Almost 30 individuals were honored at the University of Iowa’s annual Faculty and Staff Awards Banquet Tuesday, Oct. 6, sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Human Resources.

The University of Iowa is one of many colleges across the country working hard to address the serious public health issue of high-risk drinking. On Oct. 18-24, the UI will join other institutions in recognizing National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, sponsoring several events designed to shed light on the problem.

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Associate Faculty Research Engineer Sarah Vigmostad is one of 70 engineering educators named to National Academy of Engineering symposium.

The University of Iowa will host a symposium on Oct. 17 to honor physics professor Don Gurnett, who has taught and been engaged in space science at the UI for the past 50 years. The symposium is free and open to the public.

Bruce Harreld becomes the University of Iowa’s 21st president Nov. 2. In this letter to the campus community, he addresses his interest in and approach to the job.

Gregory Carmichael, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, was awarded a $118,289 grant from the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration.

Employees who engage in wellness programs at the UI have lower health care costs and report greater workplace satisfaction. The university, which boasts an annual 2.37:1 return on its investment in wellness initiatives, is receiving recognition for its support of employee wellness.

Mechanical engineering PhD student Robert Hart won first prize in American Society for Composites conference.

The Superfund Research Program at the University of Iowa (isrp) has received a 5-year renewal of funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health. The isrp is a joint endeavor involving basic, mechanistic, and applied research projects in biomedical and environmental research areas addressing semivolatile polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Nicole Grosland and Ching-Long Lin, two faculty members in the UI College of Engineering, have been selected for leadership programs.

High school students studied criminology, worked on cars, and practiced machinery skills as community leaders celebrated the grand opening of the Kirkwood Regional Center at the UI Thursday. The center is a partnership between Kirkwood Community College, the UI , Grant Wood Area Education Agency, and several K-12 school districts.

The University of Iowa admissions office discusses the software it purchased to aid recruitment efforts, which includes tracking the behavior of prospective applicants as they click through a college’s website.