Welcome to our final CLAS Research Resource newsletter of the Spring 2022 semester!
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The end of an academic year is always bittersweet: as we celebrate the accomplishments of our graduating students, we know also that we must let them go, out into the working world or on to graduate, law, and medical schools to write the next chapter of their lives. This year is particularly poignant for me, as I will be on the commencement stage as my own eldest child, a history major here in CLAS, walks across it. Three former research students in my laboratory are also moving on, one to medical school here at the Carver College of Medicine, one to a top-ranked M.D./ Ph.D. program at the Washington University School of Medicine, and one to a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Let us hope that all of our CLAS students know how proud we are of their accomplishments, some of which you’ll read about herein. I hope you enjoy it and find it inspiring. My best wishes for a summer that allows you time both to rest and recharge and to pursue your research, scholarship, and creative activity with renewed vigor. As always, do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of help.
Our May newsletter again focuses primarily on our wonderful CLAS undergraduate and graduate students. In this issue, you’ll read about their awards and achievements, meet several of them up-close, and get just a sampling of their fascinating research, innovative scholarship,
and vibrant creative activity. In featuring the work of our students, we also gratefully acknowledge their faculty and staff mentors, who dedicate so much of their time and passion to passing along the wisdom that they have gained through long experience. I was fortunate this year to participate in the Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Academic Leadership Program. This is a chance for Big Ten leaders, and those who aspire to leadership positions, to come together monthly for networking, useful discussions about best practices, and presentations by outstanding speakers who share the insights they have accumulated over their careers in academia. At the final meeting of the year, held at the Big Ten Conference Center outside of Chicago, I was struck by a comment made by Dale Wright, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University of Illinois. He reminded us never to make it seem like “but for us, students would be nowhere.” Rather (and I fully endorse this sentiment) students help drive our excellence as an institution; they are absolutely crucial to our success and to our status as a major R1 university dedicated to the creation of new knowledge.
JoshuaWeiner Associate Dean for Research Professor of Biology College of Liberal Arts and Sciences joshua-weiner@uiowa.edu
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