This fall, thousands of alumni are joining together in support of Pony Power: Strengthening the Stampede. This three-year initiative will improve the academic and campus experience of SMU students at the University, right now. By focusing on current-use funds, Pony Power seeks to maximize resources available to the provost, deans and faculty to address the most pressing needs and best ideas on campus.
To get this initiative moving, SMU is introducing the Mustang Momentum Challenge. For 14 days, starting on October 18, SMU will celebrate the outstanding work of students and faculty across campus, highlighting the tangible impact current-use gifts make on the lives of students now, and leaving a lasting legacy for the future. Each day, a new student or faculty story will be featured in emails to alumni and on the web. And each day, alumni will be encouraged to make their own contribution, together gaining momentum to meet the challenge.
Read more about Pony Power to see how meaningful alumni generosity is in the lives of individual students and the community at large, and how you can contribute to the Mustang Momentum Challenge.
Category: October 2017
Reaching the funding finish line
Former SMU swimmer Joseph M. “Jody” Grant ’60, and his wife, Sheila Peterson Grant, are providing SMU Athletics with a $1.5 million gift to help fund the University’s new Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center. With their gift, they have created the Sheila and Jody Grant Challenge, encouraging other donors to donate the remaining $1.5 million to complete the $22 million funding goal.
The 42,000-square-foot facility, soon to be home to the University’s internationally recognized men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, will be dedicated Friday, November 3, during SMU Homecoming.
“As community business and philanthropic leaders, Jody and Sheila Grant know the importance of reaching the finish line and completing worthy goals,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “Their generosity is inspirational and helps get us closer to completing funding for the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and providing a place where our student athletes can continue the championship legacy of SMU swimming and diving.”
The Aquatics Center features an indoor Olympic-sized pool, which can be configured for eight 50-meter competition lanes or twenty-two 25-yard lanes. Its platform diving well boasts a 10-meter diving tower with five springboards and seating for 800 spectators is on the mezzanine level.
Jody Grant attended SMU on a swimming scholarship, earning four individual Southwest Conference swimming championships and was twice named to the All America team.
“SMU’s swimming program has been near and dear to my heart since Coach Red Barr recruited me many years ago to swim for the Mustangs,” said Dr. Grant. “I am honored to support this new facility, which will be home for the swimming program that was so meaningful to me.”
“With the challenge grant, we hope to inspire the community to join us in reaching the goal for the fundraising of the Aquatics Center. We like to participate in opportunities that provide benefits for as many people as possible, profoundly enhancing their lives,” said Sheila Grant.
Read more at SMU News.
Come back to the Hilltop for Homecoming, November 2–5, 2017! Reconnect with your friends, reminisce where you began an important part of your life and celebrate the achievements and momentum propelling SMU toward an ever-brighter future.
This year’s celebration begins with the Distinguished Alumni Awards, a prelude to a weekend packed with activities. Choose from among a range of concerts and performances, as well as special exhibitions at SMU’s museums and libraries. Celebrate 100 years of Mustang spirit and Mustang jazz with the Mustang Band at the Pigskin Revue. And enjoy the excitement and fun of the annual parade and the Boulevard, all leading up to the Mustang football team’s game against the UCF Knights.
A highlight of the weekend for many returning Mustangs are the reunion class parties on November 3, where alumni catch up on old times, share memories and reconnect with one another at some of Dallas’ best-loved venues as well as great spots on campus with food, drinks and entertainment.
Student Foundation has been hard at work to make this the most memorable Homecoming yet. Join your Mustang family in November and experience the best of SMU.
Read more at SMU Homecoming & Reunions.
The Mustang Band – the most visible performing ensemble at SMU – is celebrating its 100th year during SMU Homecoming 2017 with several special events, including:
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Diamond M Club Mixer
9 p.m.
Old Chicago Pizza
5319 Mockingbird Station
Dallas, TX 75206
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Mustang Band Mini-Reunion
Noon
Mustang Band Hall
6005 Bush Avenue
Dallas, TX 75206
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Centennial Celebration
6:30–7:45 p.m.
The Martha Proctor Mack
Grand Ballroom
Register now
“Choose Your Own Adventure” CLE experience, a reunion party for classes ending in 2s and 7s, and barbecue on The Boulevard are planned for Dedman School of Law alumni during SMU Homecoming Weekend.
Read more at Dedman Law.
A $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to researchers in SMU’s Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development targets the ongoing struggle of U.S. elementary and high school students with math. SMU K-12 math education experts Leanne Ketterlin Geller and Lindsey Perry ’16 will conduct research and develop an assessment system comprised of two universal screening tools to measure mathematical reasoning skills for grades K–2.
“This is an opportunity to develop an assessment system that can help teachers support students at the earliest and, arguably, one of the most critical phases of a child’s mathematical development,” said Ketterlin Geller, principal investigator for the grant.
The four-year project, Measuring Early Mathematical Reasoning Skills: Developing Tests of Numeric Relational Reasoning and Spatial Reasoning, started on September 15, 2017. The system will contain tests for both numeric relational reasoning and spatial reasoning.
“I’m passionate about this research because students who can reason spatially and relationally with numbers are better equipped for future mathematics courses, STEM degrees and STEM careers,” said Perry, whose doctoral dissertation for her Ph.D. from SMU specifically focused on those two mathematical constructs.
“While these are very foundational and predictive constructs, these reasoning skills have typically not been emphasized at these grade levels, and universal screening tools focused on these topics do not yet exist,” said Perry, who is co-principal investigator.
“Since intervention in the early elementary grades can significantly improve mathematics achievement, it is critical that K-2 teachers have access to high-quality screening tools to help them with their intervention efforts,” she said. “We feel that the Measures of Mathematical Reasoning Skills system can really make a difference for K-2 teachers as they prepare the next generation of STEM leaders.”
Read more at SMU Research.
Big data solves leaf-size conundrum
SMU paleobotanist Bonnie F. Jacobs has contributed research to a major new study by a team of global researchers that provides scientists with a new tool for understanding both ancient and future climate by looking at the size of plant leaves. The research was published September 1, 2017 as a cover story in Science.
Why is a banana leaf a million times bigger than a common heather leaf? Why are leaves generally much larger in tropical jungles than in temperate forests and deserts? The textbooks say it’s a balance between water availability and overheating.
But it’s not that simple, the researchers found.
The study was led by Associate Professor Ian Wright from Macquarie University, Australia. The study reveals that in much of the world the key factor limiting the size of a plant’s leaves is the temperature at night and the risk of frost damage to leaves.
Jacobs said the implications of the study are significant for enabling scientists to either predict modern leaf size in the distant future, or to understand the climate for a locality as it may have been in the past.
Read more at SMU Research.
SMU’s Frederick R. Chang, executive director of the Darwin Deason Institute for Cyber Security, recently urged a congressional subcommittee to remember the success of Cold War-era legislation that dedicated more than $1 billion to growing the “space race” workforce as a model for closing the 21st century cyber security skills gap.
Chang testified recently before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection Subcommittee on “Challenges of recruiting and retaining a Cybersecurity Workforce.”
The hearing fell the same day that that it was revealed that a data breach at Equifax Inc. had potentially exposed vital information on about 143 million Americans. “Cyber attacks are growing in frequency and they are growing in sophistication – but the availability of cyber security professionals to deal with these challenges is unfortunately not keeping pace,” said subcommittee chair John Ratcliffe, R-Tx.
One estimate, Ratcliffe said, forecasts a worldwide shortage of 1.8 million cyber security workers five years from now.
“In general, the actions that are being taken now are important, valuable and are making a difference,” Chang testified. “But given that these actions are being taken, and that the cyber skills gap continues to grow, tells me that we must do more. In 1958 science education in America got a shot in the arm when the National Defense Education Act was passed the year after the Soviet satellite “Sputnik” was launched into outer space. This act helped launch a generation of students who would study math and science.
Read more at SMU News.
Hear best-selling author Anne Lamott, seminary president Rev. Dr. Marvin McMickle and noted biblical scholar Rev. Dr. N.T. Wright at The Power of the Story: 2017 Fall Convocation on Creative Communication, November 13–14, at Perkins School of Theology.
Read more at Perkins School of Theology.
The impact of the nation’s evolving demographics will be explored by Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and a host of urban planning and economics experts at SMU on October 26.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
In case you missed it this month, please enjoy these cool stories and interesting videos!
- Family Weekend 2017: Fun on The Boulevard and fantastic football
- Go behind the scenes with Mustang football, now 4–1 for the season
- Minecraft could be a game-changing tool for cancer researchers
- #MoodyMagic: The countdown begins
- Tower Center’s Luisa del Rosal ’08 wins Latino business award
- David B. Miller ’72, ’73 to receive Folsom Award on October 25
- DFW theater critics honor Meadows alumni, faculty and students
- New Cox dean: Preparing students for innovation-driven careers
- Outstanding play by volleyball’s Lauren Mills ’18 recognized – again