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A number of significant items have happened on the legislative front since we last met. There are now 17 members of the Ohio General Assembly who are UC Alumni, up from 14. It is a good place to have the UC voice. Also, the Ohio Core Legislation establishing a more rigorous high school curriculum was passed, and this year’s fifth-graders will be the first students affected by it. The legislation is very important in putting Ohio students on the right path to college and, quite frankly, very instrumental to a regional initiative which we are a part here in Cincinnati USA and Northern Kentucky called STRIVE, which is all about success in high school entry and enrollment into college, graduation from college and entry into career.
Yesterday, you may have read Governor Strickland convened the University Presidents of the State of Ohio - public, private, two-year, four-year, technical, arts - about 90 plus leaders of higher education. We discussed goals and the governor’s leadership in really moving higher education forward and, also, discussed the instrumentality of higher education in the economic welfare of the State of Ohio. So, it was a very promising session, and it lasted about five and a half hours and the Governor was there throughout, listening and contributing; so it was a good session - little mention actually of the structural proposal that the Chancellor of Ohio higher education become a Cabinet appointment. Nonetheless, I believe that is moving through the deliberative process as well.
On the ratings front, there are several good news items to report:
- Our Real Estate Program in the College of Business recently placed fifth in a ranking of national real estate research universities and organizations. We were surpassed only by UC Berkley, MIT, Ohio State and Connecticut. The head of the real estate program is here with us this morning and I am sure Will McIntosh joins us in thanking Norm Miller. Norm, will you stand so that we can thank you? We really appreciate it. Thanks for coming this morning, Norm.
- UC’s interior design program has maintained, for the eighth straight year, its No. 1 ranking. Industrial design and graduate architecture are both ranked No. 2. So, once again, we are really on the top of the rankings in those areas.
- A recent index for faculty scholarly productivity has rated UC among the Top 10 programs nationally in physiology and toxicology. We do keep book on a myriad of ratings and rankings and so we appreciate the good news in that regard.
The College of Medicine faculty member Likith Reddy was featured last week on the Discovery Channel. It was a series called “Surgery Saved My Life” and this assistant professor of surgery at UC was shown performing high-risk surgeries on indigent patients with severe and sometimes life-threatening facial conditions in his hometown in India.
Last month, UC and NIOSH (the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health), which is becoming a household word in our discussions about its relocation here in Cincinnati - together UC and NIOSH hosted 460 scientists, business people, academics and other allied health professionals for a gathering in Cincinnati to discuss health and safety implications of nanoparticles and nanomaterials, an emerging technology that scientists are just beginning to really understand.
UC and one of the world’s largest measurement company have teamed up to create a new center that will allow researchers to study how metals interact, change and function – in living things as well as in the ecology. This UC-Agilent Technologies Center of the Americas is now housed at the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. It is directed by chemistry professor, Joe Caruso, who is here today. Joe, would you to stand so that we can recognize you now?
Two University of Cincinnati College of Law Professors, Mark Godsey and the Honorable Nathaniel Jones, have been named “2007 Inspiring Men” by Inspire Magazine. Professor Godsey and Judge Jones were among eight men selected to receive this honor. Professor Godsey is the Faculty Director of our Lois and Richard Rosenthal Institute for Justice/Ohio Innocence Project and, of course, Judge Jones is a distinguished lawyer, jurist, academic and public servant.
UC’s co-op centennial book, authored by M. B. Reilly of our Public Relations staff, has been named the best external publication by a non-profit organization in a competition held by PR News. The award was presented at the National Press Club.
And UC’s campus transformation continues to attract national attention. A recent Chicago Tribune article gave high praise to our Campus Recreation Center designed, of course, by Thom Mayne. We are constantly in the news and that article is in your packet.
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