Talking Points

$300 million UMass Rising fundraising campaign announced

University leaders have announced the launch of the campus’ s most ambitious fund-raising campaign ever, “UMass Rising,” in its sesquicentennial year, setting a goal of $300 million to achieve new heights as a leader in the Commonwealth’s and the nation’s innovation economy.

At the April 28 kickoff event, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said, “To excel today, the best universities must adapt. Simply reacting to new circumstances will not do, much more is required.

Biologists propose new research roadmap for connecting genes to ecology

A team of Biology Department researchers is proposing a new investigative roadmap for the field of evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo devo,” to better understand how innovation at the genetic level can lead to ecological adaptations over time. Evo devo seeks to understand the specific genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary change.
 
Seven authors, all biologists but with diverse research programs including evolutionary genetics, developmental biology, biomechanics and behavioral ecology, describe the new framework they created to link genes to ecology in the May issue of Trends

Subbaswamy inaugurated as chancellor

With academic pomp and pageantry, Kumble R. Subbaswamy was formally inaugurated April 27 as chancellor during ceremonies at the Mullins Center.

The installation was held in conjunction with a weeklong commemoration of the founding of the campus in 1863, an occasion noted by Subbaswamy during his inaugural address.

“For 150 years, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has served the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by making a world-class education accessible to qualified students from all walks of life, engaging in research to solve our most complex problems, and working in communities to

Alumni Paul Theroux, Natasha Trethewey elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Alumni Paul Theroux and Natasha Trethewey are among six writers just elected to the literature section of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
 
Theroux, a novelist and travel writer, earned a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1963 and was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 1988. He is the author of, among other things, “The Mosquito Coast,” “The Old Patagonian Express,” “The Great Railway Bazaar” and, most recently, “The Last Train to Zona Verde.”
 
Trethewey won the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry “Native Guard,” and was named the 19th poet laureate of

Subbaswamy inauguration is April 27

Kumble R. Subbaswamy will be formally inaugurated as chancellor during ceremonies on Saturday, April 27 at 11 a.m. at the Mullins Center.
 
The installation is being held in conjunction with a weeklong commemoration of the founding of the campus 150 years ago.
 
President Robert L. Caret and Henry M. Thomas, III, chairman of the Board of Trustees, will conduct the investiture rites, presenting Subbaswamy with a medallion bearing the names of the Amherst campus’s leaders since 1863 as a symbol of his office.
 
Other scheduled speakers include Provost James V. Staros, Julie C.

Campus launches first-ever online fundraising drive as part of sequicentennial celebration

The campus is celebrating its 150th birthday and is asking supporters to be part of the festivities by making a gift to the university during its first-ever fundraising campaign driven by social media.
 
The 36-hour UMassGives campaign will be launched at noon on Founders Day, Monday, April 29. “The goal is to increase the number of donors among alumni and other supporters, who will be invited to contribute to areas most meaningful to them,” says Sarah Sligo, executive director of Annual Giving.

Groundbreaking for new Agricultural Learning Center

One hundred fifty years after Levi Stockbridge helped found Massachusetts Agricultural College, his descendant Kay Stockbridge will join other dignitaries in a groundbreaking ceremony and celebratory lunch from 12:30-2 p.m. on Thursday, April 25 for the campus’s new Agricultural Learning Center (ALC).
 
The 50-acre working farm will serve as an outdoor classroom for educating future farmers grounded in the latest research and farming, horticultural, nursery and landscape techniques.

150 trees being planted to mark sesquicentennial

As part of the sesquicentennial, Physical Plant last week began a year-long effort to plant 150 trees at campus locations.
 
The work started last week at the west entrance to campus along North Hadley Road as students from two classes taught by Brian Kane of the Environmental Conservation Department pitched in to assist Landscape Management staff.
 
Ninety trees will be planted this spring and another 60 will be planted in the spring of 2014.
 
The three varieties, black oak (Queras velutinus), burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) were selected by the Campus

Ground broken for new football, basketball training facilities

The construction of two new athletic facilities was officially launched April 22 with ceremonial groundbreakings for the Football Performance Center at McGuirk Alumni Stadium and the Champions Center south of the Mullins Center.

The Performance Center is a 55,000-square-foot, two-level complex that will include coaches’ offices, a new locker room space, meeting rooms, athletic training facilities and a dedicated strength and conditioning facility. The foyer will feature displays about the football program’s history.

Year-long sesquicentennial observance begins with Founders Week

The campus kicks off a year-long sesquicentennial celebration of its founding in 1863 with Founders Week, April 22-29, an expansion of the annual Founders Day celebration.
 
Students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to a healthy, sustainable campus on Earth Day, April 22. The full day of activities celebrating Earth Day features an afternoon student fair and concert on Goodell Lawn, a Trashion Show featuring student-designed outfits made from recycled materials, and an evening keynote address, film screening, and book signing with Annie Leonard,

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