News Archive - 2019

photo of man with cap standing in front of arch
Student Commencement speaker: Franklin double-major Joshua Clifford

Just one week from today, double-major dual degree graduate and Redcoat Marching Band drum major Joshua Clifford’s journey through UGA will culminate as this spring’s student Commencement speaker: Because of the Redcoat Marching Band I was able to find community within UGA before classes even started my freshman year. I’ll never forget my first day of band camp when I met the 40 other members of the clarinet section. I was so…

Photo of four scholarship awards winners outside in front of a building
Four Franklin students named 2019 Goldwater Scholars

The highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, the Barry Goldwater Scholars program encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in these fields. This year, UGA has four Goldwater Scholars:  Monte Fischer, an Honors student and Foundation Fellow, plans to pursue a doctorate in mathematics to investigate questions of stochastic processes, probability and…

photo of four musicians seated on steps
Inaugural Chamber Music Athens festival

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music presents the inaugural Chamber Music Athens, a festival with a national scope that will bring together internationally-acclaimed guest artists, UGA faculty and students May 12-21 for 10 days of chamber music festivities and performances: Audiences can enjoy concerts in the Performing Arts Center as well as venues on and off the UGA campus, such as the Georgia Museum of Art, the State Botanical Garden of…

photo of woman in cap and gown
Megan Reeves (AB ’18): communicating sustainability

Growing up in Stone Mountain sparked an interest in sustainability for Megan Reeves. The value of sustainable practices solidified for the communication studies major when she worked towards earning the Certificate in Sustainability at UGA: In Megan’s opinion, the uniqueness of the Sustainability Certificate program comes from the diverse coursework and the differing educational backgrounds of students united…

photo of stadium with fireworks at commencement
Spring Commencement 2019

The sky seems indecisive the morning of May 10, 2019. The families, the graduating students, the faculty and staff of the Franklin College and the University of Georgia are not. It is a great day. It is graduation day - all the work, all the hope, tears and toil, sweat, friends, relief, awards, disappointment, anxiety, triumph. All of it has been for this. Our graduates (and their supportive network of family and friends) have done it! They…

headshots of twelve women, with names beneath each
Women’s Staff Leadership Institute 2019

Twelve University of Georgia staff members have been selected to participate in the third cohort of the Women’s Staff Leadership Institute: "This program helps address a critical need to support women in their careers and guides them through particular issues they face in leadership,” Juan Jarrett, associate vice president for human resources, said.“Human Resources Training and Development strives to help the university community succeed and…

photo of woman infant of a view of Rome
Anthropology student to intern with NatGeo

University of Georgia student Sarah Riggs will be joining the National Geographic Society’s Human Journey Grants team as its first intern: The Human Journey team focuses its research on cultures and cultural sustainability to learn more about who we are and what our future will be. The team focuses on a diverse range of topics, from extinct ancient grains and the sustainability of palm oil to climate change. Grants support projects studying…

photo of four musicians, two holding horns
Bringing the brass – music students resound at Mozart competition

In March 2019, University of Georgia graduate student Dilon Bryan won the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta Music Scholarship Competition to study at the University of Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, becoming only the second horn player to win a competition usually dominated by pianists and vocalists. A graduate teaching assistant and master’s student in horn performance in the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, Bryan joins his UGA colleague as the…

photo of woman with laptop and plants
Student designs AI app to diagnose plant diseases

Shaza Mehdi tried diagnosing blighted flowers by Googling images of plant diseases and comparing those images with the sick roses, sparking an idea that led her to come up with PlantMD — a smartphone app that can diagnose a plant disease with the snap of a photo: After three months of researching, coding and getting some help from her high school teachers, Mehdi launched the app. “PlantMD works when you take a picture of a…

photo of students auditorium classroom with laptops
CAREER research program to focus on active learning

One key to improving undergraduate education and student achievement across the STEM disciplines, as well as more broadly across the campus, is the integration of evidence-based teaching strategies – using what works most effectively for student learning. Now, a University of Georgia faculty member will lead a five-year, national scale research and education project to better understand and support the use of evidence-based teaching in…