Aleena Taufiq ’18, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and math, runs Geared Up, an afterschool enrichment program she developed to inspire middle-school students to pursue engineering, math and science in college. And none of it would have happened without people like Jim Caswell ’63, ’66, ’70 and Chuck Lingo ’90 – neither of them an engineer and neither of whom Taufiq met.
Dedman College Scholar Sam Weber ’18 says he’s the “type of person who likes to stay busy.” That’s an understatement. As a student researcher,
he trains others working on cell biology experiments and explores the use of the performing arts in public health education. And he’s currently directing his second 24-Hour Musical. The senior dynamo says everything he has done at SMU has prepared him for his next goal: medical school.
For more than a decade, U.S. Army Major Jeff Matsler ’93, a chaplain and bioethicist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, has made it his mission to study “moral injury.” Members of the armed forces return from war not only psychologically and emotionally battered but also spiritually injured. “Soldiers on the front line need to hear the message of forgiveness and redemption,” he says.
Find out how Principal Nancy Bernardino ’01, ’04, ’05 and her leadership team of SMU alumnae are shaping an all-girls “super school” in Dallas that has gained national attention for its economic diversity and innovative curriculum.
How many people does it take to stage a performance of Shakespeare’s The Tempest? Go behind the scenes with SMU Meadows as hundreds of community actors and volunteers bring a musical adaptation of the Bard’s epic play to life.
Just ask David Son, professor of chemistry in Dedman College, and wife Heidi – or take a look at photos and memories from a year at Boaz Commons. In 2014, David Son was named Boaz FiR and the 61-year-old residence hall was retrofitted with an apartment that houses the couple and their children, Geoffrey, 14, and Kaylee, 11. The Sons believe so strongly in the Residential Commons model for living and learning at SMU that they sold their home in Plano to move to campus. And they say they’ve never looked back.
Annual gifts for current use power every part of the University. Take a look at how chains of gifts strengthen SMU, and read more about Pony Power – the SMU stampede for current-use gifts.
Credit SMU undergraduates Brandon Cohanim and Francois Reihani for importing Dallas’ latest food craze. Spurred by entrepreneurial cravings and an eye for trends, the California transplants opened Pōk the Raw Bar in January, the city’s first restaurant focused on poke (pronounced poh-kay), a raw fish salad with Hawaiian roots.
“Thinking of my grandmother’s battle with breast cancer reminds me that my research has a real purpose: to benefit the millions of women around the world who might one day find themselves in her situation.”
SMU’s community clinics open doors to legal services for low-income North Texas residents unable to afford representation. One of the newest among 10 clinical programs and projects offered by the Dedman School of Law, the VanSickle Family Law Clinic launched in January 2016 under the direction of Chante Prox. Prox says it takes a special breed of attorney – part therapist, part legal ninja – to handle the emotional highs and lows involved with family law proceedings. Things get personal as attorneys navigate the choppy legal waters surrounding some of life’s most stressful changes.
