1819 Face-Off Winner  -  Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina!

More than 20 alumni regions across the country competed in the first 1819 National Alumni Face-Off. The challenge was part of the university-wide 1819 effort to celebrate UC's founding year and raise our overall percentage of alumni giving to 18.19% by 2015.

Raleigh-Durham, N.C., emerged victorious, posting an alumni giving rate of 13.8% for UC's 2010-11 academic year. And while the first Face-Off crown goes to the Carolinas, the 2012 competition includes more regions and is already underway. Learn more about 1819, review the 2011 Face-Off results, and help your region get off to a fast start in the 2012 Face-Off here.

  Bold

Homecoming 2011 will span campus & downtown

UC is the university that bears the city of Cincinnati's name, so it's appropriate this year's Homecoming will take place on campus and in downtown Cincinnati.

The 2011 Homecoming football game will renew the heated rivalry with Louisville on Saturday, October 15, at Paul Brown Stadium. Game time will be determined by TV and announced in October. The annual Homecoming parade, pep rally and many related events will be held Friday, October 14, on UC's campus.

Keep up with the growing calendar of events - visit the Homecoming website.

Nakamura hailed for helping Japan's recovery

When UC recruited Haruki Nakamura out of Cleveland in 2004, fans didn't know they were getting a future Bearcat great, NFL player, humanitarian and role model. Beyond his exploits during his UC career and as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, Nakamura has been honored for his fundraising efforts on behalf of the country of his ancestry in the wake of Japan's recent disasters.

Nakamura was honored by the American Red Cross and presented with the Ambassador's Seal from Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki of Japan. Nakamura spearheaded efforts that raised more than $60,000 in the Baltimore area to help Japan cope with the after-effects of this year's tidal wave and nuclear reactor crisis.

  Strong

UC Health, Cincinnati Children's named top hospitals nationally

The excellence of UC Health's University Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, a close partner of UC Health, were recognized in the latest ratings of the nation's top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The publication considered nearly 5,000 hospitals and ranked only 140 in one or more specialties.

University Hospital's ear, nose and throat program received the highest ratings for the 2nd straight year, and its pulmonology program was newly ranked for 2011-12. University Hospital was also hailed as "high performing" in 10 various areas of medical care, while Cincinnati Children's received numerous Top 10 rankings.

Top black studies group moves HQ to UC

When the world's premier black studies organization looked to relocate its headquarters to the most practical site, it chose the University of Cincinnati. Established in 1975, the National Council for Black Studies has a commitment to put theory into practice, with a guiding philosophy that education should engender both academic excellence and social responsibility.

"It will bring prestige and status to UC, and it will really help the city as they use their organization’s resources to improve life chances and life experiences of the people of Cincinnati," said Terry Kershaw, the head of McMicken College of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Africana Studies, where the center will be located starting this summer.

  Ambitious

UC coming up big in nanoscience

Nanoscience and nanotechnology refer to the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale, often working with particles one-millionth the width of a human hair. Its current and potential uses range from biomedical and military science to environmental and safety breakthroughs. And UC is on the forefront of nanoscience research, especially in the colleges of Medicine, Engineering and Applied Science, and Arts & Sciences.

Marketplace demand far outstrips the availability of personnel trained in nanoscience, with two million workers projected to be needed in the U.S. alone by 2020. That's partly why UC is emphasizing this tiny yet huge field.

Read more about UC's nanotechnology education efforts.

Leader in digital media will guide UC journalism students

Today's UC students are learning about a very different communications environment than the one their predecessors knew. And UC students have an advantage over their peers elsewhere, with the announcement that Bob Jonason will become director of the journalism program's New Media Bureau within the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences.

A Pulitzer Prize winner, Jonason is a veteran of nearly three decades in professional journalism, half of which has been spent in the new media field. He'll help undergraduates create multimedia, digital content for a variety of publications--"innovative, quality, local journalism that other media in the market don’t have the resources or inclination to cover," he says.