USU Greats 2018 by Utah State Magazine

THE GREATS TWO THOUSAND EIGHTEEN

SHOW ME A TRUEBLOODED AGGIE FROM UTAH, WHO DOESNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T LOVE THE SPOT WHERE THE SAGEBRUSH GROWS

THE AGGIE FAMILY COLLECTIVELY EMBRACED 2018 WITH COUNTLESS NEW ACHIEVEMENTS, NEW TRADITIONS, AND NEW IDEAS. THESE ARE A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS.

AGGIE ACCOLADES PAGE 1 PRESIDENT GEORGE H. EMERT DIED IN MARCH. DURING HIS TENURE FROM 1992-2000, SCHOLARSHIPS AT USU ROSE FROM $6 MILLION TO $29 MILLION AND STUDENT ENROLLMENT GREW FROM 17,000 TO NEARLY 21,000.

GREATS AMONG US

VETERINARIAN, RESEARCHER, AUTHOR, TEACHER, AND ADMINISTRATOR FOR MORE THAN 34 YEARS, FRANCIS D. GALEY, WAS SELECTED TO BE THE NEW EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST.

REVELATIONS IN RESEARCH PAGE 3

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GARY ANDERSEN RETURNED TO BE THE AGGIES’ HEAD FOOTBALL COACH IN DECEMBER 2018. ANDERSEN, WHO WAS ALSO USU’S HEAD COACH FOR FOUR SEASONS (’09–’12), IS THE FIRST OF 27 COACHES IN SCHOOL HISTORY TO SERVE A SECOND TIME.

CRAIG SMITH WAS NAMED THE SCHOOL’S 19TH HEAD COACH IN 113 SEASONS OF AGGIE BASKETBALL.

CHANGING LANDSCAPES PAGE 6

APPLIED IMPACT PAGE 7

USU PRESIDENT NOELLE E. COCKETT SIGNED A PRESIDENTIAL DECREE DESIGNATING EVERY FRIDAY AS “TRUE BLUE AGGIE FRIDAY” TO PROMOTE SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PRIDE AT THE INSTITUTION. ALL ARE ENCOURAGED TO WEAR AGGIE BLUE AND FIGHTING WHITE.

“The Fulbright grants have empowered us to do research with lasting impact on communities and nations worldwide,” said USU President Noelle Cockett.

AGGIE ACCOLADES 1

THE UNIVERSITY IS THE SECOND-LARGEST PRODUCER OF FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS IN THE WESTERN STATES. USU was named one of the TOP 10 FULBRIGHT U.S. SCHOLARS- PRODUCING RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

USU FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS 2017–2018 ACADEMIC YEAR

ALAN BLACKSTOCK English, USU-Uintah Basin Literature in Ecuador at the University of Cuenca. DANIEL HOLLAND Marketing and Strategy Entrepreneurship in Japan at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. NANCY HYDE Office of Global Engagement International education in South Korea at the Korean-American Educational Commission. RANDAL MARTIN Civil and Environmental Engineering Environmental engineering in West Bank at An-Najah National University. MICHAEL MCFARLAND Civil and Environmental Engineering Water pollution and environmental sciences in the Dominican Republic at Ibero-American University. ANN ROEMER Intensive English Language Institute Teaching English in Tanzania at University of Dodoma. GILBERTO URROZ Civil and Environmental Engineering Hydraulic engineering in Mexico at University of Sonora.

USU graduate Michael Scott Peters was selected as a 2018– 2019 U.S. YOUTH OBSERVER to the United Nations. Peters served as USU student body president during the 2017-18 school year, while earning a double major in international business and marketing. USU’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets of Detachment 860 were RANKED NO. 1 IN CUMULATIVE GPA AMONG ALL 34 AFROTC UNITS IN THE NORTHWEST REGION, and No. 5 among all 145 ROTC units nationwide. A team of 11 undergraduate students in USU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering designed and built a device that took FIRST PLACE AT THE AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB UNIVERSITY DESIGN CHALLENGE. The studentwinning design, called HADES (Human-Assisted Debris Extractor for Space), uses a pressurized net-and-drag device to capture space trash. Physics professor David Peak received the 2018 national Council on Undergraduate ResearchGoldwater Scholars Faculty Mentor Award. SELECTED FROM 10 FINALISTS NATIONWIDE, Peak has mentored, to date, more than 30 USU undergraduates, who have received 36 Goldwater Scholarships and Honorable Mentions – a number that rivals Ivy League competitors.

#6 in the nation among colleges of education for total research dollars received, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services U.S. News and World Report, Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Graduate Schools, 2018 edition 3

REVELATIONS IN RESEARCH Ryker Hacking, a Vernal native and USU student, performed vital research in the USU-Uintah Basin summer internship program that could END THE NEGATIVE SIDE EFFECTS OF DIABETES. Under the direction of Professor Mike Christiansen, Hacking developed a way to synthesize MBT, a molecule that is able to inhibit aldose reductase, an enzyme responsible for causing kidney, retina, nervous system, and red blood cell damage. The research group will further develop and refine the process of creating MBT, with the goal of making it available to the public to treat Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

As modern society slips away from the definition of a family with mom, dad, and kids chatting over dinner, researchers are trying to understand the “whys.” Kristina Scharp, an assistant professor of communication studies and director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab, has been explaining to journalists worldwide, including the New York Times, the complicated MOTIVES OF WHY PARENTS AND CHILDREN BECOME ESTRANGED, whether it’s due to such factors as mental health, addiction, or gross indifference.

Chemist Lisa Berreau, toxicologist Abby Benninghoff, and several USU undergraduate and graduate students, are developing molecules to deliver controlled amounts of carbon monoxide to targets within the human body. The USU-developed photoCORMs are TRACKABLE, TARGETABLE, AND TRIGGERABLE. This allows for further exploration of their potential, not only to attack cancer cells, but to combat inflammation, a modern-day public health scourge linked to a wide range of chronic diseases, including heart disease and diabetes.

S.J. and Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources Researchers Paul Rogers and Darren McAvoy have conducted the first complete assessment of the Pando aspen clone, widely CONSIDERED THE WORLD’S LARGEST SINGLE ORGANISM weighing in at an estimated 13 million pounds. Covering some 106 acres in south-central Utah’s Fishlake National Forest, the clonal colony consists of more than 47,000 genetically identical above-ground stems or “ramets” originating from a single underground parent clone. Quaking aspen, Pando’s iconic species, was named Utah’s State Tree in 2014.

GREATS AMONG US MENTORING NATIVE AMERICAN SCHOLARS USU is among 33 institutions nationwide selected to join the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Inclusive Excellence Initiative. The $1 million in grant support over five years will build on the university’s efforts to ENCOURAGE STUDENTS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN TRANSFERRING TO USU’S MAIN CAMPUS in Logan from USU Eastern, Blanding, a twoyear campus in remote, southeastern Utah. IMPROVING COMMUNITIES: RAISING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS USU Extension Assistant Professor Zuri Garcia has been working to INCREASE MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AMONG THE LATINO COMMUNITY in Clearfield and surrounding cities by organizing a Latino Advisory Council to connect the Latino community to mental health services and programs taking place in Davis County. STRENGTHENING UTAH’S RURAL ECONOMIES As many rural Utah residents are struggling with unemployment or underemployment, a pilot program has been implemented by USU Extension to help residents in the southern counties develop the skills needed to compete for remote employment. With the GOAL OF STRENGTHENING THE ECONOMIES OF RURAL UTAH, the new Rural Online Initiative (ROI) was funded by the legislature in 2018 to allow people to develop skills so they can seek jobs without leaving their counties. THANKS “GIVING” “Helper therapy” means when you serve others, you’re actually healing your own psyche. And now the term is more than simply a textbook concept for some 50 social work students. The students FILLED MORE THAN 100 BOXES WITH ALL THE ESSENTIALS OF A ROBUST THANKSGIVING DINNER, each designed to feed a family of six. The Thanksgiving service tradition, now in its 12th year, is the largest project of the year for the Social Work Students Association.

USU’S FOOTBALL TEAM TIED THE SCHOOL RECORD FOR

MOST WINS IN A SINGLE SEASON IN 2018

The team played in its seventh bowl game in the past eight seasons in December 2018, the New Mexico Bowl, taking home a 52-13 win over North Texas, and alum Matt Wells was named Mountain West Coach of the Year.

CHANGING LANDSCAPES The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business opened the new Stephen R. Covey Leadership Center in early November 2018. Nearly a decade in the making, the Covey Leadership Center was the brainchild of the late Stephen R. Covey and the late Jon M. Huntsman with the goal of teaching PRINCIPLE-CENTERED LEADERSHIP IN HIGHER EDUCATION.

The Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at USU re-opened in the fall of 2018 after a two-year expansion. NEHMA’s PRIVATELY FUNDED $5-MILLION-DOLLAR RENOVATION provides NEHMA with a prominent presence in northern Utah, making the museum the only destination focused on modern and contemporary American art between Salt Lake City and Boise.

Utah State University and the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services unveiled the new Sorenson Legacy Foundation Center for Clinical Excellence in May 2018. THE STATE-OF-THE-ART, 100,000-SQUAREFOOT-BUILDING is a unique, advanced facility that integrates research, academic, and clinical services while allowing training for students, interdisciplinary research among faculty and clinicians, and comprehensive clinical services for clients statewide.

USU unveiled the Aggie Chocolate Factory in November 2018. The newest addition to the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences food science program is first a laboratory for students, but will also facilitate research and outreach to the confectionary industry. This will be the ONLY CHOCOLATE FACTORY AT A UNIVERSITY IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. Industry professionals are excited about the opportunities for short courses and working with USU to produce certain flavor profiles.

The Latinx Cultural Center was founded in October 2018 by English faculty member Christopher González with the intent of INCREASING EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND MENTORING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LATINX STUDENTS AT USU.

APPLIED IMPACT 7

Photo courtesy of NASA

#5 national public university (#12 overall) in the nation in “National Universities Rankings 2018” Washington Monthly USU’s Space Dynamics Laboratory provided the detector assemblies for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Camera Suite, called OCAMS, that rendezvoused with the asteroid Bennu in December 2018. Launched in September 2016, OSIRIS-REx has TRAVELED MORE THAN TWO BILLION KILOMETERS TO THE ASTEROID and will help scientists answer questions about the formation of Earth and the solar system. USU USTAR Professor Randy Lewis is working with the U.S. Navy to further his research on synthetic spider silk (made from transgenic bacteria and silkworms) and look for new applications as it relates to maritime defense and commercial-scale production. Lewis says synthetic silk holds promise for NEARLY ENDLESS APPLICATIONS IN INDUSTRY, MEDICINE, AND CONSUMER PRODUCTS.

Earning a TOP SPOT IN A NATIONAL FOOD SCIENCE COMPETITION takes more than proving yourself as a chef. It’s about perfecting the chemistry in food, according to graduate student Vidita Deshpande and team members Cheril Lyman and Zachary Cooper. The trio earned second place at the national Institute of Food Technologists competition for their cauliflower crust pizza bites, “… a healthy twist on an original cheese pizza,” that meet the USDA’s requirements for “smart snacks.” USU STARS! has been awarded $16.9 million over seven years to help underprivileged middle and high school students in Salt Lake County prepare to enter and succeed in college. USU created the STARS!

(Science, Technology, Arithmetic, Reading Students) GEAR UP partnership with key academic, community, and business partners, including Granite School District and Salt Lake Community College, to increase all secondary students’ academic achievement, creating a PIPELINE OF ACADEMICALLY PREPARED STUDENTS ENROLLING INTO COLLEGE.

Researchers Zeljko Pantic and Calvin Coopmans are rethinking a 30-yearold technology and giving new meaning to the words “limited mobility.” The electrical engineers created the first-ever prototype of an ELECTRIC WHEELCHAIR THAT CHARGES VIA WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER. The innovative smart charging system eliminates the need for a plug-in charger and promises to significantly improve user mobility.

Christy Glass, a sociology professor, and Alison Cook, a professor of management, have collaborated for a decade on research on gender diversity in top business roles. Now, their knowledge is being sought by national media, including the New York Times, CNN, and CNBC, as THE NUMBER OF FEMALE CEOS DWINDLES. The question that’s guided them has been: What barriers — and opportunities — exist for women seeking to reach the peak of professional achievement in business, such as becoming CEO of a large company? The Department of Art + Design in the Caine College of the Arts hosted visiting artist Patrick Dougherty in the fall of 2018 as he created a sculpture using SIX TONS OF WILLOW BRANCHES AND STICKS. Located to the east of the Merrill-Cazier Library and built with help from volunteers, including university students and locals, Dougherty’s interactive sculpture is meant to be an immersive experience. The sculpture will stay standing for about two years.

USU CELEBRATED THE “SPIRIT OF THE SCOTSMAN” IN 2018 AS THE CLASSIC AGGIE ANTHEM TURNED 100 YEARS OLD. PENNED BY AGRONOMY MAJOR EBENEZER J. KIRKHAM IN 1918 DURING HIS SENIOR YEAR, THE SONG IS EMBRACED AS PART OF THE UNIVERSITY’S CULTURE AND PLAYED AT AGGIE ATHLETIC EVENTS.