Provost Paul Ludden and Condoleezza Rice

Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking at SMU’s Commencement on Saturday, told the graduates that as educated persons they have a responsibility to commit themselves to reason and the pursuit of truth.

“You’ve been encouraged to know that reason and faith are not enemies of one another, but together permit the fullest expression of what it is to be human,” she said. “This experience will sustain you for the rest of your lives.”

> See slideshows from SMU Commencement Weekend 2012
> Watch Condoleezza Rice’s Commencement address at SMU
> Read a transcript of Condoleezza Rice’s address.
> Read more from SMU News, including a spotlight on graduating students

She told the 2,100 graduates, their families and friends at Moody Coliseum that education “is a force that erases arbitrary divisions of race and class and culture, and unlocks every person’s potential. …  Education is transformative. It literally changes lives. That is why people work so hard to become educated. And that is why education has always been the key to human beings and their dreams.”

Rice, who received an honorary degree during the ceremonies, said, “No one should assume that a life of reason is easy. To the contrary, it takes a great deal of courage and honesty. For the only way you will grow intellectually is by constantly examining your opinions, attacking your prejudices, and completing your journey toward the force of reason.”

The weekend’s activities included the Baccalaureate service Friday, May 11, with guest speaker Richard J. Wood, dean emeritus of Yale University Divinity School and former president of Earlham College.

The service was followed by Rotunda Recessional, a tradition in which seniors march through the Rotunda of Dallas Hall, marking the end of their undergraduate years and the beginning of their lifelong association with SMU as alumni.

Read more about honorary degree recipients Condoleezza Rice and philosopher of science Nancy Cartwright after the jump.

Rice has achieved prominence in both government service and higher education. She currently holds three positions at Stanford University: professor of political economy in the Graduate School of Business, Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution and professor of political science.

Rice earned her Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Denver, a Master’s from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of International Studies at the University of Denver. Her academic career began in 1981 when she joined the Stanford faculty. A dedicated teacher, she has received two of the university’s highest teaching awards. She rose through the faculty ranks to serve as Stanford provost from 1993-99, the first woman and first African-American to hold that position.

Rice served for two years on the National Security Council staff under President George H.W. Bush. She was the president’s special assistant for national security affairs during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and reunification of Germany. She served on the staff of President George W. Bush as national security adviser from 2001-05. She then served from 2005-09 as the nation’s 66th secretary of state, the second woman and the first African-American woman to hold the post. Rice currently serves as chair of the Board of Advisers of the Bush Institute, part of the George W. Bush Presidential Center on the SMU campus.

During the Commencement ceremony, SMU conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Nancy Cartwright, considered one of the most important and influential contemporary philosophers of science.

Cartwright is a professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics. The author of seven books, she has produced path-breaking work on issues such as the nature of physical laws, causation and scientific reasoning. She is a pioneer of today’s practice-based philosophy of science and helped develop the philosophy of social policy, economics, sociology, medicine, epidemiology and political science.

Cartwright is a Fellow of the British Academy and a member of the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) and a recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois.

Thirty-seven SMU students – some of them pictured here – will pursue 2012-13 Unbridled Projects through the University's Office of Engaged Learning. Photo credit: Hillsman S. Jackson.

In the coming academic year, 37 SMU students from throughout the University will take on special projects of their own design in research, civic engagement, creative work and internships.

They are all part of the 2012-13 Unbridled Project, part of the SMU Engaged Learning initiative. Of the 37 participating students, 32 requested and received grants to complete their projects.

> Visit SMU’s Engaged Learning homepage

Three students conducted Unbridled Projects during the program’s first year in 2011-12. As the initiative begins its second year, “we are right where we hoped to be,” says Director of Engaged Learning Susan Kress.

“We’re very excited for the students,” Kress adds. “The University has invested a lot of effort in raising awareness of the opportunities available through this initiative, and those efforts have paid off.”

The students are especially gratified to know that faculty members are interested in their work and support their efforts, Kress adds. “And at the same time, faculty members are excited that this ties in to the ‘engaged teaching and learning’ happening in their classrooms.”

Junior Kimberly Mendoza (left), a double major in biological sciences and chemistry in SMU’s Dedman College, can attest to the importance and inspiration of engaged faculty. For her Unbridled Project, she will research health-related traditions, beliefs and practices in the indigenous Mayan community in Guatemala and evaluate how these values and beliefs occasionally clash with Western medicine. Nia Parson of the Department of Anthropology will serve as her faculty mentor.

During her first year at SMU, Mendoza took Parson’s course “Health, Healing and Ethics,” which examines cross-cultural perspectives on sickness and society. “It was one of the best classes I have taken at SMU,” she says. “Dr. Parson gave me so much insight into health as viewed from different perspectives. She also was very passionate about her anthropological work and health in a global perspective.”

When Mendoza decided to pursue an Unbridled Project, “I immediately thought of Dr. Parson, and she was so helpful to me throughout the application process.”

Mendoza’s mother is of indigenous Maya origin, but fled her native Guatemala during the civil war in the 1970s. “As a result, she did not grow up learning the traditions, culture, values and language that bind this group of people together,” Mendoza says. When her maternal grandmother, also an indigenous Maya, received medical treatment in the United States for a malignant brain tumor, Mendoza experienced first-hand how strongly those traditions and values are upheld. “I also witnessed the dichotomy between my grandmother’s spiritual and traditional beliefs and the Western medical system,” she says.

Through her Unbridled Project, Mendoza seeks to understand how to better relate to those who hold such traditional values and beliefs, she says. She plans to become a physician with an emphasis in global health and hopes to work with Doctors Without Borders.

“It is an intellectual treat for me to mentor Kimberly,” Parson says. “As a medical anthropologist, specializing in Latin America, I know how important and interesting her project is – not only because it illuminates the different ways people experience and think about health in Guatemala, but also because of the implications of this knowledge for our own health care systems.”

Mendoza’s research could help in providing better care for Guatemalan and other immigrants here in Dallas, Parson adds. “It is very gratifying to see Kimberly bringing together her family’s ties to Guatemala and her educational experience here at SMU.”

The Office of Engaged Learning provides institutional support for SMU’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), created as part of the University’s reaccreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). “Engaged Learning Beyond the Classroom” allows all SMU undergraduate students to participate in at least one extensive experiential learning activity prior to graduation.

A full list of students who will pursue 2012-13 Unbridled Projects appears below the link.

Unbridled Projects, 2012-13 

Research 

• Sophomore chemistry and mechanical engineering major Eric Alt will design a compound to remove heavy metals from polluted environments. His faculty mentor is Dieter Cremer, Chemistry, Dedman College.

• Senior journalism and human rights major Jan Anderson will explore segregation in churches in the post-Civil Rights era and current movements toward integration. Her faculty mentor is Rick Halperin, Embrey Human Rights Program, Dedman College.

• Senior Tanya Arora, a double major in psychology and management and organizations, will design a training program for colleges and universities to reduce the adverse effects of annual leadership change in student organizations. Her faculty mentor is Maribeth Kuenzi, Management and Organizations, Cox School of Business.

• Junior Jean Paul Destarac, a double major in economics and markets and culture, will travel to Belgium to research the European debt crisis and its relationship to a lack of Eurozone central fiscal authority. His faculty mentor is Thomas Osang, Economics, Dedman College.

• Senior communication studies major Brittany Dickey will visit London to analyze the impact of the 2012 Summer Olympics, as a major world event, on global human rights awareness. Her faculty mentor is Rita Kirk, Communication Studies, Meadows School of the Arts, director of SMU’s Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility.

• Junior political science and communication studies major Roza Essaw will assess the human rights situation in post-genocide Rwanda through on-site interviews and research. Her faculty mentor is Rick Halperin, Embrey Human Rights Program, Dedman College.

• Junior Taylor Johnson, a double major in communication studies and applied physiology and sport management, will study how non-governmental organizations in London are using the Olympics as a springboard for publicity and awareness. Her faculty mentor is Owen Lynch, Communication Studies, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior Andrew Lin, a double major in biological sciences and earth sciences, will compare the anatomy of SMU’s 17-million-year-old beaked whale fossil specimen with a modern beaked whale fossil at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. His faculty mentor is Louis Jacobs, Earth Sciences, Dedman College.

• Junior journalism and earth sciences major Katharina Marino will visit the research station at Harvard Forest in Massachusetts to study its outreach program, with the goal of developing a similar program at the Great Trinity Forest in Dallas to record its ecological diversity. Her faculty mentor is Bonnie Jacobs, Earth Sciences, Dedman College.

• Junior earth sciences major Kathleen Masterson will map and record the tree fossils of the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. Her faculty mentor is Louis Jacobs, Earth Sciences, Dedman College.

• Junior economics major Austin McBride will research undergraduate pre-law programs and, using a cost benefit model, will determine the correlation between student pre-law preparation and admission to law school. His faculty mentor is Ellen Pryor, Dedman School of Law.

• Junior mathematics major Justice Pirkey will undertake a toxicology study of Asian carp, an invasive species of fish prevalent in the Mississippi River. His faculty mentor is Yeo-Jin Chung, Mathematics, Dedman College.

• Sophomore communication studies major Basma Raza will research societal perceptions of herself as female, Muslim, married, and a student, to explore similarities within differences between cultures and ethnicities. Her faculty mentor is Owen Lynch, Communication Studies, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior communication studies major Jacqueline Ross will investigate and tell the story of the multi-racial, multi-ethnic student’s experience as an undergraduate. Her faculty mentor is Owen Lynch, Communication Studies, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior Michael Tran, a double major in mathematics and computer science and engineering, will research the feasibility of making the invasive species Asian carp a part of the U.S. food supply. His faculty mentor is Yeo-Jin Chung, Mathematics, Dedman College.

• Junior finance major Katie Ye will examine how female gender stereotypes influence upward communication in educational institutions. Her faculty mentor is John Sumanth, Management and Organizations, Cox School of Business.

Civic Engagement 

• Junior Aden Abiye, who majors in economics and markets and culture, will work with the non-profit Advance Team Africa to design life skills training workshops for youth in Ethiopia. Her faculty mentor is Ne’Shaun Robinson Jones, director of TRIO Programs, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

• Junior art major Juan Castillo will implement a redesigned student leadership curriculum in the Irving Independent School District for high school Hispanic youth, and will design and paint a mural for the school. His staff mentor is Carol Clyde, director of SMU’s Community Engagement and Leadership Center.

• Sophomore mechanical engineering major Drake Frank will modify a stationary diesel engine to run on coconut oil and introduce it to Kenyan families to provide sustainable energy, working through the Kenyan Agriculture Commodity Exchange Ltd. His faculty mentor is Tindaro Ioppolo, Mechanical Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering.

• Junior economics major Katie Jones will work with the nonprofit UBELONG and local farmers in Ecuador to develop sustainable solutions to restore the Amazonian ecosystem to its original balance. Her faculty mentor is Victoria Lockwood, Anthropology, Dedman College

• Junior political science major Jonathan Machemehl – through Boulevard PR, a firm created and operated by SMU members of the Public Relations Student Society of America – will help Get Healthy Dallas develop their community-health message to reach different audiences through various media. His faculty mentor is Steve Lee, Communication Studies, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior biological sciences and chemistry major Kimberly Mendoza will research health-related traditions, beliefs and practices in an indigenous Mayan community in Guatemala. Her faculty mentor is Nia Parson, Anthropology, Dedman College.

• Junior Pamela Nickell, a double major in Spanish and international studies, will develop pedagogical examination material and a study guide for the Spanish for Business Certification Program, a joint initiative by  SMU and the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce. Her faculty mentor is Leticia McDoniel, World Languages and Literatures, Dedman College.

• Sophomore mechanical engineering major Richard Nixon will expand the student-driven Mustang Microfinance project, which began as a 2011 Big iDeas project. He plans to create business development workshops and microloan opportunities in the Vickery Meadow community. His staff mentor is Jim Bryan, interim director of B.B.A. admissions, Cox School of Business.

• Junior Spanish major Mayra Pratz will prepare a bilingual Spanish/English informational report and pamphlet based on her research on local Spanish-speaking immigrant women who suffer domestic violence. Her faculty mentor is Nia Parson, Anthropology, Dedman College.

• Junior Rachel Stonecipher, a double major in cinema-TV and anthropology, will volunteer at the No More Deaths aid camp in Arizona to learn about the social inequalities inherent in service-based work, research best practices, and develop training that addresses these issues. Her faculty mentor is Caroline Brettell, Anthropology, Dedman College.

• First-year student Ashley Wali will work with the Nari Project in Bangladesh to address the needs of women suffering from domestic violence. Her faculty mentor is Rick Halperin, Embrey Human Rights Program, Dedman College.

• Junior French major Miller Walker will develop and deliver an after-school French program for homeless children in the Dallas Independent School District and connect them with school children in France. His faculty mentor is Heather Pelletier, World Languages and Literatures, Dedman College.

Creative Work 

• Junior theatre major Afomia Hailemeskel, during an internship with the Reading, PA Project, will collect the sounds of the town to create a performance piece about a community crippled by economic stagnation and the steps being taken to bring about change. Her faculty mentor is Gretchen Smith, Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior theatre major Janielle Kastner will document adolescent and teenage girls from different socio-economic environments and create a short film about their lives during her internship with the Reading, PA Project. Her faculty mentor is Gretchen Smith, Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior theatre major Miranda Parham will compare and contrast consumer culture and gender roles in the United States and England, and create a solo performance piece that captures her findings. Her faculty mentor is Rhonda Blair, Theatre, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior music major Ethan Patrick will create a real-time music visualizer using Max 6 and processing software and use it during a live performance at the Conservatoire de Musique in Cannes, France. His faculty mentor is Ira Greenberg, Computer Science and Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering, director of the Center of Creative Computation in SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior English major Dylan Smith will write a novella based on his time at the SMU-in-Taos campus in Summer 2012 and publish it as an eBook. His faculty mentor is David Haynes, English, Dedman College.

Internship 

• Junior Bryce Johnson, a double major in Spanish and markets and culture, and an intern with the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce, will develop the Spanish for Business Certification Program, a joint SMU/Chamber initiative. His faculty mentor is Leticia McDoniel, World Languages and Literatures, Dedman College.

• Sophomore management and political science major Jaywin Malhi will intern on Capitol Hill in Senator John Cornyn’s and Congressman Pete Sessions’ congressional offices to learn about policy-making. His faculty mentor is Michael Lusztig, Political Science, Dedman College.

• Sophomore art history major Sarah Montonchaikul will learn conservation techniques and document her learning as project instructional materials during her internship with the Mugello Valley Archaeological Project in Italy. Her faculty mentor is Greg Warden, Art History, Meadows School of the Arts.

• Junior anthropology and French major Marissa Ocampo will intern with La Isla Foundation to research a chronic kidney disease epidemic among sugar cane workers in Nicaragua. Her faculty mentor is Carolyn Smith-Morris, Anthropology, Dedman College.

President R. Gerald Turner at the celebration April 20

SMU is marking a milestone by reaching $610 million toward its Second Century Campaign goal of $750 million. A range of new initiatives to build and renovate campus facilities were announced at a campus celebration Friday April 20, the first day of SMU’s 2012 Founders’ Day Weekend celebration.

• Video: Founders’ Day Weekend activities
• Video: Groundbreaking of the Residential Commons complex
• Video: President’s Briefing
• See a slideshow of scenes from Founders’ Day Weekend
• Read The Dallas Morning News: SMU at 100

The new and renovated facilities mark the final phase of SMU’s Centennial Master Plan for campus development. SMU is celebrating the contributions of more than $47 million that has been raised thus far in support of these facilities. Nine commitments of $1 million or more and nine of $100,000 or more have been received in support of these projects.

“A major part of SMU’s mission is to provide our students with a well-rounded collegiate experience that includes outstanding academic programs, first-rate facilities and opportunities for personal development,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “These new facilities represent that commitment and will further transform our campus, enhancing student life and continuing the standard of excellence we inherited from our founders and value today.”

The Founders’ Day Weekend celebrations began with the dedication of the Centennial Cornerstone and groundbreaking of SMU’s new Residential Commons complex. The cornerstone marks a permanent tribute to the 100-year development of SMU’s campus and usher in a series of campus developments that are part of the Centennial Master Plan.

In addition to the Commons, other projects either beginning or planned include renovation of Fondren Library Center, expansion and renovation of Moody Coliseum, construction of a new indoor-outdoor tennis complex south of Mockingbird Lane, construction of a new Mustang Band Hall at Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, construction of a new data center to increase computing power for teaching and research, and renovation of Memorial Health Center, soon to be renamed the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center.

“These new and renovated facilities will allow SMU to provide the best experience for our students,” said Caren Prothro, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees.

The 18 donors who have each given more than $100,000 to the new campus construction growth and renovation projects include:

• Ruth Collins Sharp Altshuler ’48 and Kenneth Z. Altshuler
• Bill Armstrong ’82 and Liz Martin Armstrong ’82
• Belle Stumberg Berg ’71 and Donald A. Berg ’70, ’77
• Ann Warmack Brookshire ’77 and Bradley W. Brookshire ’76
• Edwin L. Cox ’42
• The Crain Foundation
• Gary Crum ’69 and Sylvie P. Crum
• Jane Thaggard Cumiskey ’71, ’88 and Michael R. Cumiskey ’71
• Jerome M. Fullinwider ’51 and Leah Y. Fullinwider
• Dianne Warren Green ’70 and William L. Green ’69, ’72
• Paul B. Loyd, Jr. ’68 and Penny R. Loyd
• David B. Miller ’72, ’73 and Carolyn L. Miller
• The Moody Foundation
• PlainsCapital Bank
• Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation in honor of the late Dr. Bob Smith ’44, ’46
• Jo Ann Geurin Thetford ’69, ’70
• Jack A. Turpin
• Arch Van Meter ’53, ’72 and Patsy T. Van Meter

An evolving campus

The new Residential Commons Complex will consist of five residential buildings constructed in the southeast quadrant of campus. It will serve as an integrated academic and residential center that incorporates live-in faculty members who also have offices and teach classes within the Commons. The Commons will dramatically increase SMU’s on-campus housing, satisfying the University’s objective to provide a two-year residency requirement and enhancing personal exploration and growth for students, said SMU Vice President for Student Affairs Lori White.

“The Residential Commons will bring a new vitality to campus and a stronger sense of community for our first- and second-year students,” White said. “Students will have opportunities to continue the relationship with their Commons during their junior and senior years through ongoing social events and academic activities.”

The commons will provide space for 1,250 additional first- and second-year students and a number of faculty members to live on campus. Construction of the Commons is expected to be completed in 2014. The project includes a new dining facility and parking structure as well as renovation of current residence halls to reflect the residential commons model.

“Learning happens everywhere, with no boundaries,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Ludden. “This new Residential Commons model will establish an environment that fosters the ‘life of the mind’ in which a rich intellectual, social and community life can flourish.”

Moody Coliseum renovations will occur in two phases, the first of which is scheduled to begin in August 2012 with the expansion of the building’s north façade that will include new event space, offices, team locker rooms and meeting spaces. Events and conference play will continue in Moody until March 2013, when the facility will close for major interior renovation including the Coliseum’s entry lobby, expanded concourses with raised ceilings and the addition of premium suites, loge seating and infrastructure upgrades. The Coliseum will reopen in December 2013.

The renovation of the Dr. Bob Smith Health Center, made possible by a $5 million gift from the Dr. Bob and Jean Smith Foundation, will feature updated floor plans to increase the number of patient procedure rooms, counseling offices and private waiting rooms and will better serve the needs of students with disabilities. The renovation also includes upgrades to medical equipment and technology and enhancement of pharmacy and laboratory spaces.

Renovation of the Fondren Library Center will provide a welcoming space conducive to study, research and intellectual exploration.  Enhancements will include areas to accommodate the preservation and expansion of print collections, development of future digital initiatives and attractive public spaces for programs and exhibits. A new café also will be featured as a service to students and University visitors.

The Mustang Band Hall will become the new home for the growing needs of the Mustang Band.  Located in the Dedman Center for Lifetime Sports, prominently positioned near the new Residential Commons Complex, this 11,000-square-foot facility will be five times larger than the current band facility.

A new intercollegiate Tennis Complex located on the south side of Mockingbird Lane at the corner of North Central Expressway will house an indoor pavilion with six courts and the outdoor Turpin Tennis Stadium with six courts. Features include team locker rooms, training and fitness rooms, meeting rooms and offices for coaches and staff. Other features include permanent spectator seating as well as VIP seating and a club area with viewing access to the outdoor and indoor courts.

The Crain Family Centennial Promenade, to be located on the west side of the R. Gerald Turner Centennial Quadrangle, will be a pedestrian thoroughfare from the front of Hughes-Trigg Student Center to Binkley Avenue on the south. Engraved pavers, recognizing gifts from SMU alumni, parents, friends, students, faculty and staff, will serve as permanent markers of support for the University. Read more about the gift from The Crain Foundation.

Over the past few years, SMU’s campus has expanded south of Mockingbird Lane and east of Central Expressway, growing the Dallas campus to 237 acres.

“2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the campus plan begun by Dr. (Robert) Hyer (SMU’s first president), which set the course for our distinctive educational environment,” President Turner said Friday. “Successive administrations have stayed the course, and his underlying philosophies continue to today.”

You can take part in SMU’s Second Century Celebration:

• Order SMU: Unbridled Vision: A stunning new picture book showcases the beauty of campus.
• Leave your mark: Honor your student’s time on the Hilltop in the new SMU Centennial Promenade. With a $100 gift your student or family will be recognized with an etched paver on the Centennial Promenade, to be constructed in 2015 for the 100th anniversary of SMU’s opening.
• Visit Centennial Hall: The interactive exhibition is in Hughes-Trigg Student Center.

Read more about Founders’ Day Weekend and other Centennial Celebration activities.

• Video: Larry Brown comes to The Hilltop

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to coach at SMU,” said Brown. “I’ve built so many relationships in the basketball world, and my success has been due to the coaches I’ve played for and the players I’ve coached. I want to thank them all. I always thought of myself as a college coach, and this gives me a wonderful chance to get back where I started.”

“Larry Brown is one of the top coaches in the history of the game,” said SMU Director of Athletics Steve Orsini. “He is a legend and has made every team he has ever coached a winner. As we transition into the nation’s top basketball conference, the BIG EAST, his leadership will be invaluable.”

“From an educational perspective, hiring a teacher of the game like Larry Brown will make a huge impact on both our student-athletes and our community as a whole,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Athletics is an integral part of SMU, and developing a winning basketball program will dramatically increase our national profile, while providing a rallying point for our students, alumni, faculty, staff and the city of Dallas.”

Brown is the sixth-winningest coach in NBA history with 1,098 career victories, and he led his teams to 18 playoff appearances, eight 50-win seasons, seven division titles, three conference championships and one NBA Championship. Brown most recently was head coach of the Charlotte Bobcats and guided the Bobcats to the franchise’s first-ever playoff appearance in 2010. Charlotte was the eighth team he led to the postseason – an NBA record.

Brown began his coaching career in the ABA, where he led the Carolina Cougars from 1972-74 before taking the helm in Denver for two seasons. He continued with the Nuggets  after their move to the NBA, before moving on to coach UCLA for two seasons. There, he led a freshman-dominated team to the 1980 NCAA title game before falling to Louisville.

After two years with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets, Brown began his tenure at Kansas in 1983, where he would go 135-44 in five seasons, leading KU to the 1988 NCAA Championship, Kansas’ first National Championship in 36 years. In all, Brown spent seven seasons on the collegiate level, two at UCLA and five at Kansas, leading his squads to three Final Four appearances and one NCAA title. He was named Naismith College Coach of the Year in 1988 and Big Eight Coach of the Year in 1986. His cumulative collegiate coaching record stands at 177-61 (.744).

At the pro level, Brown has served as head coach of the Bobcats, Nuggets, New Jersey Nets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Detroit Pistons and New York Knicks. He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 2001 and was named ABA Coach of the Year three times.

With such a long and successful career, Brown has developed an impressive coaching tree. Among those that have served on Brown’s staffs are John Calipari, Gregg Popovich, Bill Self and Mark Turgeon. Tad Boyle and Danny Manning and are among those who have played for Brown.

Brown played collegiately at North Carolina under legends Frank McGuire and Dean Smith and served as an assistant coach at UNC from 1965-67.

In Olympic competition, Brown was the head coach of the bronze medal-winning United States team at the 2004 Athens Games. He was an assistant coach for the 1980 Olympic squad that did not participate in the Moscow Games and for the 2000 team that won the gold medal in Sydney. As a player, Brown won a gold medal as a member of the 1964 U.S. squad at the Tokyo Games, where he was coached by Henry Iba. He is the only U.S. male to both play and coach in the Olympics.

On the same day, the University honored its best students at the 15th annual Honors Day Convocation. The address was delivered by Jodi Cooley, assistant professor of experimental particle physics in SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and recipient of a 2012 National Science Foundation CAREER Award of more than $1 million for her research toward detecting the particles that are believed to make up dark matter.

> Find a list of University, school and departmental awards from Honors Convocation 2012
> Read physicist Jodi Cooley’s Honors Convocation address
> See a slideshow from Honors Convocation

Find the the Awards Extravaganza 2012 winners list after the jump.

Congratulations to SMU students, faculty and staff who were recognized at the 2012 Awards Extravaganza on Monday, April 16.

Receiving the “M” Award, SMU’s most prestigious honor, are 10 students and five faculty and staff members (see below) whose contributions to the University are “above and beyond the call of duty.”

Student recipients of the “M” Award:

• Jasmine Carr
• Kevin Eaton
• Alex Ehmke
• Joseph Esau
• Matt Gayer
• Derek Hubbard
• Adriana Martinez
• Yvonne Pitts
• Austin Prentice
• Kari Rood

Other students recognized with special awards are:

• Kevin Eaton – James E. Caswell Award, based on contributions to resident student life
• Bethany Mackingtee – Umphrey Lee Award, based on involvement in the SMU community
• Chase Michalek – Avella Winn Hay Award, based on scholarship, character and contribution to the SMU community

Receiving John L. Freehafer Awards based on recipients’ interest in student life, activities and government are:

• Antonea Bastian
• Amie Kromis
• Elise McDonald
• Genesis Reed
• Zohra Samji
• William Vonderfecht

Presidential Awards of Excellence:

• Silje Fjortoft – Scholar/Athlete Award
• Elisabeth Knutzen – Scholar/Leader Award
• Billy Dugal – Scholar/Volunteer Award

SMU Dads’ Club – Outstanding Senior Man Award:

• Trigg Burrage

SMU Mothers’ Club – Outstanding Senior Woman Award:

• Megan Clark Welch

Office of the Chaplain – Sheri Mooney Memorial Scholarship Award:

• Alexandria Pegram
• Dawson Williams
• Adrienne Yim

Women’s Center for Pride and Gender Initiatives – Emmie V. Baine Legacy Award:

• Cori Hill

Office of Community Engagement and Leadership – Excellence in Service Award:

• Engineers Without Borders

Students receiving the A. Kenneth Pye Outstanding Greek Leader Award are:

• Michael Alberts
• Meredith Carlton
• Caroline Farish
• Fred Leach
• Angela Martinez
• Rachel Singer

Faculty and staff recipients of the M Award:

• Brad Cheves, vice president for development and external affairs
• Renee Gibson, assistant director of new student orientation and student support, Office of the Dean of Student Life
• Randall Griffin, professor of art history, Meadows School of the Arts
• Jeff Kennington, professor in the Department of Engineering Management, Information and Systems, Lyle School of Engineering
• Peter Moore, professor of mathematics, Dedman College

Faculty and staff recipients of Students’ Association Awards are recognized for giving unselfishly to the students and the University as a whole. The recipients are:

• Outstanding Administrator – Albert Niemi Jr., dean, Cox School of Business
• Outstanding Trustee – Linda Pitts Custard, Custard/Pitts Land and Cattle Company

The Willis M. Tate Award, also given by the Students’ Association, was presented to Elizabeth Wheaton, lecturer in economics, Dedman College. The award honors an outstanding faculty member who has been involved in student life.

Recipients of the Outstanding Professor Awards presented by the Rotunda yearbook include:

• Marilynn (Birdie) Barr, senior lecturer in applied physiology and wellness, Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development
• Hubert Crouch, visiting lecturer in communication studies, Meadows School of the Arts
• Mark Fontenot, lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering
• Xi Wang, assistant professor of music composition and theory, Meadows School of the Arts

Receiving the Extra Mile Awards, presented by Students for New Learning for graciousness and sensitivity to students with learning differences:

• Craig Flournoy, associate professor of journalism, Meadows School of the Arts
• Judy Foxman, senior lecturer in marketing, Cox School of Business
• John Wise, research associate professor of biological sciences, Dedman College

The Office of Community Engagement and Leadership’s Outstanding Faculty/Staff Volunteer Award was presented to SMU Mothers’ Club President Dianne Bell Jopling, Office of the Treasurer, for exemplary community service outside the University.

Receiving the Leadership in Sustainability Award from the SMU Sustainability Committee were David Blackwell, W.B. Hamilton Professor of Geophysics, and Maria Richards, coordinator, both of the SMU Geothermal Laboratory in Dedman College.

Richard Fisher, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, made welcoming remarks. SMU President R. Gerald Turner presented the report. The event included remarks by SMU Board Chair Caren Prothro and trustees Carl Sewell, Ray L. Hunt, and Michael Boone, vice chair of the SMU Board and chair of the Community Relations Committee of SMU’s Centennial commemoration, which will culminate in 2015, the centennial of the University’s opening.

Information in the report ranges from the regional economic impact of SMU to changes in the student profile, along with research, cultural resources, public service and integration of community service into coursework.

“As part of our Centennial commemoration, we felt it was important to evaluate and highlight the return on investment Dallas has received by supporting the establishment of SMU 100 years ago,” said President Turner. “We hope the report provides a meaningful snapshot of our contributions, measured not only in financial terms but also in intellectual capital. Our goal is to continue to give back to the region that has helped to make SMU a national university worthy of this great city. We celebrate this productive partnership.”

Read more from SMU News.
Read “Dallas and SMU: The Power of Partnership.”

Students, faculty and members of the North Texas community began building the village on the lawn just west of the Engineering Quad on Wednesday, April 11, preparing to showcase a variety of shelter technologies with applications for people displaced by war and natural disasters, as well as impoverished urban dwellers in the developing world. The village’s temporary residents – student volunteers from disciplines all over campus – will be without electricity and running water in the shelters, as is frequently the case for refugee populations.

Many of this year’s shelters are designed for longer-term habitation than last year’s, and two are student projects. Harvey Lacey is back with his popular recycled plastic Ubuntu Blox House, fresh from exhaustive earthquake testing that proved his house to be a potential fit for quake-prone places like Haiti. And bcWORKSHOP’s Brent Brown has brought his Rapido Prototype, the largest structure in the village, developed as part of the state of Texas’ Natural Disaster Housing Reconstruction Plan. During Engineering & Humanity Week, bcWORKSHOP designers will seek feedback from SMU students and visitors to help them improve the project’s design, construction process, deployment method and performance.

Read more about the innovative structures that will make up the Living Village. The public is welcome to tour the village and speak with student participants, who also will be blogging their experiences.

The Living Village also will host a special event at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, designed to spotlight approaches to preserve culture among populations that are housed long-term in refugee camps.

Written by Kimberly Cobb

> Learn more about the Living Village and the week’s events from SMU News
> Follow the Living Village students at their SMU Adventures blog
> Visit the Engineering & Humanity Week website

Kathryn Schaible

SMU’s 2012 Relay For Life had raised more than $123,000, as of Monday (April 16), and donations continue to come it. Funds raised by the event, which took place on the University’s Bishop Boulevard, will benefit the American Cancer Society.

In just two months before the relay, SMU first-year student Kathryn Schaible, whose father died of melanoma when she was 14, raised $20,000 in pledges for the cause.

“I know how cancer can break a family down and change your life,” Schaible said prior to the relay. “The Relay For Life fundraising experience has been much more than raising money. It has given me the opportunity to spread awareness, and talk about treatment and prevention. Educating people and sharing my story has kept me committed to this project.”

Visit www.relayforlife.org/smutx for details on donations and participation.

Stewart Copeland

Copeland’s residency will focus on his work as a composer. He will give guest lectures to music composition and film and media arts students about composing for orchestra, opera and ballet, as well as scoring for film and TV.

He also will work with the Meadows Percussion Ensemble, which will perform four of Copeland’s compositions during its spring concert at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 11. Copeland will not perform with the group but will be in the audience.

On the last day of his visit, Copeland will give a public talk about his career, including his experiences with The Police.

Copeland was in Dallas a year ago when the group D’Drum — which includes Meadows faculty — presented the world premiere of his work Gamelan D’Drum with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson Symphony Center.

> Find a list of public events and related links at the SMU News homepage
> Listen to Stewart Copeland’s interview with KXT Public Radio: Tune in to 91.7 FM at 8:30 a.m. Friday, April 13, to listen to the first broadcast of the interview – or listen to the station’s live online stream at kxt.org/listen.

• Click here for summer and fall 2012 applications to SMU-in-Taos.

“No other university has a campus like SMU-in-Taos,” says Mike Adler, professor of archaeology and SMU-in-Taos executive director. “It is special in a number of ways. The place infuses everyone with a sense of calm and beauty. We have carefully preserved the natural beauty of the mountains, a place where students and faculty can work together unencumbered by distractions.”

SMU-in-Taos has offered summer education programs tailored to the region’s unique cultural and natural resources since 1973. In 2009, the campus launched a fall term thanks to new and renovated casitas and other improvements that made the facilities usable in all seasons.

The three summer programs are May 9-27, May 31-June 29, and July 31-August 17. The fall program is Aug. 21 through Dec. 12. Click here for summer and fall course offerings.

Students in the fall program will take 15 to 18 hours of courses that meet core undergraduate requirements in the arts, sciences, business and other disciplines. The fall program is open to students with a minimum 2.70 G.P.A. who have completed a full year at SMU.

The courses place a unique emphasis on experiential learning and hands-on interaction with their subject matter, Adler says. “As I tell our faculty, if you can only talk about it, don’t teach it in Taos. If you can see it, visit it, feel it, or hike it … that is how we teach our classes here.”

Additionally, the faculty and their families live on campus, so “students get to see them as individuals with outside lives, interests and hobbies, and faculty interact with students both in and out of the classroom,” he says.

And the location creates its own educational context. “Taos is a fascinating community of artists, activists, tourists, Native American tribal members and a number of other interesting groups and identities,” Adler says. “The diversity of the community makes for a very interesting mix of attitudes, political leanings and belief systems.”

For most students, a fall term in Taos costs the same as one taken on the main campus. Existing financial aid applies to study at the New Mexico campus, and SMU-in-Taos offers its own scholarships to students.  Learn more at the Taos financial aid site.

Garrett Ruoff, a senior marketing major with a psychology minor, took part in the first SMU-in-Taos fall term in 2009. As one of the University’s Taos Ambassadors – students who engage their peers and share information about SMU’s New Mexico programs – he has helped create new outreach efforts geared toward students, such as open-house events in the Dallas campus’ SMU-in-Taos office.

“I know a little about the mentality of students when they’re looking for classes to participate in, so I thought we should focus on the great classes, campus and environment of Taos,” Ruoff says. “The highlight for me has been the number signing up. We’ve already enrolled between 80 and 90 students for the upcoming summer terms.”

His marketing savvy also has helped him land a job before Commencement. He will begin work with the Coca-Cola Company after he graduates in May 2012.

For Taos Ambassador Lauren Rodgers, a senior psychology major with minors in Spanish and biomedical anthropology, the first fall term at SMU-in-Taos represented a kind of learning experience she already knew she preferred. “I will pick hands-on learning over lectures nine out of 10 times,” she says. “For many of the Taos courses, we went on field trips and really got our hands dirty, literally and figuratively.”

A particular standout, Rodgers says, was a geology course with Associate Professor Neil Tabor that used the mountains surrounding Taos as a living laboratory. “I took that class just to get a science requirement out of the way,” she says. “It turned out to be one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken, anywhere.”

As in many aspects of life, parents can be great influencers, Ruoff says. His father encouraged him to enroll for that first fall term in Taos “just because he thought it would be a good experience for me.”

And it was, he adds, in more ways than one. “The whole experience taught me to relax and enjoy life more,” he says. “I used to be really stressed and tightly wound, and in New Mexico I had a lot of alone time for the first time in my life. The whole environment at SMU-in-Taos gives you time to think about what you really want from your life and your education. Spending that first sophomore term in Taos and finding a new perspective there really helped me.”

- Kathleen Tibbetts