Health scholar

Samuel Boland, a fourth-year in the College who spent nine months supporting the Ebola response in Africa, has won a Marshall Scholarship. From January to September 2015 Boland worked with a nongovernmental agency in Sierra Leone to help identify potential Ebola cases and refer those possibly infected to treatment centers. He will use the scholarship to study global public health with a focus on Africa at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Boland is the University’s 22nd Marshall Scholar since 1986.

Trauma care on campus

The University of Chicago Medicine has decided to open a level 1 adult trauma center on its Hyde Park campus. Last fall, it had been announced that the University would partner with Sinai Health System to build the trauma center at Sinai’s Holy Cross Hospital in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. Building the trauma center instead in the same complex as UChicago Medicine’s level 1 pediatric trauma center and Burn and Complex Wound Center will allow integrated care and “ma[kes] the most sense for South Side patients,” said UChicago Medical Center president Sharon O’Keefe.

Singular achievement

Starting in 2017 the University will consolidate its quarterly convocation ceremonies into one event, held in June. The change, which comes amid declining participation in the fall and winter ceremonies, is designed to bring the entire University community together in celebration and increase graduates’ sense of identification with their class. “For the College, this change will be especially meaningful, as it will help develop and enhance a lasting sense of solidarity, affinity, and cohesion within class cohorts,” said College dean John W. Boyer, AM’69, PhD’75. “The spring ceremony will continue to be an event to remember.”

A new degree

The Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies now offers a master of science degree in biomedical informatics. A part-time program designed for adults working in biomedical fields, the MScBMI degree program includes classroom instruction and discussion and an industry-based capstone project. Applications are being accepted for spring and autumn 2016.

Data-driven leadership

Data science scholar Michael Franklin has been appointed chair of the Department of Computer Science and senior adviser to the provost on computation and data science. Franklin will lead a major expansion in faculty and course offerings while building upon current data science research and increasing collaborations with other areas of the University and with outside partners. His appointment “reflects our commitment to sustain an ambitious, University-wide approach to computation and data science,” said provost Eric D. Isaacs.

Campaign update

The University of Chicago Campaign: Inquiry and Impact, 15 months into its public phase, has surpassed 65 percent of its fundraising goal. The campaign, which has now raised $2.9 billion of its targeted $4.5 billion by 2019, will support faculty and researchers across divisions, provide diverse educational opportunities for students, and increase the University’s global reach. “The continued commitment of our alumni, parents, families, and friends helps ensure that the University’s distinctive education and scholarship will flourish, and its impact will continue to grow,” said University president Robert J. Zimmer.

Extraordinary service

On October 28 trustee Dennis J. Keller, MBA’68, and his wife, Connie Keller, received the University of Chicago Medal for their philanthropy and service to the University. The Kellers’ support has touched many areas of UChicago, from the Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professorship at Chicago Booth, to Keller House in the Renee Granville-Grossman Residential Commons, to the forthcoming Keller Center at Chicago Harris. The couple has also made gifts to Odyssey Scholarships, the Urban Education Institute, Court Theatre, and the University of Chicago Medicine.

New opportunities

The University of Chicago has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Chicago detailing the ways the University will work with city government and the local community to increase economic opportunity on the South Side. With an investment of about $750 million over the next three years, the University will launch new projects as well as continue programs like the Civic Leadership Academy, the Urban Education Institute, and UChicago Promise.

Global challenge

In October the University and the government of Delhi launched the Urban Labs Innovation Challenge: Delhi. The competition aims to crowdsource local solutions to improve air and water quality in India. Winners will receive up to 20 million rupees and a chance to pilot their solutions in Delhi for possible adoption citywide. “This partnership combines city leadership with rigorous research and local insights to employ a unique approach to identifying, refining, testing, and scaling up new policy solutions proven to work,” said Michael Greenstone, LAB’87, the Milton Friedman Professor in Economics and director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and the Urban Labs’ Energy and Environment Lab.

Recognizing trailblazers

On January 11 the University’s Diversity Leadership Council presented the annual Nancy N. Schwartz, professor in pediatrics and biochemistry and molecular biology; alumnus historian and teacher Charles Branham, PhD’81; and International House director Denise M. Jorgens, AM’83, PhD’95.