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Priorities and purpose

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Striking Out With Students

I had a great time bowling and visiting with students in the Student Union Feb. 24. This was one of those times when the weather worked against us by being beautiful: 77°F in Akron in February! But there was plenty of competition. I had to dole out some Starbucks cards before I warmed up, but once I got in the groove, even members of the Bowling Club couldn’t stop me. I better start practicing my jump shot, soon we’ll have the hoops out for one-one-one competitions.

Rethinking Race and Ancestry

Our annual Rethinking Race Forum had an irresistible idea: gather 30 seemingly disparate members of our campus community to participate in Ancestry.com’s DNA test to learn about their respective backgrounds and often surprising commonalities. Participants were asked beforehand to tell us what they expected to learn, and were filmed as they got the results. I was happy to participate, and also took the opportunity to demonstrate something we all shared in common: Zip pride! Watch the video below and see what we learned about ourselves and each other.

Testifying on Behalf of Higher Education

I was honored to be asked by the Inter-University Council of Ohio to testify on behalf of Ohio’s regional public universities recently. On March 7, the Ohio House Finance Subcommittee on Higher Education gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts about how HB49, the proposed biennial budget bill for the State of Ohio, could affect the state’s public universities. I also fielded several questions from the committee about college completion, textbook affordability and other topics.

ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ-Vietnam Agreements

During winter break I traveled to Vietnam January 8-11 with Dr. Patrick Gaughan, School of Law, to with two universities in Hanoi and one in Danang. The agreements lay the foundation for future collaborative relationships between our institutions, primarily involving law, economics, business and social sciences.

Look for more announcements as ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ aggressively extends its global activity in 2017.

At the Nov. 1 announcement about the endowment are, from left: Eric Amis, Ph.D., dean of the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering and vice provost for research; Matthew J. Wilson, president of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ; Matthew Becker, Ph.D., the first holder of the W. Gerald Austen Endowed Chair in Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering; Dr. W. Gerald Austen, cardiac and thoracic surgeon, and former trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; Alberto Ibargüen, president of the Knight Foundation; and Dr. Delos "Toby" Cosgrove, president and chief executive at the Cleveland Clinic.

Record gift creates Austen chair in polymers

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation funded a $3 million endowment to create the W. Gerald Austen Endowed Chair in Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. Dr. Matt Becker, an outstanding young researcher and educator, is an excellent choice as the first holder of ÐãÉ«¶ÌÊÓƵ’s largest endowed chair. .