Fast Facts Rankings Points of Pride & Latest News
QUICKVIEW SPRING 2018
Research expenditures reach a record high
Top of the class FIU offers an environment that is academically rigorous and highly supportive so that students can attain their educational goals. The Chronicle of Higher Education named FIU one of the “Great Colleges to Work For” in its 2017 annual report. The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education places FIU in the top research category – R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity. The Brookings Institution ranked FIU No. 6 in the country in producing important research while also promoting upward social mobility among students. Best Grad Schools #5 in the Nation
U.S. News & World Report named FIU one of its “Best Grad Schools” in the nation for 2018. U.S. News & World Report ranked the College of Business undergraduate program in international business fifth in the nation in “Best Colleges” 2017. The Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management’s online bachelor’s in hospitality management was named the best in the country in 2017, according to bestcolleges.com. The Wolfsonian-FIU ranks among the top 25 “Most Amazing U.S. University Museums,” according to the website College Rank.
#17 Best Value Law Schools
The National Jurist placed the College of Law at no. 17 on its 2017 list of Best Value law schools, an annual ranking that takes into account tuition, debt, employment rate and bar passage rates.
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A hotbed of Cuban studies An exciting initiative brings together all things Cuban at FIU. An advisory group of community leaders and a $200,000 contribution from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation together launched “CasaCuba.” The project aims to harness FIU’s prestigious scholarly and cultural resources with the eventual goal of constructing a dedicated 50,000-square-foot campus facility complete with meeting space and classrooms. “There is no location outside of Cuba with a greater connection to Cuban and Cuban-American people than Miami and no university with greater expertise in the study of the island nation,” President Mark B. Rosenberg said. “This new center will be accessible to our students, the larger South Florida community and visitors from around the world.” The academic pillar of CasaCuba will be the Cuban Research Institute, the nation’s premier center for academic research and public programs on Cuban and Cuban-American issues, within the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. Additionally, FIU has significant collections related to Cuban art, history and music in addition to digitized assets such as oral history recordings and genealogy records.
news.fiu.edu
Veteran remembered with statue To honor service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice, FIU has designated the Felsberg Veterans Plaza at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. At the center of the space is a statue of Marine and 2003 graduate Michael Felsberg. Felsberg died in 2004 at the age of 27 in a rocket-propelled attack in Iraq. A platoon commander, he was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart. At FIU, Felsberg was a member of the track team and was recognized at graduation as the athlete with the highest GPA. His support of fellow athletes across all sports three times earned him FIU’s Athletic Spirit Award. That award has since been renamed for Felsberg as have a playing field and softball tournament. Felsberg left his assets to FIU, which have been used to establish the Michael Felsberg Scholarship Endowment. The bronze statue memorializing him was created with support from the Miami-based law firm Genovese Joblove & Battista and former Marine and FIU alumnus Burt Cabaùas.
Superbugs have a new foe The National Institutes of Health has awarded FIU nearly $2 million to study how targeting bacterial DNA could effectively kill antibiotic-resistant infections. According to the Centers for Disease Control, at least 2 million people in the United States are infected annually with so-called superbugs, bacteria that have adapted to prevent antibiotics from working. Leaders at the World Health Organization are concerned that, unless a solution is found, it will be increasingly difficult to treat infections such as tuberculosis and pneumonia. The FIU researchers in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education are studying how enzymes might be targeted to interrupt the process by which bacteria grow.
news.fiu.edu
Eat. Drink. Educate. The Food Network & Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February 2018 brought together top names in the culinary world with leaders in the beverage industry and local restaurateurs. The goal: Serve up taste sensations while raising funds for education. The annual five-day affair is a collaboration between the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and one of its biggest donors, beverage distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. To date, the event has raised more than $26 million in support of scholarships and state-of-the-art facilities in the Chaplin School. The glamorous gathering, now in its 17th year, offers more than 1,000 students each year a chance to gain hands-on experience and network with industry leaders and celebrities as they help plan and promote dinners, tastings and other activities that draw visitors from far and wide.
sobewff.org
Boosting local entrepreneurs StartUP FIU has added a food incubator and tech accelerator to its roster of intensive programs that help entrepreneurs scale up their businesses. With a grant from Citi, StartUP FIU FOOD offers founders of new food and beverage businesses educational seminars, mentorship opportunities with industry professionals and assistance with securing financing. (Pictured above are Michael Cheng, interim director of the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, and Anna Etienne, director of StartUP FIU FOOD.) StartUP West Kendall is a community space devoted to the learning, development and creation of emerging technologies. The mission is to develop cutting-edge industry in an area that sees a vast majority of workers commuting to jobs elsewhere in South Florida. By promoting technical workshops and providing meeting rooms and business support, the space hopes to encourage nascent companies as well as teams still honing viable ideas.
startup.fiu.edu
Philanthropists make ‘keystone donation’ to museum Palm Beach philanthropist Jean S. Sharf and her late husband, collector and scholar Frederic A. Sharf, have gifted more than 650 items to The Wolfsonian–FIU. A longtime trustee and benefactor of museums across the United States, Fred Sharf initiated the donation in early fall 2017, just a few months before his death. The couple’s final gift to The Wolfsonian–FIU caps nearly two decades of support and features books, periodicals and other rare material from the late 19th century through the Second World War relating to aviation, national fairs, the rise of the modern Japanese empire and colonialism in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. “The Sharfs’ latest gift is a keystone donation,” said Director Tim Rodgers. “We’re saddened that Fred’s many years of fruitful collaborations with the museum team have been cut short, but look forward to celebrating his legacy in the true spirit of the Sharfs—with endless curiosity, the heart of a scholar and a passion for the overlooked and unsung.” The Wolfsonian–FIU on Miami Beach uses its collection to illustrate the persuasive power of art and design.
wolfsonian.org
Research center to focus on underserved populations The Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work is creating a health disparities research center with $13.1 million from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The grant is the largest from the NIH in FIU history. The center will bring together a multidisciplinary team to focus on reducing substance abuse and HIV through partnerships with South Florida communities. “We have an extraordinary group of researchers and experts lined up for this effort because we know just how critical it is for the overall health of our Miami community,” said Tomás R. Guilarte, dean of Stempel College. “We are using our insight and research capabilities to solve a complex set of issues afflicting our fellow citizens, but with a decidedly cooperative approach.”
stempel.fiu.edu
Foreign policy leaders discuss state of the world Leaders of nationally renowned think tanks, former ambassadors and journalists from publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Politico came together at FIU in January for a daylong conference on global relations and U.S. foreign policy. State of the World 2018, co-hosted by FIU’s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs, featured panel discussions on topics such as human rights, America’s standing in the world and current challenges in Cuba, Venezuela, the Middle East, China and Russia. The conference was the first of its kind in Miami and inaugurated the Dorothea Green Lecture Series. Green School Senior Fellow David Kramer organized the event and reached out to his extensive network to invite top names in foreign policy. Kramer arrived at FIU just months earlier with 24 years of experience in Washington, D.C., where he served for eight years in the U.S. Department of State, including as assistant secretary of state for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President George W. Bush. Most recently he was with the McCain Institute for International Leadership.
sipa.fiu.edu
Weathering the storm As the 2018 hurricane season approaches, FIU is relying on lessons learned before, during and after Hurricane Irma to ensure the safety of students and the greater community. In 2017 the university activated its Emergency Operations Center at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus to efficiently monitor conditions, make key decisions and send updates to the university’s 57,000 students and nearly 10,000 employees regarding the Category 5 storm, which eventually made landfall in the Florida Keys. University leaders worked cooperatively with local officials and members of the American Red Cross and the U.S. Public Health Service in support of shelters on campus that served Monroe County and special-needs evacuees. Hundreds of students with nowhere else to go were also housed and fed in a reinforced residence hall. Year-round maintenance of facilities and grounds as well as battening down FIU property just prior to the storm— including some 700 labs and several off-site locations— helped keep campus damage to a minimum, and FIU was able to reopen within a week of the hurricane’s impact on South Florida. Separately, FIU worked directly with local hospitals by deploying its medical disaster response team to assist in meeting increased demand in emergency rooms following the storm. That experience will inform efforts moving forward.
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R1 57,000 10,000 177,000 201 $ 1.4B $ 177M 96 11 18
Research 1 Carnegie Classification Doctoral University—Highest Research Activity
Enrollment
Employees (faculty, staff, administrators) Alumni who live and work in Florida
Bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs Annual budget Total research expenditures in FY 2016-2017
Percent of faculty who hold doctoral degrees or highest degree attainable in their field
Colleges and schools including Medicine and Law
Division 1A sports teams
fiu.edu
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FIU Division of External Relations Modesto A. Maidique Campus, PC 515, Miami, FL 33199