Year in Review: 2009
About twenty bioengineering students in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering designed and assembled medical devices for disabled villagers in the poverty-stricken country of Malawi as part of their senior-year research projects. The supplies were to be delivered to Malawi in the summer of 2009, under the supervision of Jan Snyder, a science education program manager in ASU's School of Materials. Read more
The Biodesign Institute is working in partnership with the Methuselah Foundation, in an effort to eliminate age-related disease by making old cells feel younger. Researchers are applying the same principles used to remove harmful contaminants from the environment, on the human body, with the hopes that this will reverse the effects of aging. Read more
In a new study supported by the Lenfest Ocean Program and Pew Charitable Trusts and published in the journal Science, ASU scientist Leah Gerber and her co-authors found that even a complete eradication of whale populations in tropical waters would not lead to any significant increase in fish populations. Read more
James Harden was named the 2008-09 Pacific-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Year, becoming the third Sun Devil to win the honor. Harden joins Eddie House (2000) and Ike Diogu (2005). After the season ended, Harden was drafted third overall in the NBA Draft by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Read more
An ASU senior was chosen as one of the top 20 students in the country by USA Today. Charlene Bashore was named to the All-USA College Academic First Team for exceptional intellectual achievement and leadership. ASU has had more students named to the prestigious award than any other public university in the nation, with 12 students winning First-Team honors in 17 years. Only Harvard and Duke have had more students win the honor. Read more
President Barack Obama addressed more than 9,000 Arizona State University graduates at the Spring 2009 commencement. In his speech, Obama told graduates that opening the doors of higher education to students from every background is a core mission of ASU and of his presidency. 6. Read more
The ASU women’s golf team won their seventh NCAA Championship in May. The top-ranked Sun Devils came from 11 shots behind after the second round to win by eight shots over second-place UCLA. Read more
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) took and received its first images of the Moon, kicking off the year-long mapping mission of Earth's nearest celestial neighbor. The LROC imaging system is operated under the watchful eyes of Principal Investigator Mark Robinson, professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration. A few weeks later, LROC imaged five of the six Apollo landing sites within days of the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission. Read more
Michael Pugliese, an ASU graduate student in the College of Technology and Innovation, created “Twig Light” technology, which is a device meant to bring electric light to villages in rural Africa. Pugliese is part of GlobalResolve, a social entrepreneurship program designed to enhance the educational experience for ASU students by involving them in projects for underdeveloped nations. In October, the Twig Light project received $16,000 from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance to finalize the design. Pictured: ASU student Brian McCollow, signed up to travel with GlobalResolve, visits with the Paramount Chief and other members of a Ghanaian village. Read more
Walter Cronkite, the legendary news anchor who lent his name to ASU’s journalism school in 1984, died on July 17 at his New York home. He was 92. As a tribute, the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication planned a daylong event on Sept. 30 to honor the late CBS News anchor’s life and legacy. 10. Read more
ASU was named one of the nation’s “greenest” universities by The Princeton Review in its second annual rating of environmentally friendly institutions. This is the second year in a row that ASU made the list. The university was also named by Sierra magazine as one of the nation’s top 20 “coolest” schools for their efforts to stop global warming and operate sustainably. Read more
ASU was selected by G.I. Jobs magazine as a “Military Friendly School for 2010.” The list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America's veterans as students. ASU is the only public university in Arizona to make the list. Read more
ASU was named as one of the “schools everyone should be watching” in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” list. The university was ranked fifth among 77 colleges and universities that are “leading the pack in improvements and innovative changes” in academics, faculty, students, campus life and facilities. Read more
ASU announced the appointment of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Leland “Lee” H. Hartwell to lead an expansive effort addressing two of today’s top concerns: improving the effectiveness of health care while reducing its costs, and advancing science education. Hartwell is the first Nobel Prize recipient in physiology or medicine to serve a faculty appointment at an Arizona university. Read more
ASU researchers received more than $39 million in stimulus package research grants. Funds for these projects came from the Department of Energy, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, as part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The funding allows ASU researchers to work with young children with specific language impairment to help discover methods for helping them learn new words at a faster pace. Read more
ASU’s Professional Development School program, developed by the College of Teacher Education and Leadership, was awarded a $33.8 million federal grant to help future teachers across the state launch successful careers as educators. The program enables more students in Arizona's Native American communities to earn teacher certification without having to relocate to an urban area of the state, like Chinle graduates (from left) Jackie Ibarra, Andrea Yazzie and Camilla Tsosie. Read more
Arizona State University celebrated the grand opening of Barrett, the Honors College, the nation’s first comprehensive four-year residential honors college at a public university. Approximately 1,700 students moved into the new, state-of-the-art nine-acre complex. Read more
How does digital culture impact and activate our world? The newly formed Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, encompassing seven distinct disciplines and a diverse collection of research and outreach programs, explores the creative process as a route to innovation and cultural and environmental adaptation – the staples of a 21st century. Read more
The Maroon team from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences won the 2009 ASU Academic Bowl, taking home the trophy and $7,500 each in scholarships. The bowl began with 16 teams of undergraduates from 11 ASU colleges, which quizzed them with brain-teasers that they had to answer before the buzzer sounded. Read more
Instead of killing cancer cells, researchers at Arizona State University are using the laws of physics to figure out how to control them. The research is one of 12 projects receiving some of $22.7 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute. Read more
Arizona State University is partnering with the United Arab Emirates to create a Global Decision Network located in the UAE. The network would be based on ASU’s SkySong Innovation Center, which supports firms entering or expanding within the United States by providing business services and programs offered or facilitated by ASU. As a result, the first National Innovation Center in the UAE is scheduled to be in place by the end of 2010. Read more
Arizona State University President Michael Crow was named by Time magazine as one of the top U.S. university presidents to watch. The magazine highlighted his goal of transforming ASU into the New American University that aims to improve rankings, performance and access all at the same time. Read more
ASU was once again among the top choices for international students, placing 18th in the nation among all colleges and universities, as it continues to draw students from more than 120 countries due to the breadth of its programs and its increasing reputation. Read more
The White House announced the nomination of Raúl Yzaguirre as ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Yzaguirre is a Presidential Professor of Practice and the executive director of the Center for Community Development and Civil Rights at Arizona State University. Read more
Elinor Ostrom, a research professor at ASU and a political scientist, was awarded the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in Sweden. She is the first woman and non-economist to win the Nobel economics prize. Read more