IMPROVING CAMPUS INFRASTRUCTURE
Some of the major improvements to infrastructure completed over the summer are very visible; others are not. Read in this issue about the many major projects completed by Physical Facilities and Information Technology Services, as well as the new programs offered by the University Center for Training and Development.
SCHOOL OF PHARMACY AND PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES OPENS NEW BUILDING
The opening of the new, $60-million School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University's Health Sciences Campus in Johnson City, N.Y., headlines this quarterly report, but there's also good news about collaborations, external funding and student successes. Read more in this issue.
SUCCESSFUL INITIATIVES SUPPORT STUDENTS
It takes donors at many levels to make Binghamton University successful, and in this issue of the quarterly report, you can read about a number of them. Whether it's AVANGRID offering full-tuition scholarships and capstone project support, or playing golf to benefit the Alumni Legacy Scholarship, the Division of Advancement works with Binghamton supporters.
BINGHAMTON RESEARCH FUNDING SETS RECORD
Binghamton University reported research expenditures totaling $47.5 million in 2017-18, an increase of about 19 percent from the previous fiscal year. The figure tops 2011-12, the campus’ all-time best year for research funding, when just over $40 million was reported. The new record, which follows several years of steady growth, is an important sign of the campus’ creativity and innovation. Healthcare research accounted for nearly a third of expenditures, with electronics packaging and systems engineering following at about 22 percent.
BAXTER THE BEARCAT BOOSTS SCHOOL SPIRIT
The Division of Student Affairs spent the summer hosting students and families for orientation and preparing for the opening of the fall semester. With some new people on board and some others with new duties, it has been a busy time. Not too busy, though, to show Binghamton University pride, as you'll read about the new Baxter the Bearcat Bench in the University Union in this issue.
STUDENT-ATHLETES CONTINUE TO SUCCEED ACADEMICALLY
Student-athletes continue to shine on and off the courts and fields. The Athletics Department sets high academic standards, and student-athletes surpass them across the board. Read about the accomplishments made by student-athletes in their sports and in the classroom – and check out the videos showcasing fall sports and the new women's head basketball coach, Bethann Shapiro Ord, in this issue.
HELPING TO MAKE THE CAMPUS MORE INCLUSIVE
The Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion works to educate and empower everyone on campus in ways that create a welcoming community. From the Udiversity Educational Institute, that holds trainings for students, faculty and staff, to the Multicultural Resource Center and Q Center, the division's offices that work to build bridges and support students though education and events such as Sundaze, part of its Welcome Week programming. Read about the division's recent initiatives in this report.
DONOR SUPPORT ADVANCES BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY
The Binghamton University Foundation had a successful 2017-18 year, bringing in the second highest amount of cash ever in support of the University. Read the numbers in this issue of the quarterly report, and learn one way the Foundation celebrates its donors.
Greek conference honors mathematician
For Thomas Farrell’s birthday, his friends and colleagues organized a birthday bash on the Greek island of Samos, where Pythagoras was born. Dozens of mathematicians from all around the world flocked to the conference to discuss geometry and topology and to relax on the beach. “It’s really just an excuse to throw a party,” jokes Farrell, a Binghamton University mathematician who celebrated his 70th birthday this year.
Birthday conferences are a longstanding tradition in mathematics, but they’re not thrown for everybody, says Jim Davis, a mathematician from Indiana University. Farrell received this special honor, Davis says, because his work revolutionized the field of topology — an area of mathematics that explores the deformation of theoretical geometric objects.
Farrell is famous for formulating a theory with Stony Brook University mathematician Lowell Jones that came to be known as the Farrell-Jones Conjecture. The research began while Farrell studied at Yale in the 1960s. “My advisor suggested a couple of problems to work on, but then a few months later, he told me they’d been solved already by this person named Borel,” Farrell explains. “After this happened a few times, my advisor told me to go down to Princeton and ask Borel to suggest a problem for me to solve.” The problem he was assigned became known as the Borel Conjecture. “It’s what I’ve been working on for most of my life,” Farrell says.
Read more about the Farrell-Jones Conjecture at http://discovere.binghamton.edu/faculty-spotlights/farrell-4940.html