Graduate College grants focus on COVID-19-inspired innovations


October 8, 2020

The Graduate College’s Knowledge Mobilization Initiative has announced the launch of the Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants. The grants are an effort to highlight the work of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at ASU and to tell their research stories.

Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants

Periodically, the Knowledge Mobilization Initiative will put out calls for graduate student and postdoctoral fellow stories and perspectives around a particular theme. In this round of Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grants, the Graduate College is looking for student/postdoctoral experiences and innovations related to COVID-19. Each student or postdoc story will be featured on the Graduate Insider, the College’s signature blog, beginning in October. knowledge mobilization Download Full Image

The Knowledge Mobilization Initiative will be awarding five $100 grants to students and postdoctoral fellows with the most innovative solutions to challenges presented by the spread of COVID-19. The winners will be announced on Nov. 16.

Apply now for a Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grant.

What is Knowledge Mobilization?

The Knowledge Mobilization Initiative explores concepts, skills and practices that move research from the page and into action, enriching current practice, policy and social discourse in the process. One goal for the initiative is to highlight graduate student and postdoctoral research at ASU – particularly how our students and early career scholars are applying and disseminating their research to broad audiences, which increases social impact.

Who should apply?

If your research, coursework or program was impacted by COVID-19, did you design an innovative way to carry on with your research and/or studies? If so, you should apply for a Knowledge Mobilization Spotlight grant. Graduate students enrolled full or part time at ASU and ASU postdoctoral scholars are eligible to apply for a grant.

The application deadline is Oct. 30. It is strongly recommended that you apply early.

Five grant winners will be announced on Nov. 16.

For more information, contact: knowledge.mobilization@asu.edu.

Written by Emily Carman

Business leaders honor ASU President Michael Crow with 2020 Eisenhower Award

CIA director Gina Haspel and 3M chairman and CEO Michael Roman were also selected for this year's Business Executives for National Security awards


October 8, 2020

More than 200 leaders and guests across the nation joined Business Executives for National Security (BENS) on Oct. 7 for its virtual presentation of the fall 2020 Eisenhower Awards. The event honored three extraordinary Americans in Michael Crow, Michael Roman and Gina Haspel, each of whom reflect the spirit and vision of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address and his call for each of us — as citizens, soldiers and public servants — to become involved so that “liberty and security can prosper together.”

BENS President and CEO, retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel noted that the honorees have built their remarkable careers by putting the country first. “Our three honorees are a testament to President Eisenhower’s enduring legacy and vision of national security as the work of a whole society. As true public servants, they do not seek the spotlight but were called to service by a deep and genuine commitment to our nation’s highest ideals.”  Michael Crow ASU President Michael Crow. Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now Download Full Image

Michael Crow, In-Q-Tel chairman and Arizona State University president

Michael Crow is recognized for his service as In-Q-Tel chairman and as president of Arizona State University. Crow helped found In-Q-Tel as an innovative venture capital firm to invest in new technologies supporting the defense and intelligence communities. For the past 20 years, Crow’s leadership has helped our nation stay at the forefront of security practices and capabilities. As president of ASU, Crow leads an institution of outsize importance for preparing future leaders in technology, commerce, and public service. Crow accepted the award, remarking, “Americans have a shared responsibility to protect and strengthen our invaluable democracy. Perpetual innovation and accessible education are integral to that charge and ASU is committed to leading as a true national service university." 

Michael Roman, 3M chairman and CEO

As chairman and CEO of 3M, Michael Roman has led the company to seek solutions to many pressing challenges at the national level. None has been more urgent than its efforts to ramp up production of critical personal protective equipment in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amid unprecedented demand, Roman said the company is on pace to distribute 1 billion N95 respirator masks in the U.S. by the end of 2020. In his acceptance remarks, Roman emphasized the ingenuity, resiliency, and passion of his company’s people. “3M’s vision is simple, yet aspirational: to apply our science to improve every life. And I couldn’t be more proud of how 3Mers have found new and better ways to do that throughout the pandemic,” he said.

Gina Haspel, director of the CIA

Over a CIA career spanning more than 35 years, Gina Haspel has protected the U.S. from adversaries and led us through difficult crises. Votel commended Haspel for her courage and commitment to national security and hailed her groundbreaking achievements in counterterrorism. In her acceptance remarks, Haspel credited the people of the CIA. “Our officers are a national treasure, and it’s on their behalf that I accept this wonderful award. Thank you for this special honor, and thank you for everything you do to support the men and women of CIA,” she said. 

Votel thanked the event’s participants and sponsors and congratulated the honorees for their achievements in the service of U.S. national security. 

BENS is a nonpartisan nonprofit comprising over 400 business leaders who volunteer their time and expertise to assist the national security community. Past recipients of their Eisenhower Award include civil servants such as secretaries of state Michael Pompeo and Hillary Rodham Clinton; military leaders such as former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford; and business leaders such as Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.