Category: December 2021

Army and Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) students at SMU with full-tuition ROTC scholarships are now eligible for a new SMU scholarship that will cover the full cost of their campus housing and dining. When combined, these scholarships will cover all costs for tuition, fees, housing and dining.
“We’re really pleased to be able to share this news on a day we traditionally honor our military veterans,” Wes Waggoner, SMU associate vice president for Enrollment Management, said during the Veterans Day announcement. “ROTC tuition scholarships are based on academic achievement, leadership potential and community involvement. These are the traits of the students we recruit to SMU. We hope that the addition of a housing and dining scholarship will encourage more ROTC students to become Mustangs, and SMU is honored to support their goals.”
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It’s official: Rhett Lashlee is returning to the Hilltop, this time as head football coach. Lashlee previously served as offensive coordinator for the Mustangs, including the record-setting 2019 season.
The November 30 press conference about the appointment became a pep rally as the SMU community and Dallas officials cheered Lashlee’s return.
“Rhett’s ability to connect with recruits, his passion and love for his players and his alignment with our vision and values are among the many reasons he has been selected to lead SMU football,” said SMU Director of Athletics Rick Hart.
Lashlee is a one-time finalist (2013) and two-time semifinalist (2019 and 2020) for the Broyles Award, presented to the nation’s top assistant coach. He comes back to SMU after two seasons as the Miami Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Lashlee also has the distinction of being the only coach ever nominated for the Broyles Award four different times at four different schools (Arkansas State, Auburn, SMU and Miami).
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SMU is collaborating with accelerated computing leader NVIDIA to dramatically boost the University’s high-performance computing system – increasing SMU’s current supercomputer memory tenfold and setting the stage for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning 25 times faster than current levels.
SMU is investing $11.5 million in hardware, software and training to strengthen the University AI infrastructure with an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, bringing world-leading AI supercomputing capabilities to Dallas. The collaboration will give SMU faculty, students and research partners the ability to integrate sophisticated AI technology across a wide array of research disciplines, ranging from computational biology to human performance, from national defense to digital humanities.
“This partnership will put us in the fast lane for artificial intelligence,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Research universities like ours have an obligation to actively engage in the development and application of AI for societal good, and this partnership gives us the tools to do it.”
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