Category Archives: research update

Besides celebrating U.S. independence, July 4, 2012, now marks another historic milestone: discovery of the Higgs boson fundamental particle in physics. And SMU’s Department of Physics in Dedman College was at the center of the action. The biggest physics discovery … Continue reading →

School-age children who participate in structured after-school activities improve their academic achievement, according to a new study by researchers in SMU’s Simmons School of Education and Human Development. The study by associate professors Ken Springer and Deborah Diffily measured academic … Continue reading →

The fieldwork of SMU paleontologist Louis Jacobs normally takes him to Angola, Mongolia or Ethiopia. But Jacobs’ latest research took him to SMU’s DeGolyer Library. There he dug through the archived papers of Robert T. Hill and discovered a treasure … Continue reading →

A new study by SMU historian A. Azfar Moin explores why Muslim sovereigns in the early modern era began to imitate the exalted nature of Sufi saints. Uncovering a widespread phenomenon, Moin shows how the charismatic pull of sainthood (wilayat) – … Continue reading →

James Kennell, a medical anthropologist and SMU adjunct professor, has logged numerous field seasons with Benin’s Aja people, research that helped him earn his doctoral degree in cultural anthropology from SMU in 2011. His dissertation was named one of the best 40 cultural anthroplogy dissertations in North America in 2011. Continue reading →

Biochemists Pia Vogel and John Wise in the Department of Biological Sciences in Dedman College are using SMU’s supercomputer to search for a drug that will combat super cells that develop resistance to chemotherapy. Continue reading →

The National Science Foundation has recognized two SMU faculty members with the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award. The NSF career grants recognize junior faculty whose research will have a broad impact on society. Continue reading →

By design, students in SMU’s Lyle School of Engineeringget the opportunity to solve engineering problems for real customers during the course of earning an undergraduate degree. Yasmin Ara ’11, a mechanical engineering major who graduated in May, says the hands-on opportunity reinforced … Continue reading →

Photographer Debora Hunter’s research explores the modern world’s imprint on the iconic New Mexico landscape and the resulting social and environmental contradictions. Her latest study is “Land Marks: Photographs from Taos, New Mexico.” She says about the documentary project she … Continue reading →

Dinosaur bones in a museum sparked SMU graduate student Yuri Kimura’s childhood fascination with fossils. “I was given a piece of 100-million-year-old sedimentary rock,” Kimura recalls of her visit to a museum in her native Japan. “I could not imagine … Continue reading →