UMass Trustees Approve Fee Increase, Call for Future Two-year Freeze
June 6, 2012
Freeze possible if state returns to 50-50 funding
DARTMOUTH - Calling it an action needed to protect quality and offset a decade of state budget cuts, the UMass Board of Trustees today approved a 4.9 percent tuition and fees increase for undergraduates and most graduate students - but pledged to freeze charges in Fall 2013 and Fall 2014 if the state agrees to fund 50 percent of the University’s education budget. More...
June 6, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Just days before the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939, Unitarian minister Waitstill Sharp and his wife Martha, a social worker, left their young children and home in Wellesley to begin what would become a dangerous and heroic mission. More...
June 1, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - With the campus in the midst of a $1 billion capital improvement program, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has adopted a new physical master plan that looks 50 years into the future. The plan matches academic vision with facilities to strengthen a sense of community and enhance the campus’s beauty. More...
May 31, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Developmental biologists Dominique Alfandari and Helene Cousin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently received a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to investigate craniofacial development in a frog model to better understand genetic control of cell migration. The work is expected to advance knowledge of how cancer cells migrate away from primary tumors to cause metastatic disease in new sites, among other processes. More...
Margulis Memorial Plaque and Painting Installed at UMass Amherst
May 30, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - A dynamic and colorful painting honoring the life and work of renowned University of Massachusetts Amherst researcher Lynn Margulis is being installed this week in the Morrill Science Center on campus, where it will aptly dominate a shared hallway between the biology and geosciences departments. More...
Observe Rare Transit of Venus on June 5 at UMass Amherst Sunwheel
May 29, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The public is invited to witness one of the rarest of astronomical events, a transit of Venus, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Sunwheel from 5:30 p.m. until sunset on Tuesday, June 5. More...
May 24, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Using camera traps, wildlife researchers including doctoral candidate Jennifer McCarthy and environmental conservation professor Todd Fuller of the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently captured photographs of one of the rarest animals on earth, the Sumatran striped rabbit. They say it may now be found only in two remote national parks on the Indonesian island. More...
UMass Amherst Hosts National Fish Passage Conference June 5-7
May 24, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Amherst is hosting the 2012 National Conference on Engineering & Ecohydrology for Fish Passage from June 5-7. The event features keynote speakers Rebecca Wodder, senior advisor to the U.S. secretary of the interior, and bestselling fisheries-conservation author Paul Greenberg. It is being held on the first floor of the Campus Center. More...
UMass Amherst Hosts Conference on Innovation in Advanced Manufacturing
May 24, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Tuesday, May 29, 2012
TIME: Noon-6 p.m.
PLACE: UMass Amherst Campus Center, Amherst Room, 10th floor
The latest information on UMass Amherst, state and federal programs to promote innovation in manufacturing will be shared with Massachusetts businesses at Innovation & Entrepreneurship Day 2012: "Advanced Manufacturing: the University Bridge to Innovation." More...
UMass Amherst Neighborhood Nestwatch Brings Citizen Science to Western Massachusetts Backyards
May 23, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - A citizen science project to study nesting populations of common backyard songbirds started recently as researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst began visiting the yards of 60 volunteer families across western Massachusetts for the "Neighborhood Nestwatch" project. More...
UMass Amherst Researchers Track Atlantic Bluefin Tuna to Learn Migration, Habitat Secrets
May 22, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - New fish-tagging studies of young bluefin tuna in Atlantic waters off New England by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are offering the first fishery-independent, year-round data on dispersal patterns and habitat use for the popular game fish. The availability of miniaturized pop-up satellite tags suitable for smaller (two- to five-year-old) fish helped make the research possible. More...
May 21, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Twenty-one Afghan teachers who received master’s degrees in education in Kabul this spring are returning to their university classrooms embracing a hard-won commitment to skills and values of leadership, research methodology, teaching and assessment forged in partnership with faculty and students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Education. More...
UMass Amherst Engineer Paul Siqueira Selected for NASA Team
May 16, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Paul Siqueira, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been selected to serve on the Science Definition Team for a NASA space-borne radar mission to study Earth Deformation, Ecosystem Science, and the Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI). The project is expected to be launched before the end of the decade. More...
U.S. Department of State Awards Critical Language Scholarships to UMass Amherst Students
May 15, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Three University of Massachusetts Amherst students will attend intensive language institutes overseas this summer through Critical Language Scholarships (CLS) awarded by the U.S. Department of State. More...
May 15, 2012
PITTSFIELD, Mass. - The first six recipients of the Master of Science in Design in Historic Preservation degree at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are ready to take on some of the most complicated and delicate preservation projects around after having completed a rigorous and unique two-year course of study offered by UMass Amherst and Hancock Shaker Village, a national historic landmark. More...
May 14, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - A University of Massachusetts Amherst doctoral student in social psychology, Daniel Rovenpor, is working with senior citizen centers in Northampton, Belchertown and Amherst to recruit participants over age 60 over the next three months for a study on lifespan social psychology, in particular the links between social cognition and aging. More...
Stockbridge School Commencement at UMass Amherst Salutes Graduates
May 12, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - At the 90th commencement for the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, speakers told graduates they will become stewards of the world through their chosen professions as well as the latest addition to a longstanding family of graduates who support each other. The students in six majors received associate of science degrees in Bowker Auditorium today. More...
May 11, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Monday, May 14, 2012
TIME: 7:30-9 a.m.
PLACE: Sheraton Springfield Hotel, One Monarch Place,
Ballroom North, third floor
UMass Amherst Chancellor-elect Kumble R. Subbaswamy and Robert L. Caret, UMass president, will meet with business, community and government leaders from the Springfield area to discuss the City of Springfield/UMass Partnership and future plans to help revitalize Springfield. More...
UMass Amherst Program Lays the Groundwork for College Success with Summer College
May 11, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Amherst is introducing Summer College, a pre-college program for high school students that provides an opportunity to acquire skills and develop habits that will help them succeed in high school and college. More...
May 11, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Amid breezy spring weather, approximately 5,000 candidates received bachelor’s degrees during today’s 142nd undergraduate Commencement of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A crowd of 20,000 heard Commencement speaker Ted Koppel critique today’s instant and constant connectivity, saying he fears it may undermine the nation’s ability to address pressing problems. More...
UMass Amherst Graduate Commencement Honors Student Teaching, Research and Outreach
May 11, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Amherst conferred more than 1,300 doctoral and master’s degrees this morning at commencement ceremonies that drew nearly 1,000 graduates, along with family members and friends to the William D. Mullins Memorial Center. More...
May 10, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - FoodService Director magazine has named Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to its inaugural list of the "20 Most Influential" people and organizations having an impact on the non-commercial foodservice industry. More...
UMass Amherst Linguistics Professor Angelika Kratzer Selected as Radcliffe Institute Fellow
May 9, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Angelika Kratzer, professor of linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been selected by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University as one of 51 Radcliffe Institute fellows for the 2012-13 academic year. More...
May 9, 2012
"This university did a great job spreading awareness to the students on their campus and beyond."
AMHERST, Mass. - Students and staff active in sustainability programs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have won an international award for performing the most "Acts of Green" in the "education and awareness" category during a month-long environmental activism competition known as MobilizeU held from March 29 to April 29, surrounding Earth Day. More...
Julie Candler Hayes Appointed Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at UMass Amherst
May 9, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Julie Candler Hayes has been appointed to a three-year term as dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. More...
LEED Gold Certification Awarded to George N. Parks Minuteman Marching Band Building at UMass Amherst
May 8, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The new George N. Parks Minuteman Marching Band Building at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded LEED Gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). It is the first building to be LEED certified on the UMass Amherst campus. More...
Robert S. Feldman Appointed Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Amherst
May 8, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Robert S. Feldman has been appointed to a three-year term as dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. More...
UMass Amherst Researchers Plan to Double Biofuel Yield from a Non-Food Oil Seed Crop
May 7, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - One of the most promising avenues for reducing our national dependence on imported oil, lowering greenhouse gases and boosting domestic fuel production is biofuel from non-food plant seed oils. Recently, a University of Massachusetts Amherst team started a $2 million project to develop Camelina, a non-food oil seed crop related to canola, to dramatically increase seed oil generation for processing into sustainable liquid transportation fuels. More...
UMass Amherst ‘Sustainable Move-Out’ will Reduce Waste in Residence Halls
May 7, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Wednesday, May 9 to Thursday May 10, 2012
TIME: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
WHAT: Campus-wide Sustainable Move-Out
WHERE: All campus residence halls (such as Southwest Towers) and UMass Amherst Recycling Center, 151 Tillson Farm Rd., off North Pleasant Street in Amherst
UMass Amherst Students Urged to Reuse, Recycle and Donate
More...
UMass Amherst Undergraduate Commencement is Friday, May 11 at 4 p.m. in McGuirk Alumni Stadium
May 7, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Friday, May 11, 2012
TIME: 4 p.m.
PLACE: McGuirk Alumni Stadium
Undergraduate Commencement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Friday, May 11 from 4-5:30 p.m. will feature a keynote address by Ted Koppel, one of the most well-known and honored television journalists in the country. He will speak to the 5,000 graduates at ceremonies at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. Koppel will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony. More...
Media Passes Required for Journalists to Cover UMass Amherst Commencement May 11
May 3, 2012
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
Media passes will be required to gain access to the field at Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium for coverage of the Undergraduate Commencement ceremonies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Friday, May 11, at 4 p.m. More...
Winners of 2012 Armstrong Fund for Science Awards Named at UMass Amherst
May 2, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - A team of wind power engineers and a physicist have won the sixth annual Armstrong Fund for Science Awards at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which grants $30,000 over two years to two research teams to encourage transformative research that introduces new ways of thinking about pressing scientific or technical challenges. More...
UMass Amherst Psychology Research Suggests Infants Begin to Learn about Race in the First Year
May 2, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Results of a new study reported recently by psychology researcher Lisa Scott and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst confirm that although infants are born with equal abilities to tell apart people within multiple races, by age 9 months they are better at recognizing faces and emotional expressions of people within groups they interact with most. More...
New Play Inspired by Holocaust Exhibit at UMass Amherst to Be Staged May 4-6 at Yiddish Book Center
May 1, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - "Present Company Excluded," a new play inspired by an exhibit at the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will be performed by The Drama Studio this weekend at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst. More...
Film Studies Awards to Be Presented May 4 at UMass Amherst
May 1, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Undergraduate certificate students in the interdepartmental program in film studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will be honored Friday, May 4 at noon in 301 Herter Hall at the presentation of the 12th annual Michael S. Roif Award in Film Studies. More...
April 30, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - A team of chemical engineers led by Paul J. Dauenhauer of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a new, high-yield method of producing the key ingredient used to make plastic bottles from biomass. The process is inexpensive and currently creates the chemical p-xylene with an efficient yield of 75-percent, using most of the biomass feedstock, Dauenhauer says. The research is published in the journal ACS Catalysis. More...
April 30, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Undergraduate Commencement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Friday, May 11 will feature a keynote address by Ted Koppel, one of the nation’s most honored television journalists. He will speak to 5,000 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. More...
April 30, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Though the human genome has been sequenced, scientists are still trying to figure out how the accomplishment can help people, for example, how it can be used to treat disease. As University of Massachusetts Amherst geneticist Jacob Mayfield notes, "It was easy to think of the human genome as the big prize, but what we realize now is, it’s just a foot in the door." More...
April 30, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Three undergraduates from the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have been named Goldwater Scholars, an honor that goes to no more than 300 students nationally each year in recognition of outstanding accomplishments in science, mathematics and engineering. More...
April 27, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Monday, April 30, 2012
TIME: 7 p.m.
PLACE: Bowker Auditorium, Stockbridge Hall, UMass Amherst
The University Chorale and Women’s Choir, with 100 students from the Springfield Public Schools District Magnet Schools Chorus, will be performing in Bowker Auditorium. More...
April 26, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded a $100,000 grant to the University Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a fall 2013 exhibition, "Du Bois in Our Time." More...
Brecht, Eisler and Bunge Come Alive in Song and Conversation April 27 at UMass Amherst
April 26, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Music, theater, politics and exile unite in the work of Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler, featured in a dramatic reading and musical performance Friday, April 27 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The program, which begins at 2 p.m. in 301 Herter Hall, is in English. More...
UMass Amherst Food Scientist Studying the Use of All-Natural Nanoparticles in Food Products
April 26, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Increasingly, food manufacturers want to use nanoparticles to boost nutrition by adding compounds with health benefits such as carotenoids, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins A, D and E, sometimes called "nutraceuticals." The tiny capsules can be designed to preserve nutritional value and freshness, enhance nutrient bioavailability and maintain desirable product quality. More...
April 25, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Four University of Massachusetts Amherst sport management graduates have been selected to receive the Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumnus award on Saturday, April 28 during the department’s award ceremony at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. More...
Annual Taste of UMass to Feature International Comfort Food, Ultimate Cupcake War and More
April 25, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Thursday, April 26, 2012
TIME: 4:30 - 8 p.m.
PLACE: Mullins Center, 200 Commonwealth Ave., UMass Amherst
UMass Dining Services will hold the 18th annual Taste of UMass, featuring entertainment, prizes and more than 70 food vendors serving simple, healthy comfort food and drinks from around the world keeping with this year’s theme, "Simple Food/Healthy Eating." More...
April 25, 2012
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
DATE: Saturday, April 28, 2012
TIME: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 3:45 p.m. is best for team robot competition
WHAT: Girls’ team workshop to build and program LEGO NXT robots
WHERE: UMass Amherst Computer Science Building, 140 Governor’s Drive
Dozens of middle school girls will converge at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Saturday, April 28, for the third annual "Girls Connect," where they will learn how to build and program LEGO robots. More...
UMass Amherst Commencement to Honor Exceptional Student Leadership and Achievement
April 25, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts Amherst will again honor the exemplary achievement, initiative and leadership of its most talented and accomplished undergraduates during Undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 11 beginning at 4 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Stadium. More...
UMass Amherst Hosts 18th Annual Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference April 27
April 24, 2012
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
DATE: Friday, April 27, 2012
WHAT: Statewide Undergraduate Research Conference
TIME: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
PLACE: Campus Center, UMass Amherst
More than 800 students from nearly all of the state’s public university and community college campuses will present their research. Students will report on thesis or capstone projects, independent study, community service and study abroad, as well as present creative work in the visual and performing arts. Some will deliver oral presentations, while others show posters to explain their research, share their findings and respond to questions. More...
$55,250 Awarded in the Annual UMass Innovation Challenge Finals
April 24, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - FACTbase, a team developing technology that will improve microfossil identification to save the oil industry time and money, won the top prize of $25,000 at the University of Massachusetts Innovation Challenge final business plan competition on April 17. More...
UMass Amherst Department of Sport Management Announces Alumni-on-the-Rise Award
April 23, 2012
AMHERST, Mass. - Four University of Massachusetts Amherst sport management graduates from the class of 2001 have been selected to receive the Alumni-on-the-Rise award on Saturday, April 28 during the department’s award ceremony at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. More...
