From Andy

It’s been an amazing and consequential year for the University of North Dakota. We’ve seen the University emerge from the shadow of the COVID pandemic to reopen its campus, returning to the active and vibrant environment it’s always been. The hard work and preparation by faculty and staff was rewarded when students came back brimming with excitement and a renewed sense of purpose.

Our Fighting Hawks athletics teams got back into action. Plays, concerts, art exhibits, parades, and other events reenergized UND and the surrounding Grand Forks community. Kathy and I appreciated the opportunity to travel around North Dakota to meet with our state’s residents and UND alumni.

Working with the North Dakota Legislature, UND received funding for important capital projects and its space initiative. Federal funding allocated by the legislature will cover a major portion of the renovation of Merrifield and Twamley halls to modernize academic spaces and to bring additional faculty and staff to the central campus.

As we’ve watched the new Nistler College of Business & Public Administration taking shape, we’ve also dedicated a new Memorial Union, reopened the renovated Chester Fritz Library, and welcomed the Gershman Graduate Center along the strikingly transformed University Avenue.

Partnerships are key to the continued success of UND. We have enjoyed and valued the benefits of close working relationships with community leaders, North Dakota’s state and federal officials, businesses, industry, and other institutions of higher education in our state and region.

We couldn’t have accomplished all we did in the past year without the valuable assistance from our alumni and the generous support from the UND Alumni Association & Foundation. These are the partnerships that spark opportunities for our students and faculty to shape tomorrow’s leaders for North Dakota. As we close out 2021, my gratitude and appreciation goes out to all those who have so generously committed time and resources to making UND’s comeback year a success. Thanks to those efforts, we can look ahead to 2022 with a vision for the future.

Andrew Armacost

University of North Dakota President