Awards and Recognition

Tadd Johnson discussed his new role as Regent with the Minnesota Daily, with comments from Joan Gabel; Lynne Williams, and Karen Diver; Elizabeth Bye is interviewed by KSTP in the story, “Reduce your clothing waste”; Michael Howell is interviewed at KARE 11 about how to beat seasonal affective disorder; Deepak Ray writes that “Non-food crops are eating our food” in Newsroom; Ajay Skaria is quoted in the Star Tribune about Ananya Dance Theatre making a connection between movement and social movements; Jim Luby is quoted in the New York Times about apple development and research; Theresa Helgeson is quoted in the Crookston Times story, “UMN Crookston is bananas about their campus tree”; Lori Carrell and Andy Petzold are quoted or mentioned in the Rochester Post-Bulletin about how Rochester is leading a movement to graduate students in three years; William Roberts is quoted in a CNN story about a study that found combining weight training with another activity could lower your risk of early death; Brad Carlson is quoted in a Minnesota Public Radio radio story about drought spreading across Minnesota; Yingling Fan and Amelious Whyte are quoted in a Sahan Journal story about commuting and happiness relative to biking/driving. 

The University of Minnesota was recognized as the top employer in Minnesota in Forbes’ 2022 America’s Best Employers by State list. In this article recapping the results, Forbes notes that the University received high ratings in inclusion and quoted Angel Uddin, the Office of Human Resources' director of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

An interdisciplinary group of researchers recently received a $2.8M National Science Foundation Frontier Research in Earth Sciences grant to delve into the formation and evolution of the Lake Superior basin. The unique glacial and geological history of the Lake Superior region offers the team of nine lead scientists, spread across five universities, a "natural experiment" to study the structure of Earth's crust and mantle, the behavior of outlet glaciers from ice sheets, river erosion, and lake- and sea-level change.

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education (ACE) announced today that U of M President Joan Gabel accepted the invitation to serve on the Carnegie Classifications Institutional Roundtable. The roundtable will offer expert perspective as part of updates to the Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education. For nearly 50 years, these classifications have been the nation’s leading framework for clustering diverse U.S. higher education institutions in like terms so that their work and impact can be understood in relation to each other. The effort to update the Carnegie Classifications around their 50th anniversary in 2023 will be the most significant update in its history. Gabel is joined on the Institutional Roundtable by college and university presidents from throughout the country who represent an array of institution types and campuses.

Erin Durban and Miranda Joseph are featured in a Star Tribune story about their examination of the unusual history of the University Grove neighborhood; Nick Phelps is quoted in Minnesota Public Radio about dire predictions for Minnesota fish in a warming climate; Michael Osterholm is quoted in the New York Times about the pandemic not being over; Alan Rozenshtein is quoted in the Washington Post about how a landmark Supreme Court fight over social media now looks likely; Trevor Wardill is quoted and Flavie Bidel is mentioned in the New York Times story, “How to Hunt Like an Octopus”; John Bischof is quoted in a Forbes Magazine story about the future of cryobiology; Sayeh Nikpay is quoted in a Minnesota Public Radio story about how Minnesota health systems doing better financially, but bracing for Medicaid cliff; Joan Blakey is interviewed in a Fox 9 story about the first Black woman to lead the University of Minnesota's School of Social Work; Tzia Ming Onn and Paul Dauenhauer are quoted in a CBS Minnesota story about their research around new types of catalytic converters; Kristen Mark is quoted in the USA Today story, “A weatherman was fired when his webcam photos leaked. Will how we think about sex ever change?”

Hubbard School Associate Professor and Don and Carole Larson Professor in Health Communication Emily Vraga is part of a team that recently was awarded a $5 million Phase II Convergence Accelerator cooperative award from the National Science Foundation. The team brings together scholars from multiple universities to continue its development of Course Correct, a tool designed to help journalists identify and combat misinformation online.

The American Academy of Nursing announced that clinical professor Cheri Friedrich was selected to be inducted into the 2022 Class of Fellows. The achievement is considered one of the highest honors in the nursing profession. Friedrich is a leader in interprofessional education (IPE), advancing IPE across health professions internationally, nationally, and locally. She co-developed and now serves as the co-director of the University’s Center for Interprofessional Health. She has transformed IPE across the University through collaborative internal and external partnerships, impacting the curriculum of over 1,000 students from multiple health professions programs each year.

Megan Giddings is interviewed on the NBC show Late Night with Seth Meyers about Giddings' new novel, The Women Could Fly; John Watkins is interviewed by Fox 29 for facts and figures about the queen’s funeral; Rick Huebsch and Russ Straate are quoted in a Star Tribune story about how the U of M’s startup pipeline helps drive state's innovation economy; Larry Jacobs is interviewed in Minnesota Public Radio about why Minnesota Congressional members are being called out for potential conflicts of interest; Marissa Schuh is interviewed in a KARE 11 story about whether bugs can really predict the weather; Gunda Georg is quoted in PBS about how more contraception options for both partners could change relationship dynamics; Peter Neff is quoted in an Interesting Engineering story about high-speed internet arriving in Antarctica; Jimmy Patiño is quoted in the CBS Minnesota story, “Good Question: Amid Hispanic Heritage Month, what's Minnesota's Latino history?”

The University of Minnesota is one of only a few select institutions awarded two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs). Over four years, the Center for Interacting Geo-Processes in Mineral Carbon Storage will receive $11 million and the Center for Programmable Energy Catalysis will receive $10.6 million. The awards are part of a $540 million initiative by the DOE to invest in clean energy technologies and low-carbon manufacturing to help the U.S. achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The DOE has funded new centers at 54 universities and 11 national labs across the country. 

The University of Minnesota’s status as one of the nation’s most exceptional and accessible universities was solidified recently in the 2023 U.S. News and World Report rankings. Among the most referenced collegiate rankings in the world, the rankings are specifically mentioned in the University’s Systemwide strategic plan, MPact 2025, which includes a goal for the Twin Cities campus to be ranked among the nation’s top 25 public schools. That goal was met with the latest rankings, which ranked the University’s flagship campus No. 23—the campus’ highest ranking in 12 years. Among all 440 institutions (public and private) considered for the National Universities category, the U of M Twin Cities improved by six places from last year, from No. 68 to No. 62, placing the campus among the top 15 percent of all ranked universities. Three other U of M campuses were also highlighted in the most recent rankings:

• The University of Minnesota Crookston retained its No. 1 status among public Midwest Regional Colleges. 
• The University of Minnesota Duluth improved eight spots in the Regional Universities in the Midwest category, ascending to No. 33, which places UMD in the top 20 percent of the category. Among only public universities in the same category, UMD moved up two spots, from No. 8 to No. 6. 
• The University of Minnesota Morris improved its ranking among National Liberal Arts Colleges by five places from No. 141 to No. 136. The campus remained the No. 8-ranked public university in the category.