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Kyriacos A. Athanasiou, Henry Samueli Chair in Engineering and Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine. A globally renowned biomedical engineer, he is being honored "for inventing, developing, and translating technologies, such as articular cartilage implants and methods for intraosseous infusion, that impact several biomedical fields, including orthopedics, maxillofacial surgery, tissue engineering, diabetes, and emergency care."

UCI Beall Applied Innovation recently recognized researchers and faculty for their efforts to promote commercialization of university innovations and intellectual property at the UCI Innovator Awards. The award winners:

• Emerging Innovation/Early Career Innovator of the Year - Yoonjin Won, Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Entrepreneurial Leader of the Year - Sunil Gandhi, Associate Professor, Neurobiology and Behavior
• Innovator of the Year - Weian Zhao, Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences
• COVID-19 Response Award (a special bonus award for this year) - Phil Felgner, Director, UCI Vaccine R&D Center

View a master list of externally funded COVID-19 projects. (Must be logged in to UCI VPN)

While the intimate summertime space of the New Swan Theater was surely missed on campus this year, a creative collaboration of Eli Simon, Chancellor's Professor of drama and artistic director of the New Swan Shakespeare Center, and Julia Lupton, professor of English and co-director of the New Swan Shakespeare Center, reimagined "A Midsummer Night's Dream," for live streaming and community interaction on Zoom. You can still catch a replay of the cleverly conceived and incredibly innovative production on YouTube.

This fall, all UCI community members are encouraged to Take the Pledge as a first step in helping to shape a university culture where Black people can thrive. The Take the Pledge campaign builds on the UCI Black Thriving Initiative, which aims to respond to and recognize anti-Blackness as an existential threat to our mission as a great public research university.

Jessica Millward, associate professor of history, and Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, associate professor of African American studies, launched a summer research program on digital humanities for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). They hope the program will also serve as a graduate admissions pathway program for the students.

The UCI Black Thriving Initiative Faculty Cluster Hiring Program is a competitive multi-year effort to recruit faculty who interrogate structural racism in its myriad forms. The hires, which will take place over the next 3-4 years, will be in clusters around substantive areas of academic interest. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2021.

Black Management Association for Students and Alumni Launches at Merage School

• Women in Natural Sciences award aims to honor students who have enabled the success of women in the natural sciences.
• UCI Department of Physics & Astronomy has joined the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Alliance (IDEA), an initiative by the American Physical Society to help physics departments become more inclusive, diverse and equitable places. The department also developed an action plan to consider racism in academia and develop actions to address.
• UCI Department of Mathematics graduate students launched a Community, Outreach and Mentoring Program (COMP) to build community and develop outreach efforts to encourage underrepresented students to pursue math or other STEM-related fields.

UCI is a charter member of SEA (STEMM Equity Achievement) Change, an initiative of the American Association for the Advancement of Science to support college and university transformations on diversity, equity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

Aimed at alleviating some of the uncertainty and isolation that often characterizes the first-gen college experience, UCI is launching a virtual mentorship project titled First Things First. Learn more about this innovative approach to mentorship as well as the students and faculty involved.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine recently held an Idea Competition on Imagining the Future of Undergraduate STEM Education. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Michael Dennin submitted an idea and was one of 25 winners out of the 160 entries. Vice Provost Dennin's essay focused on eliminating institutional racism in undergraduate STEM education.

Online Resources to Support Faculty with Remote Teaching

• The Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI) is dedicated to partnering with faculty, graduate students and postdocs to establish and develop student-centered, evidence-based teaching practices. DTEI accomplishes this by cultivating exceptional learning environments across campus through professional development opportunities that emphasize remote learning strategies to maximize students' academic success.
• Teach Anywhere is a collaboration between OIT and OVPTL focused on providing pedagogical techniques and strategies for course design and development during remote instruction.
• TechPrep: Keep Teaching is focused on the technology tools used for remote teaching and includes internet connectivity resources, how-tos for applications such as Zoom and UCI’s VPN, security tips and more.
• Tech Tips offers a resource for quickly troubleshooting common tech issues.

While the pandemic has shut down physical access to buildings, the UCI Libraries have gone to great lengths to provide service to our community. Click here for more information on UCI Libraries' services available during COVID-19.

Of special note, curbside and front entrance outdoor pickup of library materials is now available by appointment. Materials from Langson Library, Science Library, OC&SEAA, and selected MRC items can be requested, however ALL pickups will happen at Langson Library.

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