn from and failed so many classes at UNC and had so much going on in my personal life that made me feel like I couldn't focus on being the best student," Luksa said. "But now, through all the tears I've cried and all the gray hairs I've sprouted, I feel like a new person. It's been the most amazing vindication."
Looking ahead to her trip to Germany, Luksa is preparing to be the best cultural representative she can be. Aside from helping to teach English in German schools, her foremost task during the year-long Fulbright trip will be to participate in cultural exchange and represent the United States on a global scale.
"My biggest role will be to show German kids what being an American is like," Luksa said. "I have to be myself and demonstrate the value of this cultural exchange relationship."
Preparing for that role has been daunting, according to Luksa, but it's something she knows is important, both for her own growth as a scholar and for the sake of inter-cultural exchange at a time when the United States is a divisive figure on the world stage.
"I feel obligated to be overly observant of global events. I need to have a great understanding of not only the place I'm going, but also the place I'm coming from and how my country is impacting the country that will be hosting me," Luksa said.
As intimidating as that prospect is, Luksa said she's had plenty of support getting to this point, including the help of Erin Noelliste, Ph.D., chair of the World Languages and Cultures Department and Karen Barton, Ph.D., professor of Geography, GIS and Sustainability.
"Camryn's Fulbright recognition is a tremendous accomplishment, both for her and for UNC," Barton said. "Opportunities like Fulbright are incredibly competitive, and it's exciting to see one of our students earn this kind of recognition. I hope her success also encourages more UNC students to pursue nationally competitive awards and see themselves as strong candidates for these opportunities."
With support like that behind her, Luksa knows she'll be ready to tackle her role when she heads overseas in September.
"I'm feeling like I'm finally breaking out of this bubble of imposter syndrome that I find myself in constantly," Luksa said. "I couldn't have done any of this without Dr. Noelliste, Dr. Barton and so many others. Seeing how smart and strong women can be in academia has been so inspiring."
To that end, Luksa hopes to stay in Germany once her Fulbright trip has ended, with goals to earn her master's degree in Economics at Heidelberg University. From there, she's set her sights on being a force for good in the world.
"I want to change the world for the women in it," Luksa said. "The women in my family have suffered, for lack of a better word, for so long, having no options available to them but to get married and have children. I feel a moral obligation, not just for myself, but for them and for all of womenkind, to use my education to make a difference."
One way she hopes to accomplish this is by examining and improving policies and working conditions in the clothing industry, particularly in places like Taiwan and Bangladesh.
Before any of that, though, she's got quite the trip ahead of her. A Fulbright grant is no small feat, after all.
Thankfully, she won't be alone as she travels abroad -- her two cats, Bean and Bitty will be coming with her.
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Original text here: https://www.unco.edu/news/articles/bears-go-global-student-receives-prestigious-fulbright-award/
Texas A&M Engineering: Robust Robots for Real-world Challenges
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 19 -- The Texas A&M University College of Engineering issued the following news:
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Robust robots for real-world challenges
A Texas A&M Engineering team's latest work enables swarms of autonomous robots to perform reliably in harsh and adversarial environments and earned students the top prize in their major at the College of Engineering Project Showcase.
By Jennifer Nichols, Contributor
Maintaining resilient coordination among multiple robots in chaotic environments is a fundamental challenge and key source of system vulnerability in today's world.
Solving
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas, May 19 -- The Texas A&M University College of Engineering issued the following news:
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Robust robots for real-world challenges
A Texas A&M Engineering team's latest work enables swarms of autonomous robots to perform reliably in harsh and adversarial environments and earned students the top prize in their major at the College of Engineering Project Showcase.
By Jennifer Nichols, Contributor
Maintaining resilient coordination among multiple robots in chaotic environments is a fundamental challenge and key source of system vulnerability in today's world.
Solvingthis problem is at the heart of ongoing research by Dr. Eman Hammad, assistant professor in Texas A&M University's electronic systems engineering technology program. She is the director of the Innovations in Systems Trust and Resilience (iSTAR) Lab, which focuses on cyber-physical systems, distributed intelligence, communication and resilience.
The work aligns closely with that of Dr. Jaewon Kim, research scientist at the Texas A&M Global Cyber Research Institute (GCRI). Hammad and Kim have formed a research partnership that has resulted not only in important advancements in this critical area of robotics, but also the opportunity to provide invaluable experience to students in the engineering technology and industrial distribution department.
Hammad and Kim recently mentored mechatronics students Luis Albos, Sean Chen, Santhosh Chendil and Jack Josephson, who joined the faculty-led research effort for their senior capstone project. The students contributed to the broader challenge of developing robotic systems that remain trustworthy and functional, even when operating conditions are not ideal.
Hammad and Kim set the overall research framework and provided technical guidance. In turn, the students helped implement and validate a multi-robot system that allows TurtleBot3 robots to autonomously survey while maintaining navigation, coordination and mission progress as they adapt their behavior in response to different conditions. This resilient autonomy is crucial. Without it, the robots can lose coordination, duplicate tasks and fail to share critical information needed for success.
The platform is applicable to critical missions like search and rescue, defense and security operations, disaster response, hazardous inspections and remote explorations. Representative use cases include autonomous reconnaissance in disaster zones where communication infrastructure has been compromised, coordinated operations in environments subject to active jamming or signal interference, emergency response following weather events, inspections of industrial, chemical or post-incident sites where human entry is unsafe, and exploration of subterranean, underwater or extraterrestrial environments where conventional communication links are unreliable.
In each scenario, the ability of robots to coordinate autonomously despite degraded or contested perception of the environment is essential. The system perception layer uses light detection and ranging, cameras, ultrasonic sensors and onboard processing to explore an environment, detect obstacles and report pose, map and status data to a central mission-control center. Under stable conditions, the center coordinates shared mapping, assigns frontier goals and sends local goal poses back to each robot. When adversarial conditions such as communication interference is detected, the robot shifts into a more cautious navigation mode to reduce localization errors and maintain safe operation.
Hammad, Kim and the students successfully addressed the critical issue of how to keep networks of autonomous agents running smoothly and demonstrated how resilient autonomy bridges robotics, cybersecurity and real-world system reliability.
"Building a multi-agent autonomous robotic platform for critical missions is a complex project which the students tackled with excellence," Hammad said. "Over the course of a year, they developed a deep understanding of complex challenges combining embedded systems, sensor fusion, control and mechanical design, communication, real-time multi-agent coordination, AI-driven perception, localization and multi-level integration."
The students' dedication to the project was exemplary, according to Kim.
"They were at the GCRI lab every single day, researching, testing and refining their system," he said. "This effort led to remarkable technical maturity. Their ability to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical implementation is inspiring."
Through the capstone process, the students gained insights into real-world engineering and learned numerous applicable lessons, including the importance of patience and resilience to overcome obstacles.
"There were many moments when we felt stuck and frustrated, unsure if our project would
go anywhere. But we kept showing up and putting in the work," said Chen, the team's hardware engineer. "This experience taught me that progress is rarely apparent in the moment. In the end, watching it all come together and function as one piece was incredibly rewarding."
Chendil, the team's software engineer, learned that engineering isn't just about elegant solutions.
"It's about creative workarounds, extreme patience and being willing to fail a thousand times just for that one moment everything finally works out," he said. "To me, that's the core of engineering."
The group unveiled their work at Texas A&M's College of Engineering Project Showcase and took first place in their major. Presenting the project to industry experts who served as judges was an important part of the learning process for the student engineers.
"The judges told us that the questions we were asking during our design process are the same types of questions they ask in industry, just at a much larger scale," said Albos, the project manager. "That feedback made the project feel especially valuable because it showed that our work was not only academic, but connected to actual engineering challenges."
Hammad and Kim are pleased that this endeavor provided the students with real-life experiences that helped them build a strong foundation for professional careers. The pair will continue their research and look forward to including more student engineers in future projects.
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Original text here: https://news.engineering.tamu.edu/news/2026/05/18/robust-robots-for-real-world-challenges/
Middlebury Institute of International Studies: Spring Commencement Celebrates the Power of Human Connection
MONTEREY, California, May 19 -- The Middlebury Institute of International Studies issued the following news:
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Spring Commencement Celebrates the Power of Human Connection
By Jason Warburg
In a ceremony honoring 222 Middlebury Institute graduates from 27 countries, speakers highlighted the global community embodied by the "MIIS family" of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Students, family, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated the achievements of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) class of Spring 2026 on Saturday, May 16, in a Commencement ceremony that highlighted
... Show Full Article
MONTEREY, California, May 19 -- The Middlebury Institute of International Studies issued the following news:
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Spring Commencement Celebrates the Power of Human Connection
By Jason Warburg
In a ceremony honoring 222 Middlebury Institute graduates from 27 countries, speakers highlighted the global community embodied by the "MIIS family" of students, alumni, faculty, and staff.
Students, family, faculty, staff, and alumni celebrated the achievements of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) class of Spring 2026 on Saturday, May 16, in a Commencement ceremony that highlightedthe value of human connection.
"The degrees and titles are important, but what really matters are the relationships you gain at the Institute," said graduating student Jake Lopata MANPTS '26 (MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies), a Marine Corps veteran who was recently awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study in Panama. "MIIS is a uniquely supportive community because of the people it attracts."
Speakers at the ceremony held on Colton Hall lawn in downtown Monterey included California State Senate Majority Leader Emeritus Bill Monning--a member of the Institute faculty from 1991-2008--student speaker Julena Wuer MATLM '26 (MA in Translation and Localization Management), Middlebury Provost Michelle McCauley, and Dean of the Institute Jeff Dayton-Johnson. The class featured 222 graduating students from 27 countries.
Senator Monning described the graduates as "among the best trained on the planet to bring together experts in multiple disciplines to explore pathways to peace, global sustainability, cross-cultural communication, and public health." Noting the graduating students' new role as part of the "family" of alumni, Monning underscored that "As we talk about the MIIS family, we are really talking about the power of human connections."
Student Speaker Julena Wuer agreed. "Over the past two years, I've truly felt how warm and powerful the MIIS community is. I met my best friends here... to me MIIS is not just a school. It's a home. [The sense of community] encouraged me to give back and be part of something bigger than myself."
A native of Liangshan, China, Wuer explained that she is the first person from her hometown to earn a graduate degree in the United States. She holds a BA from China Agricultural University and was awarded a Stilwell Scholarship to support her studies at the Middlebury Institute. During her time in Monterey, she served as a graduate assistant and teaching assistant for her academic program, and as social media manager for the Institute chapter of Women in Localization. Wuer closed her remarks by exhorting her fellow graduates to "Keep making yourself be seen and heard. Keep trying. Keep exploring. And never let anyone define your limits."
Provost McCauley called the ceremony "a transformational moment" for graduates and everyone who has been on this journey with them. Dean Dayton-Johnson's remarks celebrated the value of hope, in the context of both the work being undertaken by graduates, and the hope that the school itself may endure. "Hope is doing what is right--advancing understanding, promoting peace--because it is worth doing, regardless of the probability of success."
Monning told the graduates they now "carry the privilege and responsibility of being ambassadors of the MIIS legacy and the MIIS family... You bring tools to a world that needs your skills now more than ever." In his remarks he also paid tribute to several faculty colleagues who died in recent years: President Emeritus Robert Gard and professors Jan Knippers Black, Tsuneo Akaha, Edgard Coly, and Glynn Wood.
Following his remarks, Senator Monning received an honorary doctorate degree. During his time at the Institute, Monning co-founded the nonprofit organization Global Majority, and as a legislator, he had over 100 bills signed into law with a focus on labor rights, environment, education, and health care. Monning, who holds an AB in international development from UC Berkeley and a JD from the University of San Francisco, is currently a distinguished professor of law at the Monterey College of Law.
The procession was once again led by a resonant fanfare of bagpipes played by Professor Mike Gillen, who is retiring from his faculty role this year. Dozens of staff, students, and community volunteers coordinated and supported the ceremony and subsequent reception for graduates and their families on the Pierce Street Promenade.
The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgement recognizing the indigenous heritage of the Institute's downtown Monterey campus, a statement that also spoke of "the sacred web of life" and the connectedness of all living things. It was a sentiment mirrored in Monning and Wuer's remarks, for good reason--history has proven again and again that the sustaining fuel of lasting change is genuine human connection.
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Original text here: https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/news/spring-commencement-celebrates-power-human-connection
Georgetown University Medical Center: 'A New Generation of Trailblazers' Honored at School of Health Commencement Ceremony
WASHINGTON, May 19 -- The Georgetown University Medical Center issued the following news:
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'A New Generation of Trailblazers' Honored at School of Health Commencement Ceremony
The School of Health Commencement Ceremony honored the 154 undergraduate and graduate degree recipients that comprise the school's Class of 2026, and encouraged the new alumni to use their skills to promote health equity.
"The School of Health represents a unified community of impassioned dreamers, individuals committed to building a more just and equitable world where all people can achieve optimal health and well-being,"
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, May 19 -- The Georgetown University Medical Center issued the following news:
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'A New Generation of Trailblazers' Honored at School of Health Commencement Ceremony
The School of Health Commencement Ceremony honored the 154 undergraduate and graduate degree recipients that comprise the school's Class of 2026, and encouraged the new alumni to use their skills to promote health equity.
"The School of Health represents a unified community of impassioned dreamers, individuals committed to building a more just and equitable world where all people can achieve optimal health and well-being,"said Christopher King, PhD, MHSc, FACHE, dean of the School of Health, during the May 16 ceremony on Healy Lawn. "Today, your degrees will be conferred because you have demonstrated the knowledge, compassion, and core competencies that are needed to move us one step closer to that vision."
Undergraduate students received Bachelor of Science degrees in global health, human science and healthcare management & policy, while graduate students received master's and executive master's degrees in addiction policy & practice, global health, global infectious disease, health systems administration, and clinical quality, safety, & leadership.
"As I look at you this afternoon, I am in awe," King said. "I see a new generation of trailblazers who understand that when we care for the most vulnerable, whether it's a person or a community, the entire world benefits. And I see an army of intellectuals standing in solidarity around a renewed commitment to social justice, all for the sake of improving the human condition."
The Importance of Being Present
Kedar S. Mate, MD, co-founder and chief medical officer of Qualified Health AI, received the degree Doctor of Science, honoris causa, at the commencement ceremony before addressing the graduates. Recognized by Modern Healthcare as among the 100 most influential healthcare executives in the U.S., Mate has worked in clinical medicine, engaged in global health policy at the World Health Organization, and served as president and chief executive officer at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Mate drew upon his diverse experiences in his address to the graduates, including the time he spent at a rural hospital in Rwanda as a third-year medical resident, when both HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis were ravaging the population. When Mate found himself struggling to help a patient, he was pulled aside by "Dr. Dusi," a 15-year veteran doctor at the hospital.
"He said, 'You will not save everyone in this ward,'" Mate recalled. "'You may not even save most of them. But you can be present for every one of them. That is the work.'"
"He didn't say it was the consolation prize," Mate added. "He didn't say it was what was left when you couldn't do the real thing. He said, 'That is the work.' Being present. Showing up. Being there long after the shift was done, sitting in that cavernous ward, holding the hand of a scared young person as they take their final breaths. That is the work."
Challenges Lead to Change
Mate acknowledged the challenges that graduates will face in healthcare careers, including skyrocketing costs, declining trust in public institutions, interruptions to research, and questions about the role of AI.
"You have earned a degree from a world-class university at a moment when the institutions that degree relies on are, in many ways, aflame," he said. "And despite all of this, I believe sincerely that this is the best time to be graduating from this school."
Historically, the biggest trials of public health have led to meaningful innovations, Mate said, citing the development of mRNA vaccine technology as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The question is never whether challenge will produce change," Mate said. "It always does. The question is whether you will be the one directing that change or watching it happen from the sidelines."
'Integrity is Everything'
After his sons told him that the average person listening to their commencement talk remembers just one thing that the speaker said, Mate said he challenged himself to identify the most important message he wanted attendees to remember.
"This is the bit that I hope you will remember: Integrity is everything," he said. "The premium on knowing things is collapsing. So what rises in its place is trust. Trust is now the most scarce resource that any of us have."
Building trust means being your authentic self, Mate said. "Tell the truth, especially when it's expensive," he said. "Say what you will do, then do what you have said. Show up for the people who are not allowed to show up for themselves. Be present and be you, and remember Dr. Dusi's line to me -- 'That is the work.'"
-- Kat Zambon, GUMC Communications
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Original text here: https://health.georgetown.edu/news-story/a-new-generation-of-trailblazers-honored-at-school-of-health-commencement-ceremony/
Bowie State Faculty & Staff Receive Statewide Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Education
BOWIE, Maryland, May 19 -- Bowie State University issued the following news release:
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Bowie State Faculty & Staff Receive Statewide Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Education
Recipients of the Dr. Peg E. Daw Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition Awards Collectively Awarded $60,000 in Grants
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Bowie State University's Department of Nursing faculty and staff have earned six Dr. Peg E. Daw Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition (NFAR) Awards. Each award provides $10,000 to the recipients' institution to support professional development and contributions to nursing education.
"I am incredibly
... Show Full Article
BOWIE, Maryland, May 19 -- Bowie State University issued the following news release:
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Bowie State Faculty & Staff Receive Statewide Recognition for Excellence in Nursing Education
Recipients of the Dr. Peg E. Daw Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition Awards Collectively Awarded $60,000 in Grants
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Bowie State University's Department of Nursing faculty and staff have earned six Dr. Peg E. Daw Nurse Faculty Annual Recognition (NFAR) Awards. Each award provides $10,000 to the recipients' institution to support professional development and contributions to nursing education.
"I am incrediblyproud of our faculty and staff for earning these prestigious statewide recognitions," said Dr. Cheryl Blackman, dean of the College of Professional Studies. "Having six members of our nursing programs honored through the NFAR awards reflects their exceptional talent, dedication and impact in preparing future healthcare professionals, advancing innovation in nursing education and strengthening health equity and patient care in our communities."
The NFAR awards are administered by the Nurse Support Program II, a unit of the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) and are funded through the Health Services Cost Review Commission. The initiative is designed to strengthen nursing education and expand the state's nursing workforce.
The program recognizes six areas of excellence in education demonstrated by faculty or other education positions in Maryland nursing programs. These Bowie State faculty and staff were recognized in the following categories:
* Dr. Tabita Rigsby-Robinson, RN for contributions to nursing education
* Dr. Wendy Post, RN for excellence in teaching
* Evelyn Khandagale, RN for engagement in the nursing program and employing institution
* Lori Buckley, RN for impact on students
* Dr. Paula Sutton, RN for fostering diversity
* Allison Griffith, RN for innovation in education and technology
Bowie State University's Department of Nursing prepares students to address workforce needs and advance health equity through high-quality education and training. Visit our website for more information on undergraduate and graduate nursing programs at Bowie State.
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About Bowie State University
Founded in 1865, Bowie State University is the first Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in Maryland and one of the ten oldest in the country. Bowie State has earned the Research College and University designation in the 2025 Carnegie Research Activity Classification. As a leading institution of higher learning, Bowie State University offers more than 65 bachelor's, master's, doctoral and certificate programs across arts and sciences, technology, business, education, healthcare and related disciplines. The university provides high-quality and affordable educational opportunities in a supportive environment that empowers students to think critically, make new discoveries, value differences and emerge as leaders in a highly technical, rapidly changing global society. For more information, visit bowiestate.edu.
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Original text here: https://bowiestate.edu/about/news/2026/bowie-state-faculty-and-staff-receive-statewide-recognition-for-excellence-in-nursing-education.php
