News
2018
On November 11, Americans are asked to reflect upon the heroism of those who have served our country in war or peace. Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day to mark the signing of the truce that ended World War I, was renamed by Congress in 1954 to honor American veterans of all wars.
The university’s School of Visual Studies’ Art on the Move Outreach Program will feature a photo exhibition at the Lake of the Ozarks by MU alumna and Osage Beach native Mackenna Surdyke-Bennett, who received her BFA from MU with an emphasis in photography.
A series of art exhibitions scheduled at the Lake of the Ozarks in November brings together several University of Missouri alumnae who have known each other for years. The university’s School of Visual Studies’ Art on the Move Outreach Program will feature a photo exhibition by MU alumna and Osage Beach native Mackenna Surdyke-Bennett, who received her BFA from MU with an emphasis in photography.
A University of Missouri team of researchers has been awarded a Major Research Instrumentation award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) that will allow the team to purchase an ultrafast amplified laser system that will facilitate research in condensed-matter physics, material science and engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, biology, bioengineering, and medicine.
Gavin King, an associate professor of physics, is trying to understand one of the most basic concepts in cell biology: secretion, or the mechanism by which proteins can pass through a cell membrane to get from one compartment of a cell to another. Membrane proteins are the “gatekeepers” that allow information and molecules to pass into and out of a cell.
If a person drinks five or more alcoholic beverages every day, is that person an alcoholic? The answer, according to Curators Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences Kenneth J. Sher, is maybe, maybe not. Sher was curious about the association between daily drinking and various outcomes but discovered there was very little data available about daily drinking that was distinct from other drinking patterns.
Candace Galen finds bees fell silent in the darkness of the total solar eclipse.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – On August 21, 2017, at 16 points along the path of last year’s total solar eclipse, tiny microphones—each about the size of a USB flash drive—captured a unique biological phenomenon. As Earth fell into complete darkness, the bees stopped buzzing, according to researchers at the University of Missouri.
MU economics professor Joe Haslag says the university has become a pipeline for talent for large private employers such as Veterans United Home Loans.
A new report finds economic growth across the state of Missouri has been uneven over the past two decades. Professor Joe Haslag, the Kenneth Lay Chair in Economics at MU, examined data from the four largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the state—St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia—and found the Columbia MSA is the only one that recorded above-national-average economic growth.
The University of Missouri School of Music and the Mizzou New Music Initiative have awarded the 2019 Sinquefield Composition Prize to Niko Schroeder.
Schroeder is in his first year of study for a master’s degree in composition at Mizzou. He submitted “genealogy I,” a work written for piano, violin, and cello, to the competition and was selected for the prize by a panel of independent judges.
Pat Okker, dean of the College of Arts and Science, celebrated with Dr. Smith and Mizzou community members after learning of his award.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today that George P. Smith, MU Curators Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, is one of a trio of researchers who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Smith is the first University of Missouri professor to receive a Nobel Prize for research conducted at the university.
Graduate students and faculty in the Department of Ancient Mediterranean Studies have a quiet new facility to conduct research thanks to a generous donation from Ferd and Ann LaBrunerie of Columbia, Missouri. On Saturday, the same day the department hosted the Missouri Classical Association meeting, the Ferd and Ann LaBrunerie Classics Library was unveiled on the third floor of Swallow Hall.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding cutting-edge research into new magnetic materials and the theory of spinning electrons that could lead to better data storage and processing and more efficient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for radiologists, and it may even have implications for quantum computing. MU physics professors David Singh and Carsten Ullrich were recently informed they have won DOE grants to pursue their research.
Frontiers in Magnetic Materials
Mitchell McKinney, director of the Political Communication Institute and his team developed a “how-to” guide to hosting debates and issue forums at the local level.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – With less than 50 days to the 2018 election, candidates in state and local districts are using digital, broadcast and print media to get their messages to potential voters. Although advertising plays an important role, for many voters during the election cycle, it’s the face-to-face interactions that clinch their vote.
Filmmaker magazine has named Assistant Teaching Professor Kamau Bilal one of “25 New Faces” in independent filmmaking.
Family is a theme that permeates Kamau Bilal’s films and documentaries Crown Candy, named Best Short Documentary at the St. Louis International Film Festival in 2017, is a portrait focusing on the family that runs a 100-year-old candy store and lunch counter in St. Louis.
Fred vom Saal and his team found that the Food and Drug Administration-approved “safe” daily exposure amount of BPA may be enough to have implications for the development of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – In a first study of its kind study, researchers have found that a common chemical consumers are exposed to several times a day may be altering insulin release. Results of the study, led by scientists at the University of Missouri, indicate that the Food and Drug Administration-approved “safe” daily exposure amount of BPA may be enough to have implications for the development of Type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases.
Debbie Dougherty and her team conducted a survey of unemployment following the recession; results led researchers to discover that participants used food to describe their circumstances.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – “Cherry Blossom,” a 39-year-old woman worked as a hotel breakfast bar hostess around the start of the “Great Recession.” She lost her job, and three years later she was being interviewed to assess her struggles with her unemployment. She talked about her empty refrigerator.
Angie Wojak, MFA '92, encourages art students to network and cultivate relationships with students, faculty, and administrators outside of their school or department. She says the MU alumni she has the most contact with today are people from other departments who she met through friends or at social events.
Angie (Pannell) Wojak, MFA ’92, says the time she spent as a teaching assistant (TA) in the Department of Art while pursuing her MFA helped prepare her for a career helping other artists pursue their careers. Wojak’s first major job after college was as a career services director at the Parsons School of Design in New York City. She now serves as the director of career development at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where she earned her undergraduate degree.
R. Keith Slotkin has been appointed to a joint faculty position at MU and the Danforth Center.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Missouri and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced today that The Ohio State University professor R. Keith Slotkin, and Iowa State professor Bing Yang, have been appointed to joint faculty positions at MU and the Danforth Center. They are the second and third faculty hired through a collaborative initiative that aims to elevate regional plant science to address global challenges.
Columbia, MO - Three University of Missouri student composers will have their works played this year by musicians with the St.
This week, during the 100th anniversary of the 1918 flu epidemic, an international, interdisciplinary workshop will be held in Oslo, Norway, focusing on the social impact of the pandemic. Professor Lisa Sattenspiel, chair of the Department of Anthropology, and two of her graduate students will present talks at the conference at Oslo Metropolitan University.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that roughly one-third of the world’s population became infected with the flu virus during the 1918–19 pandemic, and about 50 million of those infected worldwide died, either from the virus itself or from secondary bacterial infections like pneumonia.
Oded Gurantz, assistant professor in the MU Truman School of Public Affairs, suggests that high school students should take the SAT early and often.
COLUMBIA, Mo. – For high school students, the SAT and ACT are the gateway to their college futures. With the tests playing a crucial role in both college admissions and scholarships, they can be critical for low-income students hoping to earn a college degree.