The campus’s first-ever fundraising campaign driven by social media was a resounding success this week, raising $83,947 during a 36-hour event that included 1,533 online gifts as the campus kicked off its 150th birthday celebration.
Sarah Sligo, executive director of Annual Giving, said, “Our alumni and friends, faculty and staff really rose to the challenge with this campaign. So many made it clear that UMass gives so much to the Commonwealth and beyond, and they wanted to give something back.
Undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 10 will feature a keynote address by Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express. He will speak to 5,500 graduating seniors at McGuirk Alumni Stadium where friends, family and alumni will gather to take part in a full day’s schedule of commencement observances. The ceremony runs from 5-6:30 p.m.
The highest standards in teaching, research, outreach and invention among members of the faculty were recognized April 29 at the UMass Honors dinner held as part of Founders Week.
The Center for Research on Families recently awarded $39,200 in funding to 11 undergraduate and graduate students with an interest in researching issues related to the family.
Scientists studying how early land vertebrates evolved from fishes long thought that the animals developed legs for moving around on land well before their feeding systems and dietary habits changed enough to let them eat a land-based diet, but strong evidence was lacking. Now, for the first time fossil jaw measurements by Philip Anderson, a senior research fellow in Biology, and others have tested and statistically confirmed this lag.