It is great to be back into the swing of things with the start of our spring semester! Our campuses are always transformed and re-energized with the return of our students and faculty. It is also a new calendar year, which offers a great opportunity to take stock and reflect upon the previous year, as well as share some thoughts about all we have to look forward to in the coming months.
Chancellor's Blog
UM Entrepreneurs Share Keys to Success and Encourage Innovative Thinking
Today I am writing about a powerful event — the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Panel — we hosted on campus on October 28. The panel highlighted and celebrated the many ways our university supports and encourages innovative thinking and entrepreneurial activities. I walked away from the event energized by how much the audience benefitted from the inspiring entrepreneurial stories and informed perspectives shared by our distinguished panelists and dynamic entrepreneurs.
A Thanksgiving Message
Dear Students and Colleagues:
As we take a brief break from a busy academic year and gather in the coming days with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, we have much to be grateful for here at the University of Mississippi. First and foremost, Sharon and I are grateful to count ourselves as members of the Ole Miss family and the LOU community. We are a family filled with committed students, creative faculty, dedicated staff, and passionate alumni. I appreciate all you do as members of this community to enable our role as a flagship university to advance society through learning, discovery, and engagement.
Investiture Celebrates Next Chapter of UM
After 10 months on the job, the day of my investiture finally arrived. And what a day it was! There was so much emotion and such amazing moments, I wanted to capture as much as possible — photos, tweets, memories, speeches, music — and what better way than via my blog.
To everyone who attended and to those who watched via the livestream — thank you! If you missed it, you can watch it here. I’ve even marked out some of my favorite moments:
- “Clarinet Marmalade”: 0:59
- Welcome to platform party: 5:30
- Introduction of special guests: 26:12
- “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”: 1:18:00
- Commissioner Boyce’s charge and my uniquely Ole Miss answer: 1:29:40
- Investiture Address: 1:32:30
Big Data + UM = Big Opportunities
Today’s blog is a follow-up on the exciting UM Tech Summit we hosted on August 31. We were grateful to have U.S. Senator Roger Wicker highlight an effort to bring key technology leaders to campus to share perspectives from the computer, telecom, Internet, and cyber security industries. These leaders shared valuable insights about how universities — especially our university! — can transform educational paradigms to address the needs of today’s global workplace. Key to that transformation is the growing multidisciplinary field of data science, and at the Tech Summit we explored the opportunities the University of Mississippi has to be a national leader in the field.
Rebs Represent in Rio
It’s a good summer to be an Ole Miss Rebel! We have nine — count them nine! — members of the Ole Miss family across three sports in Rio de Janeiro. What a great milestone for our university, as this is the most Rebels ever at any single Olympic games. Some unique bragging rights and I couldn’t be more proud of our #RebsInRio as they get ready to compete on the world’s largest stage — and rep Rebel Nation — in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.