UGA Columns Feb. 4, 2019

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Water tunnel aids research efforts to develop new ways of generating electricity

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Curtain to rise Feb. 15 on UGA Theatre’s production of Parks’ ‘In the Blood’

February 4, 2019

Vol. 46, No. 23

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

2019 STATE of the UNIVERSITY

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Read UGA President Jere W. Morehead’s 2019 State of the University Address

University’s economic impact across state reaches $6.3 billion

By Sam Fahmy

sfahmy@uga.edu

Charlayne Hunter-Gault’s and Hamilton Holmes’ first steps into the Academic Building in January 1961 left a lasting footprint on the UGA landscape.

‘Coalition of generations’ The legacy of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault continues to inspire

By Krista Richmond krichmond@uga.edu

This story is part of a series, called Georgia Groundbreakers, that celebrates innovative and visionary faculty, students, alumni and leaders throughout the history of the University of Georgia—and their profound, enduring impact on our state, our nation and the world.

Hamilton Holmes simply wanted to become a doctor. Charlayne Hunter simply wanted to become a journalist. And in doing so, they also became inspirations.

Both agreed that the University of Georgia had the classes they

needed to reach those goals. But when they graduated from Henry McNeal Turner High School in Atlanta in 1959—Holmes as valedictorian and Hunter (now Hunter-Gault) as third in their class—it wasn’t quite that simple.

“Pursue your dreams—whatever it takes. Don’t give up despite what might be in your way,” Hunter-Gault said in a recent interview. “It was our determination—mine and Hamilton’s—to follow our dreams at the place that was best suited to help us fulfill them.”

Eventually Hunter and Holmes became the first African American students to attend UGA, but that is

just the beginning of their stories.

Both went on to have a lasting impact in their chosen career fields and on generations of students.

Their latest legacy: a new endowment, launched by HunterGault and her husband, that inspires UGA students to pursue a more just society.

Desegregating UGA

Both Hunter and Holmes applied to UGA for the fall 1959 quarter but were denied. Holmes was accepted to Morehouse College, and Hunter enrolled at Wayne State University in Detroit, but they continued to submit

See GROUNDBREAKERS on page 2

AU/UGA MEDICAL PARTNERSHIP, COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH

New clinical informatics fellowship program for physicians to offer real-world experience With the use of electronic health records and other systems, medical professionals have access to more patient and population health information and data than ever before. Yet many who work in health care settings are not properly trained to interpret the variety of information at their fingertips.

To address this need, the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership and the University of Georgia College of Public Health have partnered with Athens-area health care

providers—St. Mary’s Healthcare System, Piedmont Athens Regional and the University of Georgia Health Center—to create the first Clinical Informatics Fellowship for physicians in the state of Georgia.

There is so much patient data available to providers—lab tests and scans, notes from previous visits, prescription notes, said Dr. Dale Green, the fellowship’s director and associate professor in the College of Public Health, but “it’s not a given that all the information is available and accurate to the

physician meeting with that patient in that moment. It takes someone thinking about how to bring that data together and make it usable.”

Training in clinical informatics provides clinicians with the skills necessary to collect and examine patient data, calculate patient health risks and offer transformative care that not only improves the health and well-being of individual patients, but also impacts public health policy.

The Clinical Informatics See INFORMATICS on page 8

From the mountains to the coast, the University of Georgia reaches each of the state’s 159 counties through its teaching, research and service. The latest study to quantify the dollar value of these interconnected activities estimates that the university’s economic impact on the state of Georgia is now $6.3 billion per year.

“I am proud of the many ways the University of Georgia contributes to the economic

development of our home state,” said President Jere W. Morehead.

“As the university continues enhancing its learning environment, growing research and innovation, and strengthening partnerships with communities and industries across the state, we can expect our positive impact to expand.”

The study, conducted by UGA economist Jeffrey Dorfman, quantified several variables to arrive at a conservative estimate of the university’s economic impact.

The economic benefits of the See IMPACT on page 8

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Four finalists named in search for university’s next provost The University of Georgia has narrowed the search for its next senior vice president for academic affairs and provost to four finalists, according to the chairs of the search committee, Dean Ben Ayers of the Terry College of Business and Dean Denise Spangler of the College of Education.

As part of their final interviews, each of the candidates will come to the UGA campus and hold a public presentation on the first day of their visits from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Chapel. The presentations will be open to faculty, staff, students and media.

“These four finalists are outstanding scholars and academic leaders,” said University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead.

“I look forward to meeting with the finalists and providing the university community with an opportunity to meet them and hear their perspectives on elevating the University of Georgia to an even higher level of academic excellence. I appreciate the excellent work of the search committee in recommending them.”

The 24-member search committee began its work in May See PROVOST on page 8

DIVISION OF DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS

Terminus named fastest-growing business operated by alumni

By Danielle Bezila

danielle.bezila@uga.edu

The University of Georgia Alumni Association recognized the fastest-growing companies owned or operated by UGA alumni during the 10th annual Bulldog 100 Celebration on Jan. 26 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

The 2019 fastest-growing business is Terminus, led by CEO Eric Spett, who earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2010. Terminus is a business-tobusiness advertising platform that empowers marketers to achieve the highest return on investment on their digital advertising

investment. The platform contains a comprehensive suite of advertising tools that makes it simple to launch, manage and measure ad campaigns that result in more revenue for their clients.

“I’m so proud to be recognized alongside all these great businesses,” said Spett. “My entrepreneurial journey started in earnest at UGA. Being honored nine years later as the fastest-growing Bulldog business is a huge honor.”

The remainder of the Bulldog 100 top 10 are: 2. Currie Design and Build, Roswell, Georgia; 3. MAB Corporate Advisors, Marietta, Georgia; 4. RCS Garage Doors,

See BUSINESS on page 7

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COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES, CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Eight faculty named to next SCL Fellows Program cohort The UGA Special Collections Libraries and the Center for Teaching and Learning have selected eight faculty to participate in the 2018-2019 Special Collections Libraries Fellows Program. This is the fourth cohort of Fellows in this joint program.

The 2018-2019 Special Collections ­Libraries Faculty Fellows are Mollie Ariotti, international affairs department, School of Public and International Affairs; Mary Atwater, mathematics and science education department, College of Education and Institute for African American Studies; Andrew Carswell, financial planning, housing and consumer economics department, College of Family and Consumer Sciences; Robert Capuozzo, educational theory and practice department (early childhood education), College of Education; Byron Freeman, Eugene Odum School of Ecology and Museum of Natural History; Joshua Hussey, English department; Alisa Luxenberg, art history program, Lamar Dodd School of Art; and Eric MacDonald, College of Environment and Design.

The Fellows will participate in a series of workshops and seminars in the spring semester to develop archives-centered courses.

The program makes extensive use of the tools, models and resources of T­eachArchives.org, a pedagogical guide for creating archives-centered instruction developed by the Brooklyn Historical Society and partners. The formal instructional phase of the program will culminate in an intensive institute in May when the Fellows will present their archives-centered

course plans and session designs for feedback from their cohort peers and the program instructional team.

“We’ve designed the program so that when the Fellows finish the May Institute, they leave with a course that is ready for implementation,” said Jill Severn, coordinator of the program and an archivist with the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies.

The 2018-2019 Special Collections Fellows Program kicked off in early December 2018 with behind-the-scenes tours, opportunities to meet and engage with past SCL Teaching Fellows and introductory seminars.

The program was established in 2015 and is made possible by donations from Libraries supporters and the leadership of P. Toby Graham, University Librarian and associate provost, and Megan Mittelstadt, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.

To date, 35 faculty have completed the SCL Teaching Fellows program and have implemented archives-centered learning in their courses.

In addition to Severen, the instructional team for the Fellows program includes Mary Miller and Laura Shedenhelm (Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection); Chuck Barber, Mazie Bowen and Anne Devine (Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library); and Megan Brock (Center for Teaching and Learning).

Visit https://bit.ly/1RsGdmX for more information about the program.

Research funding available for projects with China Agricultural University

By Denise H. Horton

denisehorton@gmail.com

Applications for the second round of funding for a unique collaborative effort between the University of Georgia and China Agricultural University are now being accepted.

“We began this collaboration in 2018 with six teams of researchers, each with a principal investigator from both China Agricultural University and UGA,” said Amrit Bart, director of the Office of Global Programs in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“Because these collaborations are designed for projects that produce data within 12 months, they provide an ideal way for researchers to lay the groundwork necessary to secure additional grants in the future,” said Bart, who noted that among the criteria for the grants are a requirement that each proposal provide “evidence that it contributes to key societal challenges and fits with and complements the wider multidisciplinary research portfolios across CAU and UGA.” Projects funded last year included a collaboration between Jason Wallace, a UGA assistant professor of crop and soil sciences, and Dingming Kang, a CAU agronomy professor, who is teasing apart how bacteria, fungi and other microbes found living in and on corn affects the crop’s response to various stressors, such as cold, heat and drought.

“Dr. Kang has been exploring the impact of various seed treatments on corn’s earlyseason cold tolerance,” Wallace said. “In our collaboration, my lab is performing the data analysis on samples Dr. Kang has collected in four different corn-growing areas of China. We are trying to identify specific microbes that may play a role in how well corn

Merritt Melancon

Jason Wallace, left, is working with Dingming Kang as part of a collaboration with China Agricultural University.

germinates, especially when it has to deal with stressors like heat and cold.”

CAES Dean Sam Pardue accompanied Bart and several other administrators on a trip to CAU during the fall as part of a midterm review of the project.

“The global nature of our food system requires strategic partnerships of the best minds in the world to solve the grand food production and environmental challenges before us,” Pardue said. “Our partnership with China Agricultural University is showing great promise and potential for a lasting, sustainable relationship between our university researchers.”

“There are a number of research areas at our two institutions that are complementary,” Bart said. “Collaborating provides the opportunity for findings that are far more significant than might be accomplished at either institution alone. It also builds international relationships.”

The deadline for applying for the new grants is 5 p.m. on March 8. The maximum amount to be awarded is $14,000. For more information, email ogp@uga.edu.

GROUNDBREAKERS from page 1 applications to UGA each quarter.

“You can’t ever take your eyes off the prizes of freedom, justice and equality,” she said.

In September 1960, their legal team filed for an injunction seeking to prohibit UGA from “refusing to consider [Holmes’ and Hunter’s] applications and those of other Negro residents of Georgia for admission to the University.” Their request was refused, but a full trial was later held in Athens in December 1960.

On Jan. 6, 1961, Judge William Bootle issued his ruling, stating that Holmes and Hunter “would have already been admitted had it not been for their race and color,” and they were immediately admitted to UGA. Three days later, they became the first African American students to enroll in classes.

Creating a legacy

Their first steps into the Academic Building left a lasting footprint on the UGA landscape.

That same building now bears their names. It was renamed the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building in their honor to mark the 40th anniversary of UGA’s desegregation.

And as part of UGA’s bicentennial in 1985, the university created the annual HolmesHunter Lecture, which is sponsored by the Office of the President and focuses on race relations, civil rights and education.

Their influence was felt early on during their time in Athens. Mary Frances Early, a fellow Turner High alumna who knew both Holmes and Hunter, was so inspired by what she saw that she decided to transfer from the University of Michigan to UGA to help them integrate the university. In August 1962, Early became the first African American to graduate from UGA. A year later, it was Holmes’ and Hunter’s turn to walk across the stage.

“He opened the doors not only for African Americans to attend UGA, but also for everyone who wanted to attend,” said Holmes’ son, Hamilton Holmes Jr., who also graduated from UGA in 1990. “My father was an excellent student and graduated cum laude while dealing with all of the distractions related to being one of the first two

black students to integrate the university. He wasn’t looking for fame. He simply wanted to get the best public education from the flagship university in Georgia.”

In the fall of 1963, Holmes became the first African American student admitted to the Emory University School of Medicine.

After starting a residency at Detroit General Hospital and serving in the military, he returned to Emory to complete his residency.

Later, he became an assistant professor of orthopedics and served as an associate dean at Emory.

In addition, Holmes worked as chief of orthopedics at the Veterans Administration hospital in Atlanta, opened a private practice and became medical director and eventually head of orthopedic surgery at Grady Memorial Hospital.

Holmes passed away at his home in Atlanta on Oct. 26, 1995.

As Holmes Jr. pointed out, the path toward their degrees wasn’t always smooth.

On Jan. 11, 1961, two days after they registered for classes, a crowd gathered outside Hunter’s dorm after a basketball game, smashing windows with bottles and bricks.

Holmes and Hunter were suspended, and the Georgia State Patrol escorted them back to their homes in Atlanta that night. A new court order was issued, and they returned to campus and resumed their classes.

After Hunter’s graduation in 1963, she took a job as an editorial assistant at The New Yorker, where she eventually became the first African American staff writer. She then worked as a television reporter and evening anchor for the local NBC station in Washington, D.C. She returned to print media in 1968, establishing The New York Times’ Harlem bureau. From 1978 until 1997, she worked for the MacNeil/Lehrer Report, which became PBS NewsHour. In 1997, she became chief correspondent in Africa for National Public Radio. She left NPR in 1999 to join CNN, where she served as bureau chief and correspondent, based in Johannesburg, South Africa, until 2005.

During her career, Hunter received numerous awards, including two National News and Documentary Emmy Awards and two Peabody Awards.

“The view of the world that I developed and refined as a student at UGA helped me become a successful journalist and person,” Hunter-Gault said.

But for both Holmes and Hunter, their legacies go far beyond their time at UGA and their distinguished careers.

“I’m calling for a coalition of generations so that the things that were important achievements in my generation are looked at so that they can be built upon in the next generation,” Hunter-Gault said.

Giving Voice to the Voiceless

At the 2018 Holmes-Hunter Lecture, Hunter-Gault passed the proverbial baton to the next generation.

“It’s truly time for every citizen, no matter your age, to get woke,” she told the crowd. “And that means helping keep our democracy safe, and it means doing the hard work of digging for good information with a variety of sources.”

She spoke about her time at UGA and what students today can learn from it.

“I want to share a little of my life with you today in the hope that you will be inspired, or further inspired, to make sure that your armor is fitted and polished so that you can help bind wounds and defeat the kind of divisions that are tearing at the fabric of our nation,” she said to those in attendance, including members of Holmes’ family.

To that end, she and her husband, Ronald Gault, started the Giving Voice to the Voiceless endowment, which provides grants to university students to promote social justice and global understanding.

“I wanted to do something that would help inspire young people,” she said.

The first grant recipients were announced recently, and their projects reflect Hunter-Gault’s legacy of courage, bravery and fearlessness.

Abha Rai, a doctoral candidate in the School of Social Work, received a grant to study domestic violence within South Asian immigrant communities.

“I want to be that voice for my community. I want to understand domestic violence and maybe even someday help end domestic violence,” she said. “This project

is the perfect opportunity for my own voice to be heard in an area of research where people are understudied and not much is known about them.”

Steve Armour, an archivist with the University Libraries, received a grant to create an oral history with African American alumni who attended the university in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The interviewer for the project will be a student who will conduct background research on what that time was like at UGA in order to develop the right questions.

“These are students who attended UGA in the years following the desegregation of the university,” Armour said. “We often hear about the experience of Charlayne HunterGault and Hamilton Holmes, but there are generations of students who followed them that this project is going to focus on.”

For Armour, it’s about continuing the conversation.

“They [Holmes and Hunter-Gault] reached these amazing heights that I think in turn have inspired subsequent generations,” he said.

Kyla Brinkley, who graduated with degrees in public relations and English in May 2018, continues to feel Hunter-Gault’s impact.

“Charlayne Hunter-Gault is a prime example of black excellence and what you can do to have an impact on people around you,” she said. “The fact that she still chooses to give back to students at UGA and continues to fuel minority students to pursue the things that she was able to pursue is really powerful.”

Brinkley was the first Charlayne HunterGault Intern for Chess and Community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering youth.

For their part, this generation of students and alumni have been an inspiration to Hunter-Gault.

“They are the giants, now, on whose shoulders the next generations will stand,” she said. “Even though they are quite young, they’ve demonstrated that they have a consciousness about the values in our democratic promise. Everywhere I look, I see them working to ensure that.”

INSTRUCTIONAL NEWS

columns.uga.edu Feb. 4, 2019

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Digest 2025 Strategic Plan being developed

A campus-wide committee, led by six deans and coordinated jointly by the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost, is developing a new strategic plan for the university.

The plan will guide the institution from 2020, when the current plan expires, to 2025. Current faculty, staff and students are encouraged to visit the Office of the President website to learn more about the planning process: https://president.uga. edu/2025_plan.

UGA climbs 12 spots in R&D ranking

Andrew Davis Tucker

The roughly 35-foot water tunnel is one of the fastest university-owned tunnels in the country, sending 11.3 meters of water from one end of the lab to the other. That’s about 275 gallons of water traveling 35 feet in one second.

Tunnel vision

Water device aids engineering research efforts to develop new methods of generating electricity A newly installed 35-foot water tunnel at the University of Georgia’s College of Engineering will help researchers develop new methods of generating electricity and more efficient space and marine vehicles like rockets and drones.

Construction of the massive device began in 2016, and the water tunnel took about a year-and-a-half to complete. Built by Lewis Fortner, manager of UGA’s Instrument Shop, the stainless steel tunnel can hold about 2,800 gallons of water.

“What the water tunnel allows us to do is to put submerged structures in high-speed flow,” said Ben Davis, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering. “These are flexible structures that will vibrate in response to the flow going past them.”

These experiments can help researchers discover new ways to build lighter rockets for space exploration, build marine vehicles that capture energy and convert high-speed water flow into electricity and power other devices.

“By improving our understanding of the way that the fluid interacts with the structure, we can leverage that interaction to do useful things, or we can use our knowledge of that interaction

to avoid a failure,” Davis said.

Davis was inspired to build the water tunnel after working at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, where he worked with materials used to make rocket engines.

Davis, who joined UGA in 2014, helped design the water tunnel with Haynes Curtis, an undergraduate engineering student at the time.

Now a graduate student at UGA studying mechanical engineering, Curtis works with Davis to create models and test them in moving water, which can then be applied to real-life structures like drones, aircraft, rocket engines and other devices.

The tunnel, which Curtis calls a monster, stretches roughly 35 feet from one end of the lab to the other.

The tunnel towers over the researchers as they crank up the 125-horsepower electric motor that propels the water.

At the top of the tunnel is a glass box through which researchers can observe the test object. This allows researchers to see flutters, vibrations or fish-like motions as the object interacts with the flow of water.

At 12 square inches, the test section in Davis’ water tunnel is twice the size of those found in other labs.

The tunnel measures the amount

of water flowing through this section every second. Most low-speed water tunnels can send about 1 to 3 meters of water through the test section per second, while high-speed water tunnels can send between 10 and 12 meters.

The tunnel in Davis’ lab is one of the fastest university-owned tunnels in the country, sending 11.3 meters of water from one end of the lab to the other. That’s about 275 gallons of water traveling 35 feet in one second.

The tunnel’s motor recirculates by pushing it through curved pipes in each corner called turning vanes. Then the water flows through a honeycomb structure that looks like a group of drinking straws that have been stacked and fused together.

“The different components are all designed to keep the flow and the test section as smooth as possible,” Curtis said.

After going through these tubes, the water reaches a bullhorn-shaped area called the contraction, which allows the water to flow smoothly into a smaller area before reaching the test section.

The tunnel is eco-friendly and has a mini pump that filters the water and removes debris, and a tank that can store about 800 gallons of water between experiments.

GRADY COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION

New lab gives students virtual reality experience

By Dayne Young dayne@uga.edu

Students at the University of Georgia Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication can now have hands-on experience with virtual and augmented reality. Grady College has opened the Virtual Environment Room and Gaming Experience lab to allow students and faculty members to engage in the VR world.

“VERGE allows students to experience a state-of-the-art lab and be able to better discuss what audiences and target markets are experiencing,” said Grace Ahn, advertising associate professor and VERGE co-director.

The lab features 15 immersive stations that allow up to 20 students to experience virtual reality at the same

time. Some stations are capable of full body tracking. Others simply require wearing goggles.

“Video games are starting to merge with other forms of storytelling, giving the audiences more opportunities to interact differently with the narratives we encounter,” said Shira Chess, entertainment and media studies assistant professor and VERGE co-director.

One popular station is Beat Saber, an immersive music game in which players slash boxes representing musical beats with light sabers. Other stations include virtual reality experiences in fishing and golf, among others.

Grady College professors expect upcoming VR advancements to include more mobile and wireless hardware systems.

“Businesses are already training

employees through virtual reality,” Ahn said. “We must open students’ eyes to see how they can relay messages and tell stories through the medium.”

Another advancement is the development of social VR, where users create avatars and interact with others from around the world.

“The exciting thing about VR and the VERGE lab is that we really don’t know where it is going, entirely,” said Chess. “It is a nascent form, and it is up to younger generations to redefine what storytelling might look like within this format.”

The VERGE lab will be used for undergraduate and graduate student research. Funded by the university’s student technology fund, it is located at Grady College Room 504 and will be primarily available to classes.

The University of Georgia climbed 12 spots to No. 28 in the 2019 College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlights the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences.

UGA researchers received more than $16.3 million in social and behavioral sciences funding in fiscal year 2017, the most current available data, making it the top-ranked school in the state.

The rankings are published by the Consortium of Social Science Associations, and they are based on data from the National Center for Science and Education Statistics’ Higher Education and Research Development Survey. COSSA uses an inclusive selection of fields representing the breadth of the social and behavioral sciences to calculate the total federal research and development funding received by universities.

Fund established at School of Law to honor late Chief Justice Hines

The School of Law has announced the establishment of the Be Kind Fund, in memory of the late Georgia S­upreme Court Chief Justice P. Harris Hines. The fund’s title is based on a frequent mantra of the late justice—“Be Kind”— and was initiated by the law school’s Board of Visitors—of which the late justice was a member—in consultation with the Hines family and School of Law Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge.

The fund will sponsor a Georgia jurist-inresidence, where a Georgia judge or justice will spend a period in residence at the School of Law teaching and interacting with students each year; support semester/summer fellowships for students, with preference given to those who will work or serve as judicial clerks at the Supreme Court of Georgia; and fund scholarship aid for law students.

Hines, who passed away Nov. 4, 2018, was appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court in 1995 by then-Gov. Zell Miller. He became presiding justice in 2013 and chief justice in 2017, and retired from the state’s highest court in August 2018.

Swimming and diving squads recognized for academic success

UGA’s swimming and diving squads have earned Scholar All-America Team status for the fall 2018 semester from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America.

The CSCAA selected a record 713 teams from 460 institutions for the status. The teams, which were picked by the CSCAA’s Scholar AllAmerica Committee on the basis of fall GPAs, are represented by 16,502 student-athletes.

To earn the designation, teams were required to post a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the fall and maintain a roster of 12 or more student-athletes.

The Bulldogs posted a team GPA of 3.35, while the Lady Bulldogs recorded a 3.05.

Eighty-nine percent of the teams in the CSCAA TYR Top 25 earned the honor. The Georgia women are ranked 11th, and the men are 12th.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and

biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

For a complete listing of events at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the web (calendar.uga.edu/­).

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified.

Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

EXHIBITION

UGAGUIDE

Put a Bird on It. Through March 3. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden.

The Reluctant Autocrat: Tsar Nicholas II. Through March 17.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Education of the Negro: A Depression Era Photographic Study by Dr. Horace Mann Bond. Through March 25. Special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. washnock@uga.edu.

reasons: they celebrate this state and region, they are well suited to this region’s growing conditions and they are the foundation of the complex ecosystem that supports insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. Learn about the plants that thrive in woodlands (and woodland gardens) and the efforts to protect and restore these disappearing habitats. $65. 8:45 a.m.

Garden Club of Georgia, Terrace Room, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6156. cscamero@uga.edu.

MONDAY, FEB. 4

UGAALERT TEST AND STATEWIDE SEVERE WEATHER DRILL In conjunction with the statewide severe weather drill, a full test of UGAAlert, the university’s emergency notification system, has been scheduled. Campus outdoor warning sirens will sound, and the UGA community should either pause to reflect upon where they would shelter in the event of an actual tornado warning or proceed to their building severe weather shelter locations to ensure that these locations are known by building occupants. For a list of severe weather shelter areas, visit www.prepare.uga.edu. Prior to the test, students, faculty and staff should review their contact information in the UGAAlert system to ensure that their personal contact information and their specific preferences for being notified are accurate.

Contact information may be checked at www.ugaalert.uga.edu.

9 a.m. 706-542-5845. prepare@uga.edu.

AFFORDABLE LEARNING INSTITUTE 2019 The Center for Teaching and Learning and UGA Libraries announce the second annual Affordable Learning Institute, which is designed to provide faculty with an overview of available open and affordable educational resources and support them in adopting and incorporating these resources into their courses.

Attendees also will have the chance to ask questions about the current Affordable Learning grants, such as the Affordable Learning Georgia Textbook Transformation Grants and the Provost’s Affordable Course Materials Grant. Coffee, tea and lunch provided. 8 a.m. 137 Tate Student Center. 706-542-1940. ahunt@uga.edu.

FACULTY PANEL DISCUSSION “To Participation Grade or Not.” Instructors want students to participate in the class and their own learning but often struggle with the best means to recognize and grade student participation: Is it attendance? Is it simply about speaking up in a discussion? Is it about quality vs. quantity? Can students truly contribute to the class and their own learning if they are not talking during discussions? These are some of the questions a panel of faculty experts will address along with discussions of their own methods for encouraging, recognizing and grading undergraduate student participation. 9 a.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-0534. zoe.morris@uga.edu.

Stony the Road We Trod. Through April 28. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Fighting Spirit: Wally Butts and UGA Football, 1939-1950.

Through May 10. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu.

Out of the Darkness: Light in the Depths of the Sea of Cortez.

Through Oct. 27. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817. hazbrown@uga.edu.

TUESDAY, FEB. 5 WORKSHOP The Georgia Botanical Garden Workshop is an opportunity for botanical gardens across the state to share experiences and ideas on current topics in public garden operations. This event is meant to promote awareness and fellowship within the Georgia public garden community through a collaborative forum that encourages communication. Proceeds from the event will sponsor the admittance of small gardens to Botanic Gardens Conservation International, an independent organization well known for its commitment to the conservation of the world’s threatened plants. This workshop will be held the day before the State Botanical Garden’s annual Native Plant Symposium, which will also highlight ongoing work with plant communities across Georgia. Discounts will be available to individuals interested in attending both events. $65. 10 a.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. cscamero@uga.edu.

ECOLOGY SEMINAR “What Lurks in the Shallows: Drivers of Disease Risk in Amphibians,” Jason Hoverman, associate professor of vertebrate ecology, Purdue University. Reception follows seminar at 4:30 p.m. in the ecology building lobby. 3:30 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building. 706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

READING The Creative Writing Program will present a reading by author Chika Unigwe. A Nigerian writer who now lives in the U.S., Unigwe is the author of four novels as well as numerous short stories and essays. Her books include The Phoenix, On Black Sisters’ Street, Night Dancer and The Black Messiah. In 2014, she was selected for the Hay Festival’s Africa39 list of 39 SubSaharan African writers younger than age 40 with potential and talent to define future trends in African literature. 7 p.m. Cine.

706-542-2659. cwp@uga.edu.

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6 NATIVE PLANT SYMPOSIUM Growing and protecting native plants are important for many

DISEASE ECOLOGY SEMINAR “A Unified Framework for Examining Trophic Cascades Mediated by Natural Enemies,” Jason Hoverman, associate professor of vertebrate ecology, Purdue University. Lunch will be served to those who RSVP. 12:20 p.m. Conference Room 104, Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases. 706-542-1930. tross312@uga.edu.

TOUR AT TWO Tour of highlights from the permanent collection led by docents. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

FILM SCREENING Mary Frances Early: The Quiet Trailblazer, narrated by journalist Monica Kaufman Pearson, chronicles Early’s integral role in the campaign for racial equality that helped open the door of educational opportunity for generations of African Americans at the University of Georgia. The film traces Early’s struggle as a central figure in the desegregation of the University of Georgia and her triumph as the first African American to earn a degree on Aug. 16, 1962. Using an array of archival materials, collections of personal papers, news coverage, along with personal interviews, the documentary also covers Early’s formative years and illuminates her academic and professional achievements. 5 p.m. Tate Theater, Tate Student Center. 706-583-8195. diverse@uga.edu.

THURSDAY, FEB. 7 HOLMES-HUNTER LECTURE Veteran television journalist and broadcaster Monica Kaufman Pearson, the first African American to anchor an Atlanta-area evening newscast, will present the 2019 Holmes-Hunter Lecture. Named in honor of Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes, the first African American students to attend UGA, the lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President and focuses on race relations, civil rights and education. It has been held annually since 1985. 2 p.m. Chapel.

WORKSHOP Diversity statements are living documents that allow

Farruquito will perform traditional flamenco on the Hodgson Concert Hall stage at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15.

By Clay Chastain wclay87@uga.edu

Performances of In the Blood will be held Feb. 15-16 and 19-23 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 17 and 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the Cellar Theatre of UGA’s Fine Arts Building.

instructors to reflect on their conceptualization of and contributions to diversity and inclusion in the context of their teaching, service and research. Diversity statements may be a required component of a job application for teaching positions, whether as a stand-alone document or as part of a teaching portfolio. In “Crafting an Academic Diversity Statement Part 1,” instructors will discuss the purpose of a diversity statement and typical components to include. Attendees also will engage in activities to help start writing a diversity statement. All participants are encouraged to sign up for the second workshop at 2 p.m. on Feb. 21. 2 p.m. M.A.L.L., Instructional Plaza. 706-542-0534. zoe.morris@uga.edu.

FRIDAY, FEB. 8 MORNING MINDFULNESS The Georgia Museum of Art invites participants into the galleries to take part in free, guided mindfulness meditation sessions, held every other Friday during the school year. Sessions include a variety of instructor-led meditation, movement and mindfulness techniques. No experience or special clothing is necessary.

Meditation pillows or stools are provided. Reservations, which are encouraged, can be made by phone (706-542-8863) or email (sagekincaid@uga.edu). 9:30 a.m. Georgia Museum of Art. WOMEN’S STUDIES FRIDAY SPEAKER SERIES “Clementine Hunter’s Speculative Visions: Re-inscribing Black Women’s Geographies into Rural Space,” Lea Johnson, UGA Press and University of California San Diego. 12:20 p.m.

250 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-2846. tlhat@uga.edu.

Guest artist Martin Damien Wilkins is set to direct UGA Theatre’s production of In the Blood.

Performances will be held Feb. 15-16 and 19-23 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 17 and 24 at 2:30 p.m. in the Cellar Theatre of UGA’s Fine Arts Building. Tickets are $16 or $12 for UGA students and can be purchased online at www.ugatheatre.com/blood, via phone at 706-542-4400, or in person at the Performing Arts Center or Tate Center box offices.

Originally published in 1999, playwright SuzanLori Parks’ In the Blood is a modern reimagining of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter that transposes its own version of Hester Prynne to modern-day America. Hawthorne’s Prynne is a puritan in 17thcentury Massachusetts Bay, and on the surface seems worlds apart from the play’s Hester, who is a homeless, illiterate woman struggling to survive in New York while trying to raise five children. In their different times and places, however, the characters are forced to contend with the challenges presented by poverty, discrimination and oppression.

UGA Theatre invited Wilkins to bring Parks’ play to life as the first show of the spring 2019 season.

Wilkins, who recently received best director honors at the 2018 Suzi Bass Awards, is no stranger to the playwright’s work, having directed her play Father Comes Home From the Wars for Actor’s Express in 2017.

“Suzan-Lori Parks was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama and is widely recognized as one of America’s greatest living

talk also will consider how other activities such as presentation assignments, research projects and design projects might be used productively in courses to engage students more deeply in course content and approaches. 8:45 a.m. 277 special collections libraries. 706-542-1261. lharding@uga.edu.

90 CARLTON: WINTER 2019 The Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art present a reception featuring the winter exhibitions. Enjoy light refreshments, gallery activities, door prizes and “Ask the Experts” from 7-8 p.m. Event partners: Athens Printing Company, Barrons Rental Center, Epting Events and Guide 2 Athens. Become a member of the museum at the event for complimentary admission. RSVP to gmoarsvp@uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4199.

Register at bit.ly/90c-winter2019. Free for members; $5 suggested donation for nonmembers. 5:30 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art.

TERRY LEADERSHIP SPEAKER SERIES Feb. 13. Mark Spain, chairman and CEO of Mark Spain Real Estate, is an Atlanta native and a University of Georgia graduate from the Terry College of Business. Spain is a secondgeneration agent and developed a zeal for customer service after watching his dad in business. He created a company that believes in the relationship over the transaction and focuses on the people it served. In 2017, Mark Spain Real Estate sold a record $550 million in real estate, helping 2,318 clients sell or purchase a home. In June 2018, MSRE was honored with the No. 1 ranking in the U.S. for closed transactions as advertised

by The Wall Street Journal. MSRE has five locations in Georgia, two locations in North Carolina and one location in Tennessee.

10:10 a.m. 271 special collections libraries. 706-542-7990. adavis@uga.edu.

SATURDAY, FEB. 9 WORKSHOP Become a certified cardio sport instructor with this high-energy group training program. $250. 9 a.m. Studio D, Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-8023. lisawilliamson@uga.edu.

WORKSHOP The Northeast Georgia Orchid Society is leading this orchid lecture and hands-on workshop where attendees can bring up to two plants and containers and work with an expert to repot their plants. The repotting workshop will be in the morning followed by a lunch and lecture in the afternoon. Workshop begins at 10 a.m.; lecture begins at 1 p.m. $25 for workshop only; $15 for lecture only; $40 for both with lunch included. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-1244. garden@uga.edu.

By Bobby Tyler

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Florida. $5. Noon. Stegeman Coliseum.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.

to share the purest form of flamenco on stages all around the world.

“With this new performance, I will unveil my most personal side, staying true to traditional roots while also presenting the current state of flamenco, as I see it,” said Farruquito about the show he’s bringing to Athens. “This performance is an original creation of music, lyrics and choreography. Every person who sings, plays an instrument or dances is a protagonist in this show. All of them unite, like the beautiful colored threads that come together to create the spectacular shawl of flamenco.”

Tickets for the performance start at $30 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. A limited number of discounted tickets are available to current UGA students for $6 and $10 with a valid UGA ID (limit one ticket per student).

A pre-performance talk, which is open to the public, will be given at 6:45 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall.

Hodgson Concert Hall and Ramsey Concert Hall are in the UGA Performing Arts Center at 230 River Road.

SUNDAY, FEB. 10

SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT TOUR Tour of highlights from the permanent collection led by docents. 3 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

COMING UP FRIENDS OF THE GARDEN LECTURE Feb. 12. About 250,000 people attend the annual Philadelphia Flower Show. Last year, Connie Cottingham and Pat Brusack were two of those people on two separate trips. They each will share their favorite exhibits in the show, share tips on how to the get the most from the show, what to avoid and recommend nearby attractions. Light reception before the talk provided by the Friends of the Garden. $10; free for Friends of the Garden.

6:30 p.m. Visitor Center, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6014. connicot@uga.edu.

WORKSHOP Feb. 13. “Writing, Engagement and Critical Thinking: Using Writing to Enhance Student Learning.” Mike Palmquist will explore the connections among writing, critical thinking and student learning, with a focus on strategies that emerge from the writing-across-the-curriculum movement. In addition to exploring the connections between critical thinking and writing, this

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date.

Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

playwrights,” said David Saltz, head of the theatre and film studies department in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. “And Martin Wilkins is one of the most sought-after and creative young directors in the Southeast. With his deep familiarity with Parks’ work, he is the ideal director to tackle this amazing play.”

Wilkins is working with a team of undergraduates and graduates to craft the upcoming production. Junior business management and theatre major Kasey Freeman will take on the challenging lead role of Hester, a role that she describes as quite personal to her.

“Hester reminds me of my own mom,” Freeman said. “She is a black, single mother who tries her best to provide for the children she loves dearly. The amount of strength and courage it takes to raise children by yourself as a black woman is difficult to imagine.”

Undergraduate scenic designer Maddie Walsh has worked closely with Wilkins and scenic design associate professor Julie Ray to craft an abstract set that reflects the urban dystopia that constitutes Hester’s life.

“Incorporating abstract elements proved difficult at first because I wanted to convey a somewhat realistic overhanging structure for the bridge, for example,” Walsh said. “I am very proud of the strides I have made as an artist during this project.”

For Saltz, productions like In the Blood present myriad opportunities for theater students.

“The play allows us to show off the strengths of the department as a whole, giving our students the chance to work and learn alongside professional artists and one another to create an electric experience for audiences that speaks directly to some of the most pressing issues of the day,” he said.

PHILOSOPHY COLLOQUIUM “Metaphysics and Radical Empiricism in William James: Setting up a Pluralistic Principle of Toleration,” J. Edward Hackett, Savannah State University. 3:30 p.m. 115 Peabody Hall.

706-542-2823.

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Ole Miss. $15. 1 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

The passion and artistry of flamenco will fill the stage when UGA Presents brings Farruquito to Athens on Feb. 15. The flamenco star will be joined by a troupe of dancers, singers and musicians for a 7:30 p.m. performance in Hodgson Concert Hall.

Heir to a renowned Gypsy flamenco dynasty, Farruquito has been called “the greatest flamenco dancer of this century” by The New York Times.

His first international stage appearance was at age 4 when he appeared on Broadway alongside his grandfather, “El Farruco,” in the hit show Flamenco Puro.

In 2001, he was named “the best artist to have set foot in the Big Apple” (The New York Times) after his performance of La Len Varo at the Flamenco Festival. He then embarked on a cross-country tour of the U.S. where critics hailed not only his talent as a dancer but also his personality and stage presence. The editors of People magazine selected him as one of the world’s 50 most beautiful people.

A native of Seville, Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya “Farruquito” has made it his life’s mission

4&5

Curtain to rise Feb. 15 on UGA Theatre’s production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ ‘In the Blood’

Farruquito to bring flamenco music, dance to Hodgson Concert Hall performance btyler@uga.edu

columns.uga.edu Feb. 4, 2019

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

WORKSHOP Feb. 13. Mike Palmquist will explore the ways in which writing across the curriculum activities—writing to learn, writing to engage and writing to communicate—can support active teaching and learning in courses across the disciplines. Participants can expect to leave the workshop with an understanding of key approaches, the role these approaches can play in supporting active teaching and learning, and the role they can play in supporting the development of learners’ critical thinking skills. Hands-on activities will ask participants to apply these approaches to current or planned courses. Participants should expect to leave with one or more activities they might use in their courses. 11:15 a.m. Reading Room, Miller Learning Center.

706-542-1261. lharding@uga.edu.

TOUR AT TWO Feb. 13. Shawnya Harris, the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art, will give a tour of the exhibition Stony the Road We Trod. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

DISCUSSION Feb. 13. This informal event is an opportunity for administrators and program directors to brainstorm, strategize and troubleshoot efforts to enhance writing across the University of Georgia’s undergraduate curriculum. Join Mike Palmquist and others engaged in curriculum change efforts here at UGA to plan and prepare to better support student writers across campus. 3 p.m.

Library, Park Hall. 706-542-1355. lharding@uga.edu.

VALENTINE’S DINNER Feb. 14. Share a romantic dinner and drinks under the stars in a tropical conservatory with live piano music. Every couple goes home with a blooming orchid plant. There will be two seatings for the event: 5:30 p.m. in the Gardenside Room and 7:30 p.m. in the Great Room. Registration closes at noon on Feb. 6. $75 per person. State Botanical Garden. 706-542-1244. garden@uga.edu.

HEART HEALTH MONTH: YOGA FOR TWO Feb. 14. Bring a partner for Valentine’s Day Yoga for Two. At least one partner must be a fitness pass holder. If second partner is not a pass holder, they must purchase a Ramsey guest pass or a one-class fitness pass to attend. $6 without a fitness pass (must be a Ramsey member). 8 p.m.

Mind/Body Studio, Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-8023. lisawilliamson@uga.edu.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES Feb. 6 (for Feb. 18 issue) Feb. 13 (for Feb. 25 issue) Feb. 20 (for March 4 issue)

6 Feb. 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu

FACULTY PROFILE

Sean Poppy, outreach program coordinator at UGA’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, has been awarded the South Carolina Environmental Awareness Award.

David Wilson, the acting director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, presented the award to Poppy at a recent ceremony in Columbia, South Carolina.

Sean Poppy Established in 1992 by the South Carolina General Assembly, the award recognizes outstanding contributions made toward the protection, conservation and improvement of the state’s natural resources. An awards committee comprised of representatives from South Carolina’s natural resource agencies reviews nominations that are submitted from the public.

The committee considers innovation, leadership and accomplishments that influence positive changes that affect the natural environment.

Poppy conducts more than 300 presentations a year to educate the public about the natural e­ cosystems of South Carolina and Georgia, ­including wildlife. His animal-featured presentations reach nearly 40,000 individuals, including students and K-12 educators.

For Brock Woodson’s work to impact learning and retention rates by incorporating “flipped classroom” practices into his teaching, he shared a 2015 UGA Creative Teaching Award with Siddharth Savadatti, a lecturer in the College of Engineering. Woodson’s “flipped classroom” model is now used by all instructors who teach fluid mechanics in the college.

Sarah DeYoung, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the university’s College of Public Health and its Institute for Disaster Management, has been selected as the new section editor for humanitarian and crisis research at the peer-reviewed, open access journal Global Pediatric Health.

DeYoung was selected for the position from a pool of more than 100 applicants.

Sarah DeYoung DeYoung’s expertise broadly focuses on protective action decision-making in disasters, as well as policy change after disasters.

Her specific research areas include pet evacuation, refugee well-being, hazard warnings, disaster preparedness and infant feeding in emergencies.

Global Pediatric Health focuses on health issues of children common to all regions of the world.

The journal aims to share medical information from an international perspective that will help physicians, health care workers, public officials and other relevant personnel in many geographic areas recognize and solve similar problems related to pediatric health.

The journal’s humanitarian and crisis research section covers topics related to pediatric care and health in disasters and crisis scenarios.

Tim Coolong, vegetable horticulturist in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, received the Donnie H. Morris Award of Excellence in Extension during the recent Southeast Regional Fruit and Vegetable Conference in Savannah. The annual award is presented by the Georgia Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association to a UGA Cooperative Extension employee for contributions Tim Coolong made to the Georgia fruit and vegetable industries and is named for Donnie Morris, a blueberry grower in Baxley and past president of the association.

Coolong has worked with more than 25 different vegetables, ranging from popular crops like watermelons and peppers to obscure commodities like kalettes, a cross between kale and brussels sprouts.

Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.

Dorothy Kozlowski

Faculty member’s research cuts across academic disciplines

By Mike Wooten

mwooten@uga.edu

A conversation with engineering professor Brock Woodson can lead in some unexpected directions, including discussions about Spanish explorers and ancient Roman art. While these topics seemingly have little in common with engineering, they illustrate the way Woodson’s research cuts across academic disciplines.

“My work is inherently interdisciplinary,” said Woodson, an associate professor in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. “I rarely work with just engineers. I work with social scientists and ecologists and oceanographers and population dynamics scientists, even members of fishing communities.”

Woodson studies the sustainability of marine ecosystems. He’s particularly interested in how the ocean environment affects how animals interact with each other, and in turn, how those interactions affect how humans interact with the ocean environment.

In 2018, Woodson and his colleagues published a study in Nature Communications that offered a new approach to exploring and predicting the structure of ocean ecosystems.

“Just coming into problems like those with an engineering background you have a very different perspective of how things might work and how systems fit together,” he said. “At the

same time, to understand some of these systems, I work on a range of projects from instrumentation development to numerical model development to try to understand some of these complex interactions.”

Woodson traces his love of the outdoors and the ocean to summers spent on Alabama’s Dauphin Island, where his aunt and uncle owned a beach house. Although he considered studying marine ecology in college, a penchant for math and science led him to Georgia Tech where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering.

“Then, I spent the next 10 years trying to figure out how to make engineering do what I wanted it to do,” Woodson joked.

After working for a few years as a design engineer for an architectural fountain firm (working at times with Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam War Memorial), he returned to Georgia Tech to purse his doctorate.

It was there his drive to conduct ocean research connected with his engineering expertise, and he was able to apply the science of fluid dynamics to ocean and fisheries questions.

Following postdoctoral work at the University of Hawaii and time at Stanford University as a research engineer, Woodson joined the newly formed College of Engineering at UGA in January 2013.

“What really intrigued me

FACTS C. Brock Woodson

Associate Professor College of Engineering Ph.D., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005 M.S., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1999 B.S., Civil Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1998 At UGA: Six years

about coming to UGA was the ­interdisciplinary aspects of the college,” he said. “I was specifically looking for that forward-thinking, interdisciplinary atmosphere.”

Woodson brings a similar forwardthinking approach to his teaching in the College of Engineering. He revamped the college’s fluid mechanics course by introducing a “flipped classroom” model that also allows him to connect his research to his teaching.

“I get a lot more interaction with students,” he said. “I could almost— almost—teach a flipped classroom without giving exams because I know who understands the material and who is putting forth effort just by walking around the class and listening to students work through the material together. It’s pretty phenomenal.”

OBITUARY

Lothar Tresp

Lothar Leo Tresp, professor emeritus of history and director emeritus of the Honors Program, died Jan. 22 at age 91.

Born in Ortelsburg, East Prussia, on March 4, 1927, he attended public schools in his hometown and the Herman Lietz School on the Frisian Island of Spiekeroog, where, at age 15, he and his fellow students were drafted to auxiliary military service for anti-aircraft duty. He was subsequently called up to regular military service in the German Wehrmacht and was wounded during combat in East Prussia in February 1945.

After World War II, he continued his education at the Herman Lietz School in Bieberstein, Germany, the Philosophical and Theological College in Regensburg, Germany, and the University of Wurzburg. In 1950, he

received a Fulbright Scholarship for one year of study at the University of Georgia, where he met Lucy Elizabeth Nickerson, his wife of 67 years. They were married in Lothar Tresp 1951, prior to Tresp’s return to Germany, where he completed work at the University of Wurzburg in 1952 for his doctorate in German history and German and English literature, graduating magna cum laude. That same year, he emigrated to the U.S. Tresp taught at various colleges in the Southeast prior to joining the faculty of UGA’s history department in 1957, where he taught for many years primarily in the area of modern

German and European history. He helped to establish UGA’s Honors Program and served as its director from 1967 until his retirement from the university in 1994. He also served as acting associate vice president for academic affairs from March 1979 to June 1980.

In addition to his wife, Lucy, Tresp is survived by one daughter, Lucy Anna Tresp Sheftall, and her husband, John McKay Sheftall, of Columbus; three grandchildren, Lucy Banks Sheftall of Los Angeles, California, John McKay Sheftall Jr., of Boston, Massachusetts, and Andrew Tresp Sheftall of Columbus; a sister-in-law, Regina Tresp of Hamburg, Germany; and a host of relatives, friends and former students.

Graveside services were held Jan. 26 at Oconee Hill Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to the UGA Honors Program or a charity of one’s choice.

COLLEGE OF ENVIRONMENT AND DESIGN

Deliberate design

columns.uga.edu Feb. 4, 2019

BUSINESS from page 1

CED professor manages global geodesign collaboration

By Melissa Tufts mtufts@uga.edu

Brian Orland, UGA’s Rado Family Foundation/UGAF Professor of Geodesign in the College of Environment and Design, is coordinating an initiative composed of more than 90 institutions worldwide designed to share design ideas on how to improve global infrastructure.

“Humans are changing the world’s geography,” said Orland. “We are aspiring to do it by design rather than happenstance, and in the process tackling some of the world’s most intractable problems, from the effects of rising tides to rapidly changing demographics caused by human migration.”

The International Geodesign Collaboration has a coordinating group comprised of researchers and practitioners at UGA, the University of Minnesota, University College London, Harvard University, the Environmental Systems Research Institute and GeoDesignHub, an international problem-solving technology platform based in Dublin, Ireland.

One goal of IGC is to bring together projects addressing challenges of changing geography across the planet and enable designers and planners to learn from the experiences of their contemporaries in other geographical, governmental and institutional settings.

Geodesign, according to Orland, is a design approach that uses digital mapping and inventory to help communities assess and shape their futures in ways that incorporate the systems that sustain them-a shared process that is the embodiment of systems thinking. Geodesign becomes the tool kit through mapping and spatial analytics. Digital maps are created to help people make critical decisions about everything from predicting flash floods, to cutting disease outbreaks and helping small coastal communities face the challenges of rising sea levels. People and communities across the globe are facing similar problems: Why not share resources and creativity in addressing them?

It is no accident that UGA created the first professorship of this kind anywhere in the world. Bruce Rado and Lawrie Jordan, 1970s alumni of UGA, both went on to Harvard where they studied with Carl Steinitz, one of the major early proponents of systems overlay design using computer-generated imagery.

Rado and Jordan subsequently founded

Dorothy Kozlowski

Brian Orland is coordinating an international initiative established to share innovative design ideas on how to improve global infrastructure.

ERDAS, a pioneering world leader in creating software for analysis and use of satellite imagery. Jack Dangermond, a colleague of Rado and Jordan’s at Harvard, was founder with his wife, Laura, of the Environmental Systems Research Institute, in Redlands, California. ESRI is the global market-leading geographic information system software company. Today, this constellation of colleagues is at the forefront of innovation in how people understand and address the planet’s changing character.

Using mapping and spatial analytics, digital maps are created to help people make critical decisions about everything from predicting flash floods to cutting disease outbreaks and helping small coastal communities face the challenges of rising sea levels. The convergence of these tools in a framework for deliberate design at geographic scale resulted in the coining of the term “geodesign.” Ten years later, ESRI continues to host an annual geodesign ­summit to celebrate and recognize advances in this new field.

Two years ago, at the Geodesign Summit, Orland and Steinitz, with the University of Minnesota’s Tom Fisher, realized that numerous practitioners and academics were engaged in innovative geodesign projects and wanted to learn from each other but needed a format or framework with a common language that would make it possible to compare a project in Saudi Arabia to one

WEEKLY READER

in Hong Kong or coastal Georgia. The IGC emerged from that discussion.

Using a common framework developed

by Steinitz, Orland and Fisher, 90 universities in 34 countries have completed projects in 37 countries. Each design project portrays discrete patterns of land-use change in a unified format, projecting planning needs for the next 15 to 35 years and taking into account projected global changes, such as climate, habitat and population changes.

This month, another gathering will take place in Redlands, California, to commence the process of gleaning points of contrast and commonality from the completed projects.

Topics they will explore include: Which landscape change systems received the most attention, or the least? How are the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals addressed by design solutions? Does scale play a dominant role in the choice of design approach?

Do interdisciplinary teams produce better design proposals?

UGA will be represented by CED faculty, including Rosanna Rivero, Alison Smith and Alfie Vick. They will make presentations about work done by them and their students. UGA’s project focuses on increasing Georgia’s coastal resilience as this rapidly developing area develops the infrastructure to sustain lives and livelihoods in the face of sea-level rise, increased storm severity and diminishing fresh water resources.

Charlotte, North Carolina; 5. Inspirion Biosciences, Frederick, Maryland; 6.

Sunnyboy Entertainment LLC, Pasadena, California; 7. XY Planning Network, Bozeman, Montana; 8. Ansley Atlanta Real Estate, Atlanta, Georgia; 9. BOS Security Incorporated, Athens, Georgia; and 10.

Robinson Key, Atlanta, Georgia.

“On Saturday, we celebrated a decade of recognizing more than 650 business leaders and the economic impact their businesses have had on our state and country.

The Bulldog 100 program continues to show both the power of small business as an economic driver as well as the amazing accomplishments of UGA alumni,” said Meredith Gurley Johnson, executive director of the UGA Alumni Association. “We are proud to celebrate their achievements.”

The Atlanta office of Warren Averett CPAs and Advisors partnered with the UGA Alumni Association to review nominated businesses’ financial records to determine the ranked list. Nominations were accepted between February and May 2018. Approximately 500 nominations were received for the 2019 Bulldog 100.

Each organization must have been in business since 2013, experienced revenues in excess of $100,000 for the calendar year 2014, and be owned or operated by a former UGA student who owns at least 50 percent of the company or is the CEO, president or managing partner.

The Bulldog 100 recognizes the fastestgrowing businesses regardless of size by focusing on a three-year compounded annual growth rate. The average compounded annual growth rate for this year’s Bulldog 100 businesses was 62 percent, a record high.

This year’s keynote speaker was Alan Masarek, CEO of Vonage and a 1982 graduate of UGA. Masarek is an innovator with deep experience in mobile, SMB and enterprise sectors, serving most recently as Google’s director of Chrome and apps.

Masarek also co-founded Quickoffice Inc., a two-time Bulldog 100 business, and served as its CEO from 2007 until 2012.

During the event, the UGA Alumni Association also presented the second annual Michael J. Bryan Award to 1983 graduate Ron Holt, CEO and founder of Two Maids and A Mop, in Birmingham, Alabama. Bryan, the co-founder and managing partner of Vino Venue and Atlanta Wine School in Dunwoody, passed away in 2017 after a long battle with cancer.

The award recognizes a returning Bulldog 100 honoree whose business has not only sustained growth, but also demonstrates entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to UGA that was a hallmark of Bryan.

CYBERSIGHTS

ABOUT COLUMNS

Book examines race in US film industry

The Hollywood Jim Crow: The Racial Politics of the Movie Industry

By Maryann Erigha New York University Press Paperback: $25

In The Hollywood Jim Crow, released Feb. 5, Maryann Erigha looks at the practices and biases that limit the production and circulation of movies directed by racial minorities.

She examines more than 1,300 contemporary films, specifically focusing on directors, to show the key elements at work in maintaining “the Hollywood Jim Crow.”

An assistant professor of sociology and African American studies in UGA’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Erigha exposes the key elements at work in maintaining Hollywood’s racial hierarchy, namely the relationship between genre and race, the ghettoization of black directors to black films and how blackness is perceived by the Hollywood producers and studios who decide what gets made and who gets to make it.

Erigha questions the notion that increased representation of African Americans behind the camera is the sole answer to the racial inequality gap. Instead, she suggests focusing on the obstacles to integration for African American film directors.

Columns is available to the community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts

Site details Black History Month events

https://msp.uga.edu/site/heritage_month_events/black_history_ month The University of Georgia will observe Black History Month 2019 with a variety of programs and activities across campus.

The website is coordinated

by Multicultural Services and

7

Programs, a department in the Division of Student Affairs.

It will display events and programs celebrating black history throughout the month of February.

Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Writers Kellyn Amodeo Leigh Beeson

The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

8 Feb. 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu PROVOST

from page 1

and included representatives of the faculty, staff, administrators, students and alumni.

The Parker Executive Search firm assisted the search.

Libby Morris, director of UGA’s Institute of Higher Education and the Zell Miller Distinguished Professor of Higher Education, is currently serving as interim provost.

The finalists, their titles and the dates of their campus presentations are listed below: • Jack Hu, vice president for research at the University of Michigan, will give his presentation on Feb. 11.

• Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University, will give her presentation on Feb. 7.

• Rahul Shrivastav, vice president for instruction at the University of Georgia, will give his presentation on Feb. 5.

• Elizabeth Spiller, dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis, will give her presentation on Feb. 13.

Hu, the vice president for research at the University of Michigan since 2014, also is the J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing in the College of Engineering.

He leads a $1.5 billion research enterprise that spans the university’s campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint. His accomplishments inJack Hu clude the development of Mcity—an initiative focused on connected and automated transportation—into a leading public-private partnership for research.

In addition, he has led the development of international collaborations in China, Israel and Germany.

Before serving in his current position, Hu was associate dean for academic affairs at Michigan’s College of Engineering.

From 2011 to 2014, he served as the university’s technical lead for the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, a White House initiative that develops recommendations on manufacturing technologies, shared infrastructure, education and policies to strengthen advanced manufacturing in the United States.

Hu earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

Schmittmann has served as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University since 2012, where she is also a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. As dean, Schmittmann is responsible for Iowa State’s most academically diverse college, with nearly Beate Schmittmann 700 faculty and more than 8,000 undergraduate and graduate students. She has led initiatives to enhance faculty scholarly productivity and strengthen engagement with external partners, and she currently co-chairs a committee of university leaders to improve service delivery at Iowa State.

Prior to her current position at Iowa State, Schmittmann served as professor and chair of the Department of Physics at Virginia Tech. She previously served as an assistant professor and research associate at the Institute for Theoretical Physics III at Heinrich-Heine Universität in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Schmittmann earned her Ph.D. in physics from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Shrivastav has served as UGA’s vice president for instruction since 2015. In that position, he oversees more than 20 offices and programs, ranging from admissions and financial aid to experiential learnRahul Shrivastav ing and academic advising. During his tenure at UGA, Shrivastav has led the development and implementation of a series of universitywide instructional initiatives to promote student success. He also played a key role on the Innovation District Task Force and continues to serve on the Innovation District Launch Team.

Before coming to UGA, Shrivastav served as professor and chair in the Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders at Michigan State University. He also has served as an associate professor at the University of Florida and research scientist at the Brain Rehabilitation Center, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center in Gainesville, Florida. While in Florida, Shrivastav cofounded a startup company, Audigence Inc., that commercialized research from his laboratory. The technology developed by the company was licensed for exclusive use by Cochlear Ltd., based in Sydney, Australia, the global leader in cochlear technology.

Shrivastav earned his Ph.D. in speech and hearing sciences from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Spiller has served as the dean of the College of Letters and Science at the University of California, Davis, since 2017, overseeing the reintegration of Letters and Science into a unified college that is cohesive both administratively and intellectually.

(The college had been restructured into

three divisions in 1995.)

She also established a Faculty Council to support research initiatives and foster new collaborations.

Before coming to UC Davis, Spiller served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts Elizabeth Spiller and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech from 2014 to 2017. Over a three-year period, the college achieved a 59 percent increase in undergraduate applications and a 42 percent rise in incoming first-year students, reversing a seven-year decline. She served in previous positions at Florida State University, Texas Christian University and the University of North Texas.

Spiller earned her Ph.D. in English and American language and literature from Harvard University.

As the chief academic officer of the University of Georgia, the senior vice president for academic affairs and provost currently oversees instruction, research, public service and outreach, student affairs and information technology. The vice presidents of these five areas presently report to the provost, as do the deans of UGA’s 17 schools and colleges as well as the campus dean of the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership.

In addition, a vice provost, six associate provosts and several other academic units report to the provost, encompassing such areas of responsibility as academic fiscal affairs, academic planning, academic programs, faculty affairs, the Honors Program, institutional diversity, international education and the libraries.

For more information, see https:// president.uga.edu/office/provost_search/.

agriculture to robotics. The fastest-growing alumni-owned businesses are recognized each year through the Bulldog 100.

In the 2017-2018 academic year, which the latest economic impact study covers, more than 10,000 students earned bachelor’s and graduate degrees from UGA. Nearly two out of three UGA alumni live and work in Georgia, where they contribute to the economies, tax bases and social fabrics of communities across the state.

Federal grants and other external funding that advance the university’s Great Commitments of healthier people, a more secure future and stronger communities have grown by more than 34 percent in the past five years. Using economic modeling software known as IMPLAN, Dorfman estimated that every dollar of each federal and out-of-state research grant garnered by the university’s researchers generates two dollars of economic activity as those funds are spent on equipment and personnel.

More than 725 products based on UGA

research, including vaccines, crop varieties and software, have been introduced to the marketplace, and UGA was recently named the nation’s No. 1 university for the generation of new commercial products. University inventions have led to the formation of more than 175 companies, and programs such as the university’s Innovation Gateway and its I-CORPS program are helping to bring new companies to life.

As the state’s flagship land-grant and seagrant university, outreach is a core component of the University of Georgia’s mission.

UGA’s eight Public Service and Outreach units help communities create new jobs, develop the state’s leaders and solve critical challenges.

In the past five years, UGA’s 17 Small Business Development Center offices across the state helped create 1,763 new small businesses supporting 13,126 new jobs in Georgia.

In the past year alone, UGA Extension agents made 2.5 million contacts with individuals, families and farmers, offering

expertise in areas ranging from nutrition to managing costly agricultural pests and recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Michael.

Students play a role in the university’s service mission as well. Last year more than 6,300 students participated in servicelearning, though which they apply their classroom knowledge to community needs.

Through the Archway Partnership, students have participated in capstone projects focused on fields such as tourism, aerospace and health care. Overall, UGA students complete more than 500,000 hours of service in communities each year.

“Each component of the University of Georgia’s three-part mission of teaching, research and service contributes to our $6.3 billion economic impact,” said Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Libby V. Morris. “As an institution, we continue to seek new ways to contribute to the economic and community vitality of the state we serve.”

IMPACT from page 1 university’s teaching mission were calculated by assessing the increased earnings that graduates of the university’s schools and colleges receive. The impact of the university’s research mission was assessed by modeling the economic activity generated by federal, foundation and industry grants in fiscal year 2018, as well as revenues from the licensing of university inventions.

The impact of the university’s service mission was assessed by quantifying the increased productivity and job creation that results from the work of UGA Cooperative Extension agents and Public Service and Outreach units such as the Small Business Development Center.

To complement their classroom knowledge, each UGA student participates in hands-on learning through research, internships, study abroad and service. A growing number of students have enrolled in the university’s Entrepreneurship Program and have used the knowledge they’ve gained to launch businesses in fields ranging from

INFORMATICS from page 1 Fellowship program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, emphasizes expertise in population and public health informatics while preparing fellows for the full range of opportunities in clinical informatics.

Over the course of the two-year program, trainees will be exposed to a variety of real-world informatics experiences during their clinical rotations. In association with each clinical rotation, fellows will complete a series of practicums. Topics will include business and finance, satisfaction and quality improvement, privacy and security, population health, information sharing and connectivity, and clinical decision support.

“The Clinical Informatics Fellowship is complementary to the graduate medical education programs we already offer here in Athens,” said Dr. Michelle Nuss, AU/ UGA Medical Partnership campus dean.

“We are excited to expand our program

with this fellowship opportunity to new and practicing physicians to better equip them for the challenges of practicing medicine in the 21st century.”

The Clinical Informatics Fellowship is closely affiliated with the College of Public Health’s Health Informatics Institute, and fellows will have various opportunities to get involved in ongoing scholarly projects at the college.

“This program will expand our commitment to health informatics research and training, and to improving the health of all Georgians,” said College of Public Health interim Dean Marsha Davis.

The fellowship program is open to physicians trained and board certified in at least one other board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

Upon completion of the program, fellows are prepared for board certification in clinical informatics through the American Board of Preventative Medicine.

Bulletin Board University Woman’s Club

The University Woman’s Club will hold its next general meeting Feb. 12 in the Fellowship Hall of Alps Road Presbyterian Church, 380 Alps Road.

Guest speaker for the program, which will begin at 11:30 a.m., is Carol Reeves, artistic director for the Georgia Children’s Chorus.

Tickets for the spring luncheon also will be available for purchase.

WIP proposal deadline

The Franklin College Writing Intensive Program invites proposals from arts and sciences faculty in all disciplines for innovative courses that encourage writing.

The WIP aims to enhance undergraduate education by emphasizing the

importance of writing in the disciplines by offering “writing-intensive” courses throughout the college—from classics to chemistry.

Faculty who teach WIP courses are supported by a Writing Intensive Program teaching assistant, who is specially trained in writing-in-thedisciplines pedagogy.

Visit www.wip.uga.edu to find proposal forms and guidelines, as well as information about the program.

The deadline for proposal submissions is March 10. Direct questions to Lindsey Harding, WIP director, at lharding@uga.edu.

Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

SPECIAL SECTION • FEBRUARY 4, 2019

january 30, 2019 | the chapel | university of georgia

G

ood afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Chapel.

It is great to be here with all of you in this beautiful setting. My thanks to you, Roya, for that kind introduction.

I appreciate all that you are doing to represent the University of Georgia, and I count myself among the many on this campus who are excited to watch your bright future unfold after graduation this spring.

In preparing for my remarks today, I spent some time reviewing the first State of the University Address I delivered.

It is hard to believe that I have been in office for more than five and half years now.

Time flies, I suppose, when you are doing what you love, at a place you love, alongside talented people who are among the best at what they do. That has certainly been the case for me.

Standing on this stage today, I can honestly say that I am more optimistic about the future of our great University than I have ever been. By the end of my speech, I think you will know why.

In my first address, I said that for the University of Georgia to reach new heights of excellence, we must first ask—and answer—two important questions: • What is the current state of the University of Georgia?

• What do we want the University of Georgia to become in the future?

I answered the first question in unwavering terms: the state of the University of Georgia is strong. The answer to the second question about the future was also straightforward: we want to become one of America’s best universities—that is our ambition, our aspiration. Let us return to those questions today. They can help us evaluate our progress and assess our current trajectory.

• Have we grown stronger as a university?

• Have we made headway toward becoming one of the nation’s best institutions of higher learning?

• If so, has the time come to identify new aspirations for the future and a roadmap to get us there?

Let us take a look together, and let us begin, where our mission begins, with our students.

tr ansforming our learning en vironment

W

hen I took office, we imagined a university where students learn and succeed at the highest levels—where course content meets real-world problems and passion and drive to make a difference find guidance and opportunity.

We imagined a university with a superior learning environment.

That university, my friends, is a reality today. Sixty-eight

• measures to expand active learning by transforming courses and classrooms; • a pioneering experiential learning requirement to give students more opportunities to connect coursework to the world around us; • the Double Dawgs program to provide pathways for our students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years or less; • a campus-wide entrepreneurship program to help our students turn their bright ideas into successful business and nonprofit ventures; and • Delta Hall in Washington, DC and the new Science Learning Center and Business Learning Community in Athens.

delivered by

President Jere W. Morehead January 30, 2019 The Chapel

university of georgia

percent of our students now finish in four years, an all-time high for this institution. Eighty-six percent finish in six years or less—also a record high. These metrics, however, tell only part of the story.

Not only are our students finishing in record time, they also are landing jobs and positions in graduate school like never before. In fact, a staggering 96 percent of our students are employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months after graduation—another record high, I might add.

The value of a UGA education is greater than ever, and it will only continue to rise.

Make no mistake—these results did not occur by chance.

Such progress took strategy. It took hard work and dedication. It took a community—this community—embracing a commitment to put students first.

Consider for a moment the many programs and initiatives we have launched together to enhance the learning environment for students, including: • hiring efforts to reduce class sizes and strengthen academic advising;

Of course, we cannot forget the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, which has created 350 need-based scholarships since its inception two years ago. That is approximately 14 new scholarships created each month— what an incredible display of generosity by our alumni and friends.

These are endowed scholarships, and they will provide grants every year—for the life of the institution—and support thousands upon thousands of students for generations to come. The list of new initiatives could go on, but I will pause.

I hope my point is clear, and that is: working together, we are transforming the learning environment. We are changing the lives of our students. We are proving that the future of public higher education in America is being molded right here, where it began, at the University of Georgia.

It should be no wonder that our national ranking among public universities, whether on quality or value, is climbing and that applications to the University are surging—reaching 29,300 this year—another all-time high and a 40 percent increase over five years. These applications are from the best and brightest students in this state and across the nation.

Each of the last five years, the University has enrolled an increasingly more talented class of first-year students. The most recent class enrolled with an average high school GPA of 4.0 and an average ACT score of 30.

We have made all of this progress, for our students, in just five years. Imagine what we might be able to achieve over the next five. I will share more on that point later, but first I want to talk about our growing impact on the state and the world.

growing our impact on the state and the world

W

hen I became President, we envisioned a university that would be more and do more for the citizens of CONTINUED on page B

the 2019 state of the university

B Feb. 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu CONTINUED from page A

Georgia and beyond—a place where research and scholarship flow freely into society, improving quality of life and expanding the boundaries of human understanding; a place known for training leaders, for creating jobs, for helping to solve the problems that matter most to our communities.

We envisioned a university whose land-grant tradition was not just a talking point but a catalyst for action.

I believe we have become that university. Our annual economic impact on the state is now estimated at $6.3 billion—yes, another record high. What is more, each year our students complete over 500,000 hours of service, supporting causes ranging from pediatric health care to food insecurity.

Consider the magnitude of that number. That is a big impact on individuals, families, and communities, and it does not include the countless hours of service by our dedicated faculty and staff every year.

With a tradition of service dating back more than two centuries, society should expect no less from the University of Georgia.

Our research enterprise is flourishing as well. Total research and development expenditures rose to $453 million last year, an increase of nearly 30 percent over five years.

For the fifth consecutive year, we ranked in the top five among American universities for driving new products into the marketplace. We landed in the number one spot this year, with more than 50 products based on faculty research hitting the market, many of which support the state’s allimportant agricultural industry.

These are clear signs of our expanding impact and our growing presence on the world stage, but these achievements, like those mentioned earlier, did not happen by chance.

They happened because outstanding faculty, staff, and students have committed countless hours of tireless work to make them happen and because the University has invested its resources strategically.

We have launched, for example, numerous hiring initiatives to grow the ranks of leading scientists and scholars, adding six Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholars along the way. We have renovated labs across campus to support expanding research programs and activate new areas of inquiry. Our investment in this important area was particularly strong over the past year.

We also have built world-class facilities to advance research in veterinary medicine, infectious diseases, and agricultural science, among other areas of vital importance to Georgia and the world. The new home for the Center for Molecular Medicine is an excellent example of our efforts.

Construction of a nearly 100,000 square foot interdisciplinary STEM research building is now moving forward, made possible by $39 million in funding from the state.

This new facility is scheduled to open in 2021.

We also have put in place many new programs to connect the University’s academic resources with the needs of our society. CyberArch and the Georgia Certified Economic Developer program are great examples of state-level initiatives.

The Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program, more global in scope, is another case in point. The roughly $1.3 million in seed grants awarded through this program led to nearly $13 million in new external funding for faculty research—a remarkable 10 to 1 return on investment.

Because of that success, today I am renewing the program with another investment of central funds. The goals of the program remain the same: to encourage new interdisciplinary partnerships around the grand challenges of our time and to generate new external funding to support our growing research productivity. Application and award information will be provided in the coming days.

I also want to recognize the critical role of alumni and friends in boosting our research enterprise. As part of the Commit to Georgia fundraising campaign, they have helped to establish 71 endowed chairs and professorships to advance the research of some of our most creative and prolific faculty members. The total number of endowed positions now sits at a record 298, an increase of more than 30 percent.

Alumni and friends have responded to our campaign priorities with unprecedented enthusiasm—setting five fundraising records in five years, including last year’s historic total of $242 million—and because of their generosity and commitment, we are on our way to surpassing the $1.2 billion campaign goal set for June 2020.

building our community

I

am sure you have noticed throughout this speech my repetitive use of phrases like “record high” and “all-time high.” When you look across the key performance indicators, a compelling narrative emerges of unprecedented growth and achievement.

But there is another storyline sitting just below the surface, and that is a story about the power of community— about all that can be accomplished when a diverse group of people, united by place and vision, join together to raise an organization to new heights of excellence, to improve lives, and to change the world.

Behind every record high, behind every jump in the rankings, you will see an interconnected family of faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends who love the University of Georgia.

The success of our institution is testament—above all else—to the strength of our community, the Bulldog Nation, including faculty who are inspired to create, innovate, and discover; staff, mission-centered and devoted to the highest standards of excellence; students who are passionate to learn, lead, and serve; and alumni and friends, ever loyal and deeply generous.

All of you are the University of Georgia, and our achievements are your achievements. Our progress is your progress.

As President, I could not be more honored to work alongside you and to watch you fashion a new era of greatness for this institution and expand our impact around the globe.

Without a doubt: you are—and always will be—the University’s most valuable resource. So let me express my deepest appreciation to the faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends who make the University of Georgia the very special place that it is. Thank you.

I also want to take a moment to recognize one of the University’s finest administrators: our Interim Provost,

the 2019 state of the university

• A pioneering experiential learning requirement to give students more opportunities to connect coursework to the world around us.

• The Double Dawgs program to provide pathways for students to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in five years or less.

• A campus-wide entrepreneurship program to help students turn their bright ideas into successful business and nonprofit ventures.

• Measures to expand active learning by transforming courses and classrooms.

• Hiring efforts to reduce class sizes and s trengthen academic advising.

columns.uga.edu Feb. 4, 2019

C

gram geared toward underrepresented first-year students.

The All Georgia Program, which provides tailored resources and support to our students from rural parts of the state, is another great example. The Benham Scholars Program, housed in the Law School, also comes to mind, with its focus on increasing diversity in the legal profession.

These are just a few examples of the efforts we have made.

Are we where we want to be? No, not yet, but I believe we are making steady progress. This progress must continue if we want to realize our full potential as a public land-grant university.

That is why today I am announcing phase two of the New Approaches to Diversity grant program. This program was introduced in fall 2017 to spur new initiatives that promote the recruitment, retention, and success of underserved students. The response to the program was overwhelmingly positive. Grants were awarded to launch more than 20 projects across campus.

Phase two of the program will award grants in two categories. A portion of the funds will be designated for the continuation of projects from the first phase that have demonstrated the greatest promise for impact as well as a sustainable funding model.

The remaining funds will be allocated for the development of new initiatives to enhance the academic experience of underrepresented, first-generation, rural, and other underserved students. Application instructions will be made available next month, and I hope to see another round of strong proposals.

shaping our future

L

et us come full circle to two questions I posed at the beginning of my address: • Are we stronger today, as a university, than we were five years ago?

• Have we become one of the nation’s best institutions of higher education?

From my vantage point, the answers are resoundingly clear. Yes, we are stronger. Yes, we have become one of the nation’s best. So where do we go from here?

One of my favorite quotes comes from the great 19th century American thinker and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was speaking to the Harvard chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society in 1837 when he said: “This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.”

Clearly it is a very good time at the University of Georgia, but what do we do with it?

In late November, I charged a 30-person committee to answer that very question. The committee, which is being led by six deans and coordinated jointly by the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost, is developing a new strategic plan for the University.

The plan will guide us from 2020, when the current plan expires, to 2025. It will ensure that the great momentum I have described today continues into the future—that we avoid the trap of complacency and remain focused on advancing our noble mission and expanding our impact.

The plan will consist of measurable goals related to three mission-centered strategic directions: • promoting excellence in teaching and learning; • growing research, innovation, and entrepreneurship; and • strengthening partnerships with communities in Georgia and around the world.

Dr. Libby Morris. Libby has made tremendous sacrifices to return to the interim role for a second time.

She is once again demonstrating exemplary leadership, effectively balancing the demands of the Provost’s Office with many other ongoing responsibilities. She is a leader among leaders on this campus, and I ask everyone to join me in thanking Dr. Morris for her selfless and dedicated service to this institution.

I also want to acknowledge the hundreds of staff members across the University who are contributing to the OneSource project. This project is a massive undertaking, spanning multiple years and affecting everyone on our campus.

I am grateful to each and every person who is a part of this major overhaul of our business processes and administrative systems. Your efforts exemplify the outstanding quality and dedication of our staff, whose work—often behind the scenes—is so vital to the success of this institution, and it gives me great pleasure to announce today an exciting

new initiative for our staff.

I have asked Vice President for Finance and Administration Ryan Nesbit to lead a presidential task force to create new, robust professional development opportunities to support the growth and development of our staff.

The task force, including representatives from units across campus, will begin its work soon with the goal of announcing in the fall an array of new programs available to staff University-wide. This is an important initiative for our staff, and I am eager to see it take shape.

I want to continue for just a moment longer on the topic of community. We were pleased to learn in the fall that the University received the national HEED award for the fifth consecutive year in recognition of our ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion.

We should be proud of the steps we have taken over the past five years to make this institution a welcoming and supportive place for all, steps such as creating the Rise Scholars initiative, a yearlong leadership development pro-

The goals developed in these areas will direct efforts and resources across campus to maintain our upward trajectory.

As part of my charge, I have instructed the committee to solicit broad input from our University community.

I encourage our faculty, staff, and students to visit the Office of the President website to learn more about the process and provide input to the committee. The final plan will be introduced as part of my 2020 State of the University Address, a year from now.

Staying with the future for just a moment—during last year’s address, I announced the formation of a task force to develop long-term plans for an innovation district at the University of Georgia.

The task force delivered its final report to me in July, and it laid out an exciting vision. I want to share that vision with you today.

The task force imagined a vibrant innovation district at the interface of historic North Campus and Downtown Athens. We might call it the University’s campus of the future, CONTINUED on page D

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the 2019 state of the university

CONTINUED from page C

including an integrated set of facilities offering a broad range of spaces and amenities to inspire collaboration, discovery, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The district would be a hub for University startups and research commercialization, a place where bright ideas become new products, businesses, and nonprofits that benefit communities here in Georgia and around the world.

The district would invite more of our industry partners to campus to collaborate with our talented faculty and students on commercial projects, and it would create unique internship and research opportunities for our students, ensuring they remain competitive in our knowledge-based economy.

Thinking beyond convention would be the hallmark of the district, generating breakthrough ideas and novel solutions.

This is a vision that would bring our land-grant tradition more fully into the Innovation Age, and I believe the time has come to pursue it.

I mentioned earlier that research funding is up nearly 30 percent over five years and that we have become a national leader in sending new products into the marketplace.

It is also true that our faculty startup incubator has a surging pipeline of companies in varying stages of development and that our student entrepreneurship program is flourishing, with hundreds enrolled and many of those pursuing startup ventures.

Partnerships with industry have increased seven-fold over the last several years, with new partnerships forming all across campus to engage our students and faculty in commercial research and business development.

You see, our innovation ecosystem is booming. A movement is already underway. This is our moment to accelerate, and we must seize it.

“We have embraced a vision for the University of Georgia.

We want to elevate teaching, research, and service to heights never before imagined; we want to expand our impact across every county in this great state—and well beyond; and we want to do even more to improve, to lift up, the world around us.”

—president jere w. morehead

Shaping

Our Future

That is why I assembled a launch team in September to drive the innovation district initiative forward in earnest.

The team is working to develop a long-term masterplan for the district to encompass multiple parcels of University land on or around Broad and Oconee Streets. That process is underway and should be completed this fall.

The team is also studying the renovation of the Business Services Annex Building—located at the corner of Spring and South Streets—to launch new programs in the near term.

If approved for renovation, this facility would be transformed into a uniquely creative space featuring a startup incubator for faculty and alumni; offices for industry partners who want deeper collaboration with faculty and students; and space for entrepreneurship training, coworking, and big-sky thinking.

The renovated facility would be an ideal complement to the student entrepreneurship building currently under renovation on West Broad.

To fuel all of these efforts, today I am announcing a multipronged innovation initiative.

First, I am establishing a semester-long Innovation Fellows program to help faculty commercialize their ideas and inventions and build strong industry partnerships around their research. The program will award funding for these activities and include structured training and support.

Second, I am launching a Startup-Mentor-in-Residence program to bring talented industry executives with startup experience to our campus. Mentors will be appointed for a full academic year to advise and collaborate with faculty and students pursuing commercial ventures.

Third, I am introducing a new version of Dawg Camp, the University’s nationally renowned extended orientation program for incoming students. This new version, called Dawg Camp Innovate, will blend student success and leadership programs with entrepreneurship education to create an exciting transition to college life. It will launch this summer.

You can expect to see updates on these programs and the broader innovation district initiative in the months ahead.

Stay tuned.

closing

2025 STRATEGIC PLAN The University is developing a new five-year strategic plan to expand its impact throughout the state of Georgia, across the nation, and around the world. The plan will range from 2020 to 2025 and include goals in three mission-centered strategic directions: • promoting excellence in teaching and learning; • growing research, innovation, and entrepreneurship; and • strengthening partnerships with communities across Georgia and around the world.

INNOVATION DISTRICT Plans are moving forward to create a vibrant Innovation District at the interface of historic North Campus and Downtown Athens. The District, UGA’s campus of the future, will: • foster industry engagement, technology commercialization, a nd startup formation; • inspire collaboration, creativity, and entrepreneurship; and • align UGA’s academic strengths with the city’s technology-based economy and creative culture.

NEW INITIATIVES FOR 2019 A number of exciting new initiatives will be implemented in the y ear ahead, including: • phase two of the Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program; • phase two of the New Approaches to Diversity Grant Program; • a presidential task force to create new professional development opportunities for staff; • Innovation Fellows Program to help faculty commercialize t heir ideas and inventions; • Startup-Mentor-in-Residence Program to bring talented industry executives to campus; and • Dawg Camp Innovate to blend student success programming with entrepreneurship education.

I

want to leave you today with a quote from the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

FDR was born on this very day, January 30, 1882. He was fond of Georgia. He spent much time in Warm Springs, an hour south of Atlanta, where he maintained a residence throughout his presidency. He passed away there on April 12, 1945.

The day after his death, the President had been scheduled to deliver a speech. He never delivered it, of course, but a transcript was preserved and eventually made public.

The speech ended with two inspiring lines, and I will repeat them for you now: “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow, will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”

I have always liked that passage because it captures the great power of the human will. It suggests that the path to progress is not paved with strategy alone but also with commitment, determination, and belief—or “faith” as FDR put it—in a unifying vision.

We have embraced a vision for the University of Georgia. We want to elevate teaching, research, and service to heights never before imagined. We want to expand our impact across every county in this great state and well beyond. We want to do even more to improve, to lift up, the world around us.

A new strategic plan may show us the way forward, but ultimately commitment and determination will lead us to success. We have demonstrated great capacity for both.

If the last five years have shown us anything, it is that when we commit—when we unite around a common purpose—there is no goal, no aspiration, beyond our reach.

As we start a new year, let me assure you that the state of the University of Georgia has never been stronger, our future never brighter. The credit goes to you: our outstanding faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends. You are the heartbeat of the University of Georgia, and I thank you.

I am grateful for your support, and I look forward to all that we will accomplish together in the year ahead.