June 2014 NewsCenter Archive

UAlbany has received a $2.2 million gift from the late Alice Hastings Murphy '40 estate to benefit the University Libraries, of which Hastings Murphy was the first director. The bequest is one of the largest gifts from an individual in the University's history, and the largest in support of the University Libraries.

UAlbany's School of Public Health and CDPHP join to present a timely and critical conversation on the future of health care in our community, featuring a keynote address by thought leader and health policy expert Donald Berwick, MD, who is also a candidate for Massachusetts governor.

UAlbany students, faculty and staff recently captured second place at WxChallenge, a national online weather forecasting competition, run by the University of Oklahoma. For the second consecutive year, UAlbany was second only to Penn State in the contest, further solidifying its position as a national leader in atmospheric sciences.

As part of the University’s strategic plan to dramatically reduce its carbon footprint, the two-year old, 20,000-square-foot apartment-style student housing complex Liberty Terrace has been named UAlbany’s first LEED Gold facility.

Through a new National Science Foundation grant, atmospheric scientist Aiguo Dai is studying more than a century of climate simulations to differentiate natural from man-induced forces affecting global drought and precipitation. The study’s results will help interpret recent extreme climate events, such as drought in the Southwest U.S.

Future UAlbany students will have access to a new 400-seat auditorium, a two-level fitness center and enhanced dining facilities with market-style food service venues, as part of a project to expand the University’s Campus Center. The project begins this summer.

As militants in Iraq conquer more cities, threatening to overthrow the government of Nouri al-Maliki, the entire Middle East region faces destabilization. UAlbany experts in economics, terrorism and finance can offer analysis on the impact of violence in Iraq on the U.S. and the rest of the world. 

Like many of her fellow classmates, UAlbany senior Elizabeth Skovron is spending this summer fine-tuning the skills needed to create a successful path after graduation. What separates the honors student and sociology major from others is her initiative to help current students and recent graduates transition to the professional world.

UAlbany biologist Prashanth Rangan joins 21 other outstanding young researchers as 2014 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Rangan was awarded for his investigations into the role of non-coding RNA in the fate of stem cells, whose improper differentiation has been linked to cancer and other diseases.

The library is an adequate metaphor for the human imagination, best-selling author and University at Albany alum Gregory Maguire ’76 recently told librarians from around the state at a conference at UAlbany.

Distinguished Professor Marlene Belfort, renowned for her groundbreaking research in the field of genetics and biochemistry as well as her passionate guidance of young scientists, has been appointed to a major advisory panel of the National Institutes of Health, joining others from prestigious research institutions nationwide .