Education (Colleges & Universities)
Here's a look at documents from public, private and community colleges in the U.S.
Featured Stories
What's Next for Hospitality - Yaamava' Chief Gaming Officer to Speak at Cal Poly Pomona
POMONA, California, April 15 -- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona issued the following news:
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What's Next for Hospitality? Yaamava' Chief Gaming Officer to Speak at Cal Poly Pomona
Taylor Uster
The Collins College of Hospitality Management will feature Peter Arceo, Chief Gaming Officer of Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel as the 2026 Richard Frank Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, April 23, exploring the strategies and technologies shaping the future of the hospitality and gaming industries.
Arceo oversees strategy and growth for Yaamava', operated by the Yuhaaviatam
... Show Full Article
POMONA, California, April 15 -- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona issued the following news:
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What's Next for Hospitality? Yaamava' Chief Gaming Officer to Speak at Cal Poly Pomona
Taylor Uster
The Collins College of Hospitality Management will feature Peter Arceo, Chief Gaming Officer of Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel as the 2026 Richard Frank Distinguished Lecture on Thursday, April 23, exploring the strategies and technologies shaping the future of the hospitality and gaming industries.
Arceo oversees strategy and growth for Yaamava', operated by the Yuhaaviatamof San Manuel Nation, California's largest casino and the second most-visited destination in the state after Disneyland, attracting more than 14 million visitors annually. He is widely recognized for transforming Yaamava' into a premier luxury destination and advancing innovation in guest experience and resort development. Arceo also leads operations across a broader portfolio that includes Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas and the Waldorf Astoria Monarch Beach Resort & Club in Dana Point.
Arceo will share insights on how professionals can create meaningful guest experiences through service excellence, operational strategy and the thoughtful use of technology. His talk will offer timely perspective for students, industry professionals and anyone interested in the evolving hospitality landscape.
The keynote presentation reflects a growing partnership between The Collins College -- ranked among the Top 10 hospitality programs in the world -- and the Yuhaaviatam of San Manuel Nation, which has invested $200,000 in student success initiatives at the college, supporting scholarships, outreach and recruitment efforts, as well as $600,000 to support transfer students to Cal Poly Pomona. The collaboration also includes a talent pipeline connecting Collins College graduates with career opportunities at Yaamava', reinforcing a shared commitment to workforce development and industry leadership.
The Richard Frank Distinguished Lecture is complimentary and open to the Cal Poly Pomona community, including students, alumni and industry professionals. Advance registration via Eventbrite is required.
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Original text here: https://www.cpp.edu/news/content/2026/04/whats-next-for-hospitality-yaamava-chief-gaming-officer-to-speak-at-cal-poly-pomona/index.shtml
OU College of Medicine Honors Two With Stanton L. Young Awards
OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 15 -- The University of Oklahoma Health campus issued the following news:
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OU College of Medicine Honors Two with Stanton L. Young Awards
Two University of Oklahoma College of Medicine faculty members, Mary Moon, Ph.D., and Priyabrata Mukherjee, Ph.D., were honored recently for their excellence in teaching and research. Moon received the 2026 Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, and Mukherjee received the Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award.
This year marks the 43rd annual presentation of the Master Teacher Award, which recognizes the transformative
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OKLAHOMA CITY, Oklahoma, April 15 -- The University of Oklahoma Health campus issued the following news:
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OU College of Medicine Honors Two with Stanton L. Young Awards
Two University of Oklahoma College of Medicine faculty members, Mary Moon, Ph.D., and Priyabrata Mukherjee, Ph.D., were honored recently for their excellence in teaching and research. Moon received the 2026 Stanton L. Young Master Teacher Award, and Mukherjee received the Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award.
This year marks the 43rd annual presentation of the Master Teacher Award, which recognizes the transformativepower of exceptional teaching and originates from nominations from students. The award was established through an endowment made by the late Oklahoma City businessman Stanton L. Young, whose vision helped advance the OU Health Campus and the OU College of Medicine. The award comes with a $15,000 cash prize, one of the largest in the nation for medical teaching excellence.
As an educator, Moon is held in high regard by her students. Students nominating her for the award said: "She is very approachable, knowledgeable and always willing to help out, whether it be through teaching, research or mentoring." And, "She has a way of explaining concepts to make them make sense far more than any of the readings ever could. One of the primary reasons I understand anatomy at the level I do now is because of the amazing teaching of Dr. Moon. She is always enthusiastic about the content she is teaching and never says no to helping us or giving us advice."
Moon is an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology at the OU College of Medicine. She completed both her undergraduate and doctoral training at OU, earning a B.S. in Microbiology and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Education. After completing her doctorate, Moon joined the College of Medicine faculty, where she serves as the Anatomy and Embryology Thread Director for the undergraduate medical education curriculum.
Medical students have recognized her dedication to teaching with the Aesculapian Award for Excellence in Teaching the Basic Sciences in 2021 and 2025. In addition, she received the College of Medicine Outstanding Teacher Award annually from 2021 to 2025, multiple Dewayne Andrews M.D. Excellence in Teaching Awards, and she is an active member of the Academy of Teaching Scholars.
In addition to her primary teaching role with medical students, Moon contributes to educational efforts across the OU Health Campus, including the Physician Associate Program, the College of Dentistry, Graduate College, and the College of Allied Health. She also serves as site director of the OU Biomedical Education Program on the Oklahoma City campus, overseeing program logistics and mentoring graduate students.
The Stanton L. Young Excellence in Research Award was created last year to recognize and support research that advances knowledge, has the potential to improve the patients' lives and drives the academic mission of the university forward. The award, also $15,000, was established with the support of the Stanton L. Young Foundation, the University Hospitals Authority and Trust, and the Presbyterian Health Foundation.
Mukherjee is a professor in the Department of Pathology in the OU College of Medicine, and at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center he is senior director of Research Partnership and Collaboration, as well as co-director of the Nanomedicine Program. He was honored for his dedication to basic and translational science and his leadership in the fields of nanoscience and molecular oncology.
His research has been continuously funded by R01 grants, considered the gold standard in National Institutes of Health funding, and he is currently the principal investigator on three R01s and co-principal investigator on four other grants. He leads a multidisciplinary laboratory, publishes high-impact papers and creates patentable technologies.
He is recognized as an outstanding mentor, working with high school students through faculty members. Currently, his laboratory consists of early-career faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and research technicians.
Mukherjee has been recognized in numerous ways, including with the George Lynn Cross Professorship and the Presbyterian Health Foundation Presidential Professorship, and he holds the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Endowed Chair in Cancer Laboratory Research. He is a foreign fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and chair of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineering.
He is co-chair of the Web of Life Conference, which brings together experts from different fields to facilitate dialogue and foster collaboration.
Those nominating and supporting Mukherjee for the award said he "is an outstanding biomedical engineer and scientist whose highly creative past and ongoing work holds great promise for our fellow Oklahomans and patients far beyond," that his work shows an "incredible depth and maturation" and that he is able to "build large teams of funded investigators who are doing cutting-edge, impactful research."
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About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university with campuses in Norman, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. As the state's flagship university, OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. In Oklahoma City, the OU Health Campus is one of the nation's few academic health centers with seven health profession colleges located on the same campus. The OU Health Campus serves approximately 4,000 students in more than 70 undergraduate and graduate degree programs spanning Oklahoma City and Tulsa and is the leading research institution in Oklahoma. For more information about the OU Health Campus, visit www.ouhsc.edu.
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Original text here: https://inside.ouhsc.edu/news/article/ou-college-of-medicine-honors-two-with-stanton-l-young-awards
Michigan Medicine: Prostate Biopsy Technique Shows Potential Future of MRI
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, April 15 (TNSjou) -- Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, issued the following news release:
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New prostate biopsy technique shows potential future of MRI
Transgluteal approach helps patients not served by fusion biopsies
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Michigan Medicine physicians and researchers are investigating new in-bore, MRI-guided prostate biopsy techniques, which can help patients not served by standard methods.
Specifically, University of Michigan Health radiologists have been the first physicians nationally to perform percutaneous transgluteal
... Show Full Article
ANN ARBOR, Michigan, April 15 (TNSjou) -- Michigan Medicine, the academic medical center of the University of Michigan, issued the following news release:
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New prostate biopsy technique shows potential future of MRI
Transgluteal approach helps patients not served by fusion biopsies
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Michigan Medicine physicians and researchers are investigating new in-bore, MRI-guided prostate biopsy techniques, which can help patients not served by standard methods.
Specifically, University of Michigan Health radiologists have been the first physicians nationally to perform percutaneous transglutealbiopsies in a 0.55T MRI system.
Early published results have found the procedure to be effective.
Transgluteal biopsies use MRI imaging to guide the biopsy needle to the prostate through the gluteal muscle, as opposed to through the rectum.
This approach serves patients who lack a rectum -- possibly because of past cancer treatment -- or who otherwise cannot tolerate the rectal probe.
It also offers an alternate sterile route to the prostate, which does not require general anesthesia. (Percutaneous transperineal biopsies are also sterile but generally require anesthesia support.)
MRI also provides superior imaging ability to standard biopsy methods.
"The superior soft tissue contrast and real-time capabilities of MRI improve our ability to target suspicious lesions in the prostate and elsewhere, providing very high diagnostic capabilities and an opportunity to improve treatment outcomes with other percutaneous interventions, such as tumor ablation," said Shane A. Wells, M.D., Associate Professor of Radiology and Urology.
The 0.55T MRI system is a scanner with a lower field strength and a larger opening for the patient to enter (80 centimeters in diameter as opposed to the typical 60-70 centimeters.)
Using a scanner of this size allows greater room for biopsy devices -- which can be important in patients with larger habitus -- and aids with patient comfort in the scanner.
"When the 0.55T came on, the first question was: Can you even use it for biopsy?" said Vikas Gulani, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Department of Radiology at U-M Health.
"The standard of care for diagnosing prostate cancer is typically 3T. Thus, most in-bore biopsy studies have also utilized the higher field strength. However, our data are very strong that, yes, you can use the 0.55T. You can see and target the lesions to be sampled, and you can do this accurately."
For people whose initial tests show them at risk of prostate cancer, a prostate biopsy is an important diagnostic step.
Most prostate biopsies are fusion biopsies, in which an MRI image -- already indicating a suspicious lesion -- is combined with an ultrasound performed in a urologist's office.
The urologist can then use the fused image of the two scans to accurately guide the biopsy needle transrectally.
While this approach is generally effective, it does not serve every patient, especially those lacking a rectum or whose rectum is diseased and thus cannot allow the instrumentation for biopsy.
In-bore biopsy is the most accurate way to perform a prostate biopsy. However, it is not practical to perform this for every patient, due to the large number of patients needing biopsy.
In addition to patients who cannot undergo the typical fusion biopsy, the transgluteal biopsy can be performed for problem solving in complex clinical scenarios, such as cases in which a fusion biopsy result and clinical or imaging suspicion do not match up.
The 0.55T magnet also reduces imaging artifacts caused by metal, such as prostheses or the biopsy needle itself.
"It's possible for a patient to have a negative prostate biopsy despite blood markers indicating cancer, because a prosthetic was hiding a lesion," said Elaine Caoili, M.D., M.S., the Saroja Adusumilli Collegiate Professor of Radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
"The 0.55T magnet sometimes allows us to see cancer that has been obscured on other images."
Researchers believe that it will be possible to further develop the capabilities of MRI-guided interventions in the future, by taking advantage of some inherent abilities of MRI, which can combine the real time abilities of ultrasound with soft tissue contrast that is superior to CT scans.
As the speed of MRI increases, Michigan Medicine radiologists view these biopsies as a jump off point for more applications of the technology.
"Reduced artifact and a wider-bore design make the 0.55T system a promising platform for MR-guided interventions more broadly," Yun Jiang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Michigan Medical School.
"The next step is to optimize sequences and workflow and determine how these advantages can be applied to other MR-guided procedures."
Funding/disclosures: Research was partially supported by NIH grants R37CA263583 and R01CA208236, and Siemens Healthineers
Paper cited: "Clinical Feasibility of MRI-guided In-Bore Prostate Biopsies at 0.55T," Abdom Radiol (NY). DOI: 10.1007/s00261-024-04783-x
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Original text here: https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-lab/new-prostate-biopsy-technique-shows-potential-future-mri
From 'Boardwalk Empire' Politics to Springsteen, NJIT Debuts New Jersey Studies Initiative
NEWARK, New Jersey, April 15 (TNSjou) -- The New Jersey Institute of Technology issued the following news:
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From 'Boardwalk Empire' Politics to Springsteen, NJIT Debuts New Jersey Studies Initiative
Written by: Jesse Jenkins
Greetings from New Jersey.
A state of political bosses who inspired HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Of eerie legends like the Jersey Devil and the 1916 Matawan shark attacks. Of shorelines, small towns and highways that became the backdrop for Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.
Next fall, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will become the place to study them all.
NJIT's
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NEWARK, New Jersey, April 15 (TNSjou) -- The New Jersey Institute of Technology issued the following news:
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From 'Boardwalk Empire' Politics to Springsteen, NJIT Debuts New Jersey Studies Initiative
Written by: Jesse Jenkins
Greetings from New Jersey.
A state of political bosses who inspired HBO's Boardwalk Empire. Of eerie legends like the Jersey Devil and the 1916 Matawan shark attacks. Of shorelines, small towns and highways that became the backdrop for Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.
Next fall, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will become the place to study them all.
NJIT'sDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) has launched its "New Jersey Studies Initiative" -- a new series of courses that will offer a deep dive into the state's politics, culture, mythology and civic life from its 1787 founding to the present.
Starting next fall, the unique cluster of courses will tackle everything from Jersey Shore culture and its environmental concerns to the state's machine politics, paranormal folklore and landmark true crime cases.
There's even a full course devoted to New Jersey's most recognized artist -- "The Boss" himself, Bruce Springsteen.
"As a New Jersey native, I've long been struck by how often the state's history and many amazing achievements go underappreciated, even by those who grew up here," said HSS Chair Maurie Cohen. "While other colleges have offered New Jersey-themed courses, this initiative at NJIT is unique -- a one-stop shop that brings the study of the Garden State under one roof to help students foster a deeper sense of local pride."
One of the cornerstone courses, New Jersey Politics and Policy, will be taught by Ed Johnson, former mayor of Asbury Park and a central figure in the city's historic transformation and moments such as Hurricane Sandy recovery and welcoming President Barack Obama in 2013.
"It's exciting to bring this course to NJIT," said Johnson, who also teaches political science at Rutgers and works in government and community relations at Brookdale Community College. "I get to share both the history and the on-the-ground reality of New Jersey politics."
Johnson said the class examines how the state's political history -- including its well-known north-south divide -- continues to shape the present.
"We'll talk about the state's geography and power players like Frank Hague in the north and [Enoch] Nucky Johnson down south ... referred to as 'Nucky Thompson' from Boardwalk Empire," Johnson said. "Their model of influence is still felt. It's important for students to see how historic dynamics show up in today's politics."
The course also explores modern debates over affordability, infrastructure and governance across New Jersey's 564 municipalities -- the most per square mile of any state in the country.
"We're going to look at how we got here and what role students can play in where we go next. Public policy doesn't operate separately from technology," he said. "The work our students are training to do will shape how people live. They need to understand the history, the present and be ready for the future."
Springsteen's Visions of the Promised Land
Another highly-anticipated course will explore the state from a different vantage point -- through the music of perhaps its most recognizable poetic voice.
Visions of the Promised Land: Bruce Springsteen's America will be taught by Dan Loughran, assistant superintendent in Franklin Township Public Schools and a Springsteen scholar published in the Biannual Online-Journal of Springsteen Studies (BOSS).
Loughran said the course will unpack decades of Springsteen's lyrics, performances and public statements to examine themes of citizenship, working-class identity and what the artist once described as "the gap between the American dream and the American reality."
He plans to regularly bring in special guest speakers from across Springsteen's orbit -- artists, archivists and other figures connected to his work -- and have students examine the songs alongside historical texts, responding through writing and creative projects of their own.
"It really has to become their course," Loughran said. "Springsteen is a starting point, but the questions are bigger -- what does it mean to be a citizen? What does it mean to belong to a place?
"Those questions feel especially relevant today. There's never been a better time to be interested in Springsteen," he added.
The new course will arrive on the heels of the opening of the Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music in Monmouth County in June.
"You can't separate him from New Jersey," Loughran said. "And yet, he took very specific places -- Atlantic City, Asbury, all the backstreets and highways -- and made people all over the world feel as if he was writing and singing about their hometowns and their lives."
Beyond Springsteen, other courses will tackle the state's storied and more mysterious corners.
New Jersey in Popular Culture will cover aspects of the state's personality and influence on pop culture -- from its diners and Atlantic City to The Sopranos, MTV's The Jersey Shore and the likes of Frank Sinatra.
Meanwhile, Creepy New Jersey will delve into the state's unique folklore and unexplained phenomena, and Fact & Fiction: True Crime in the Garden State will analyze high-profile crime narratives and figures that have dominated news headlines in past decades. Down the Shore: Everything's All Right will study tourism, music and environmental change along the state's famed Atlantic coastline.
Together, Cohen says the courses challenge the popular notion that New Jersey is merely a pass-through between New York and Philadelphia -- a perception dating back to Benjamin Franklin's description of the state as "a keg tapped at both ends."
"New Jersey has long been a dynamic melting pot -- by many measures, the most multi-ethnic state in the country, attracting people from around the globe. We are committed to studying and celebrating that," Cohen said. "The goal is for every student to leave these courses as an ambassador for the state, taking pride in the wonders it has contributed, and continues to contribute, to the world."
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Original text here: https://news.njit.edu/'boardwalk-empire'-politics-springsteen-njit-debuts-new-jersey-studies-initiative
FAU: Study Reveals Hidden Damage in Stony Corals Using 3D Imaging and AI
BOCA RATON, Florida, April 15 (TNSjou) -- Florida Atlantic University, a component of the state university system in Florida, issued the following news:
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Study Reveals Hidden Damage in Stony Corals Using 3D Imaging and AI
Study Snapshot: Florida's coral reefs are facing severe threats from diseases like Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), which has spread rapidly since 2014, killing large numbers of reef-building corals. This disease, along with others, weakens coral skeletons, reduces biodiversity, and threatens the overall health and resilience of reef ecosystems. Yet little is known
... Show Full Article
BOCA RATON, Florida, April 15 (TNSjou) -- Florida Atlantic University, a component of the state university system in Florida, issued the following news:
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Study Reveals Hidden Damage in Stony Corals Using 3D Imaging and AI
Study Snapshot: Florida's coral reefs are facing severe threats from diseases like Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD), which has spread rapidly since 2014, killing large numbers of reef-building corals. This disease, along with others, weakens coral skeletons, reduces biodiversity, and threatens the overall health and resilience of reef ecosystems. Yet little is knownabout how these illnesses alter coral skeletons at the microscopic level. Understanding these structural changes is critical for monitoring reef health and guiding conservation efforts.
To address this challenge, FAU researchers used X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) combined with deep learning-based image segmentation to analyze coral skeletons in 3D. Focusing on healthy and SCTLD-affected specimens of hard stony corals, the team applied U-Net-based neural networks to automatically identify pores and skeletal structures. This approach allowed them to map porosity, density and thickness with 98% accuracy, providing a faster and more efficient way to assess how environmental stressors impact coral skeletons compared with traditional manual methods.
By Gisele Galoustian
Florida's coral reefs are under siege. Since 2014, Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) has spread rapidly across the Florida Reef Tract and Caribbean, killing vast numbers of reef-building corals and leaving behind dead skeletons where once-thriving reefs supported diverse marine life. Despite the severity of the crisis, little is known about how these diseases affect the microscopic structure of coral skeletons - the pores, densities and thicknesses that give reefs their strength and resilience.
Studying these tiny features has long been a challenge. Traditional methods are slow and often miss subtle structural changes.
To address this challenge, Florida Atlantic University researchers turned to X-ray microcomputed tomography (micro-CT). The technique generates detailed 3D reconstructions down to microscopic pores, which reveal internal skeletal features, including porosity, thickness and structural orientation, in a non-destructive way. Housed in the FAU High School Owls Imaging Lab, the micro-CT was ideal for imaging corals, whose high mineral content provides strong X-ray contrast.
Researchers combined micro-CT imaging with deep learning-based image segmentation, using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a form of artificial intelligence, to automatically distinguish coral skeletons from pore spaces. By analyzing images through patterns and features, this approach is faster and more accurate than traditional manual methods.
"Micro-CT gives us a window into the coral skeleton in a way that's never been possible before," said Alejandra Coronel-Zegarra, first author and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry within FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science who won the 2025 Microscopy and Microanalysis Student Award for her research on SCTLD. "By combining it with deep learning, we can automatically detect subtle changes in the skeleton caused by disease - details that are nearly impossible to see manually."
The team focused on two stony coral species: Montastraea cavernosa (M. cavernosa) and Porites astreoides (P. astreoides). By including both healthy and SCTLD-affected specimens, the researchers created a comprehensive dataset for testing the performance of several CNN models.
They investigated three U-Net-based deep learning models: U-Net, U-Net++, and Attention U-Net, known for capturing fine structural details. The models were trained to distinguish coral skeleton from pores and tested on four datasets, including healthy and SCTLD-affected M. cavernosa and healthy P. astreoides. Researchers tested how accurately each model detected subtle skeletal differences using standard metrics and statistical analysis.
Published in the Journal of Structural Biology, the results were striking. All three models performed exceptionally well, achieving more than 98% accuracy in distinguishing skeleton from pores.
"Without high-resolution, 3D insights, scientists cannot fully understand how disease, warming oceans and other stressors compromise reef survival," said Vivian Merk, Ph.D., corresponding author and assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in FAU's Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. "Our analyses provide a clearer, quantitative picture of how environmental stressors reshape coral skeletons at the microscopic level. By uncovering these hidden changes in porosity, density and skeletal thickness, we can see exactly how diseases like Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease alter the physical integrity of corals."
Findings showed that Attention U-Net performed best, delivering high accuracy while working faster and across a range of coral species. It completed full image segmentation in just seven hours, compared to 15 hours for U-Net and 17 hours for U-Net++, making it especially useful for handling large, high-resolution micro-CT datasets.
Using these results, researchers created detailed 3D maps of coral skeletons. The analysis revealed clear differences between healthy corals and those affected by disease, showing how changes in pore structure may compromise skeletal integrity. Differences between species also emerged, highlighting how coral form and disease vulnerability are closely linked at the microscopic level.
"Beyond its immediate relevance to coral health, our research demonstrates the transformative potential of combining micro-CT with deep learning, and opens new possibilities for analyzing other biological materials, engineered composites and even geological samples," said Merk. "This insight helps us identify reefs most at risk and develop more targeted protection and restoration strategies, strengthening the long-term resilience of Florida's coral ecosystems."
Study co-authors are Jamie Knaub, imaging lab assistant in FAU Lab Schools' Owls Imaging Lab and a Ph.D. candidate in the FAU Department of Biology within the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science; and Abhijit Pandya, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Department of Biomedical Engineering within FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science.
This research was funded in part by the National Science Foundation awarded to Merk and seed funding from FAU's College of Engineering and Computer Science and FAU's I-SENSE Institute.
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Original text here: https://www.fau.edu/newsdesk/articles/stony-coral-imaging-study.php
Dartmouth College: Former Secretaries of State Debate Iran, Climate Change
HANOVER, New Hampshire, April 15 -- Dartmouth College issued the following news:
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Former Secretaries of State Debate Iran, Climate Change
John Kerry and Mike Pompeo also met with students during their visit to Dartmouth.
Written by Steve Hartsoe
Two former secretaries of state--Democrat John Kerry and Republican Mike Pompeo--offered vastly different views on the war with Iran, responding to climate change, and other topics during a Dartmouth Political Union debate at Dartmouth.
The April 13 event in the ballroom of the Hanover Inn drew more than 300 students and community members, and
... Show Full Article
HANOVER, New Hampshire, April 15 -- Dartmouth College issued the following news:
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Former Secretaries of State Debate Iran, Climate Change
John Kerry and Mike Pompeo also met with students during their visit to Dartmouth.
Written by Steve Hartsoe
Two former secretaries of state--Democrat John Kerry and Republican Mike Pompeo--offered vastly different views on the war with Iran, responding to climate change, and other topics during a Dartmouth Political Union debate at Dartmouth.
The April 13 event in the ballroom of the Hanover Inn drew more than 300 students and community members, andmore than 500 have watched the livestream.
Both Kerry and Pompeo, who spent time with students earlier in the day, highlighted the ability of a secretary of state to impact the world for good.
"Being secretary, I think, is in many ways a more advantageous job than being president," said Kerry, who narrowly lost to President George W. Bush in 2004. "You don't have to do all the politics, you don't have to go out and raise money, you don't have to put up with people you don't want to put up with, and in the end, you really can make things happen."
"Picking up that telephone on the seventh floor of the State Department empowers you to save people's lives, to change the direction of the war, to begin to get a ceasefire. You do all these wonderful things that are available to you."
Pompeo agreed.
"We were both blessed. We were foreign ministers from the United States of America," Pompeo said. "Every world leader wants to meet with the American secretary of state. They didn't want to meet with Mike. They wanted to meet with the nation that could do so much good for them and for their people."
Both men have extensive military, academic, and government backgrounds.
Pompeo graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1986 and served as a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army. He went on to graduate from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Pompeo spent nearly a decade leading two manufacturing businesses in Kansas and served four terms in the U.S. House. In President Donald Trump's first term, he was CIA director from 2017-2018 and then served as secretary of state from 2018-2021.
While serving in the U.S. Navy, Kerry completed two combat tours of duty in Vietnam, receiving a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts. He earned an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a law degree from Boston College Law School. Kerry represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 1985 to 2013, then served as secretary of state in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. President Joe Biden named Kerry the nation's first special presidential envoy for climate in 2021.
The U.S. war with Iran dominated much of the hour-long discussion. Kerry and Pompeo differed on the need for the airstrikes the United States and Israel launched on Feb. 28.
Pompeo defended the Trump administration's 2018 departure from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 accord designed to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for significant sanctions relief. He also praised Trump for doing what previous presidential administrations failed to do and take action against Iran, which he and Kerry agreed has been a source of constant chaos in the Middle East since the Islamic revolution there in 1979.
"The model that the JCPOA rested upon was a model that suggested that the Iranians would actually comply with something they signed up for," Pompeo said.
"The Iran that I have known from afar, when I studied as a member of Congress, saw it as a CIA director, and then a secretary of state--they never once lived up to any of the commitments that they made in any material way," Pompeo said. "Their determination, even according to their current deputy prime minister, was that they were trying to build a nuclear weapon."
Kerry agreed with much of Pompeo's assessment of Iran but strongly defended the nuclear accord that he helped negotiate as secretary of state. He said U.S. government agencies, Russia, China, European allies, and Israel all agreed that the JCPOA was achieving its intended goal of keeping Iran's efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon in check at the time Trump pulled out of the agreement.
"Nothing we did in this agreement was based on trust," Kerry said. "Some people said, Reagan said, 'Trust and verify.' We said, 'Don't trust, and verify.' And we built up the strongest regime possible for how you hold them accountable. If they did cheat, we could slap all the sanctions back. We could go bomb them, and it would be better to have them shown to the world to be breaching it, and then come to the world and say, 'We have to go to war,' than to go to war when we're the ones who pulled out."
"So we really changed this whole dynamic with Iran, in my judgment, for the worse," Kerry said of Trump's actions, "and now we're living with it today."
They also disagreed about the merits of the Paris Agreement, an international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015 by the United States and 194 other nations.
Pompeo said he supports a clean, safe environment, but that such agreements are useless if other countries do not voluntarily comply and without an enforcement mechanism.
"I don't think there's a single industrialized nation that has made its climate objectives that it committed to in the original Paris Climate Accords, and we're the only ones, I think, that have withdrawn," Pompeo said. "They're all still members. They've all agreed to it."
"It's not useful for the United States to sacrifice so much when you don't have other partners that are willing in return to actually achieve those objectives."
Kerry disagreed, noting the water temperature at one point in recent years had hit 101 degrees Fahrenheit off the coast of Florida, making the ocean more acidic. He said insurance companies there and in other states are denying home coverage because of the impacts from climate change, and that rising temperatures in places such as Africa will force people to flee to Europe and elsewhere to survive.
"(Trump) says it's a hoax, but thousands of scientists all around the world will tell you it's not a hoax, it's math, it's physics, there's some chemistry, some biology, but you can know exactly what is happening and why," Kerry said.
"We've got to get off of this disinformation and lying and avoidance when things are clearly happening that we could affect. We can still win this battle, but we've got to get serious about it, and we're not right now."
Asked during a Q&A session about the use of artificial intelligence in warfare, both veterans agreed the technology will significantly alter combat operations and could save lives, but that humans still have to be involved in the use of AI.
The debate was co-sponsored by the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding through the Seth Hendon '86 and Kathryn Dove-Hendon Fund for Dialogue, and was supported by Dartmouth Dialogues as well.
Kerry and Pompeo met earlier in the day with the Dickey Center's War and Peace Fellows and had informal conversations with DPU members. They later had dinner with the DPU ambassadors and executive board.
One debate attendee, Aaron Chung '28, said he got a lot out of the exchange of ideas.
"I thought it was a very helpful discourse, understanding each secretary's perspective on foreign policy, especially when it comes to the Middle East as well as ways to deploy America's power to the rest of the world," Chung said.
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Original text here: https://home.dartmouth.edu/news/2026/04/former-secretaries-state-debate-iran-climate-change?date-to=2021-12-06&page=661
Assumption University: AI Salon Brings Students, Faculty, Staff, and Industry Voices Together for a Dynamic Conversation
WORCESTER, Massachusetts, April 15 -- Assumption University issued the following news:
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AI Salon Brings Students, Faculty, Staff, and Industry Voices Together for a Dynamic Conversation
The Grenon School of Business hosted a well attended salon on March 11, bringing community members and industry experts together for a candid discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) and its growing influence on education, work, and society.
Organized and moderated by Laura Nicole Miller, assistant professor of management and organizational communication and director of graduate business programs,
... Show Full Article
WORCESTER, Massachusetts, April 15 -- Assumption University issued the following news:
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AI Salon Brings Students, Faculty, Staff, and Industry Voices Together for a Dynamic Conversation
The Grenon School of Business hosted a well attended salon on March 11, bringing community members and industry experts together for a candid discussion about artificial intelligence (AI) and its growing influence on education, work, and society.
Organized and moderated by Laura Nicole Miller, assistant professor of management and organizational communication and director of graduate business programs,and Michael Lewis, associate professor of management, the event centered on conversation rather than presentation, inviting attendees to explore the benefits, limitations, and ethical questions surrounding AI technologies.
Miller opened the program by highlighting why the salon format matters.
"I wanted to hear the product perspective and the marketing and communications perspective," she said. "This is meant to be a conversation. We're not talking at you--we're learning from you."
The evening's featured guest, Matt Baker, an AI focused product manager and consultant, helped frame the current tech landscape by demystifying how AI tools are built and used.
Baker noted that students will increasingly encounter AI not as an optional tool but as a core component of the workplace. He encouraged students to focus on qualities that endure beyond technological shifts: "Integrity, initiative, and ingenuity--those are the skills that will carry you through your career."
A major theme of the evening involved transparency and responsibility in AI use. Students and faculty shared perspectives on academic integrity, creativity, and how AI should or shouldn't be disclosed. These discussions led to reflections on how AI is different from past technologies.
Lewis emphasized that today's technology represents a new kind of capability. "What we have today with AI is what I would call agency enhancing. It can collect data, analyze markets, and produce reports on its own," he explained. Lewis also highlighted positive examples of students using AI as a study partner--not a shortcut--to strengthen critical thinking and problem solving.
As the event concluded, Baker returned to the core mission of higher education in an AI-driven era, reminding students that while AI can generate information, it cannot replace the human development that occurs through learning, reflection, and community.
The salon sparked lively participation and will serve as a foundation for future campus conversations. Miller encouraged attendees to stay involved as Assumption continues to explore AI thoughtfully and collaboratively.
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Original text here: https://www.assumption.edu/news-and-events/news/ai-salon-brings-students-faculty-staff-and-industry-voices-together-for-a-dynamic-conversation
