2019
November 28, 2018
New Psychological Study: Teaching People to Experience and Recognize Joy
Sometimes people lose the ability to experience or even recognize joy -- a type of depression called anhedonia. SMU psychology professors Alicia Merit and Thomas Ritz, working with a colleague at UCLA, are beginning to enroll patients in a study that focuses on re-teaching people to experience and identify joy. Their five-year project is funded by a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.
January 17, 2019
SMU History Professor Paves a Digital Path to the Past
SMU history professor Jo Guldi’s book, The History Manifesto, recently was named one of the most influential books of the past 20 years by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
January 18, 2019
SMU Community Invited to Join the MLK Unity Walk 2019
In honor of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., SMU will hold its annual campus Unity Walk at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 23, to commemorate King’s core values – faith, education, nonviolence, love, leadership, community and hope.
January 18, 2019
A New Year's message from President Turner
Dr. King’s words continue to inspire us. As we begin each new year together, we celebrate SMU Dream Week to honor Dr. King’s lifetime of dedicated, persistent work and the values he championed – including individual dignity and worth, inclusion, civic participation, open dialogue and civil debate. These concepts are at the very core of SMU’s academic mission and a welcoming community, in which all are valued and able to pursue their goals and do their best work.
SMU’s ability to cultivate and launch entrepreneurs for North Texas and beyond received a major boost with a significant new gift from prominent Dallas business leaders and major SMU supporters Linda Wertheimer Hart ’65 and Milledge (Mitch) A. Hart, III. The Harts now are among SMU’s most generous donors.
January 30, 2019
The Cultural Intelligence Initiative at SMU
A revolutionary approach in higher education to ensure that every member of the Southern Methodist University community is equipped with the skills and knowledge to manage and communicate effectively in complex cultural contexts.
February 01, 2019
Information on Catholic Diocese of Dallas Report
On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas released a list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors since 1950. Two of the priests on the list were identified by the diocese as having been previously associated with Catholic Campus Ministry at SMU, which provides services for SMU students but is not part of the University. Neither were SMU employees.
February 04, 2019
Trump’s State of the Union Address: Touchy Topics and Words to Own
SMU experts are available to analyze political landmines and presidential goals in the runup to the Feb. 5 State of the Union address.
February 19, 2019
A statement from President Turner regarding yearbook images
Important discussions have been taking place across the country in recent weeks regarding disturbing and offensive images and texts in college and university yearbooks. Such images, including of individuals in blackface, are stark historical reminders of the racism and bigotry that continue to challenge our nation today.
February 22, 2019
Breaking ground on SMU’s new home for digital explorers
SMU takes a giant leap forward in the rapidly shifting digital frontier with today’s groundbreaking of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation. The new 50,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research hub will equip faculty, students and industry partners with tools and resources to collaborate, solve complex problems and power new enterprises.
February 22, 2019
SMU Mourns the Death of Business Leader Gene H. Bishop
Longtime SMU supporter, former member of the SMU Board of Trustees and civic leader Gene H. Bishop died Friday, February 22. His legacy of financial leadership, business savvy and community service helped drive Dallas’ dynamic growth for more than half a century.
The United Methodist Church voted on Tuesday, February 26, at a special session of the General Conference to accept the Traditional Plan, which will exclude the ordination of LGBTQ clergy and the marriage of same-sex persons.
April 08, 2019
New Texas Dinosaur Identified by SMU Scientists
There’s a new Texas dinosaur on the books. SMU postdoctoral fellow Kate Andrzejewski, with University paleontologists Dale Winkler and Louis Jacobs, have identified Convolosaurus marri from fossils collected at Proctor Lake, southwest of Fort Worth.
April 10, 2019
Hart Gift to Benefit U.S. Marine Corps Vets
Military veterans aspiring to SMU’s innovative graduate education in engineering and business have a new scholarship opportunity with The Milledge A. Hart, III Scholarship Fund for Veterans of the United States Marine Corps.
April 11, 2019
Maguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business honored three oil industry leaders with awards
The Maguire Energy Institute at SMU Cox School of Business honored three oil industry leaders with awards April 10.
April 11, 2019
Doug Parker Featured Speaker at SMU’s May Commencement
Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc. and its subsidiary, American Airlines, will be the featured speaker during SMU’s May Commencement Convocation at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 18, in Moody Coliseum.
April 12, 2019
SMU Remembers Forrest Gregg '56
SMU football player, NFL Hall-of-Famer, coach and administrator Forrest Gregg died April 12, 2019.
The award, given by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics.
Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People journalist Bianca R. Montes interviewed Joel Meyers, an assistant professor of physics at SMU, to make sense of what scientists learned from the first-ever image of a black hole, which was revealed by the Event Horizon Telescope last Wednesday.
April 25, 2019
Three SMU deans reappointed to five-year terms
The academic deans leading SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman School of Law and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences have been reappointed to serve in their positions for an additional five years.
April 29, 2019
SMU remembers business leader Robert “Bob” Lee Zollars ’72
Robert “Bob” L. Zollars of Dallas, Texas, longtime SMU supporter and co-founder, chairman and CEO of Huitt-Zollars, Inc., died April 20, 2019.
May 03, 2019
SMU remembers former OU president William Banowsky
“He was one of the most dynamic individuals that I have ever known,” said R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Turner considered Banowsky a close colleague. The two worked together at Pepperdine University and OU.
May 06, 2019
SMU to present honorary degrees to Dallas preservationist Virginia McAlester and Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya
SMU will present honorary degrees to Dallas historic preservationist Virginia McAlester and Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya at the University’s Commencement Convocation at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 18, at Moody Coliseum.
May 15, 2019
SMU Cox honors alumni business success
The SMU Cox School of Business honored four alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon on May 10. Two Distinguished Alumni Awards and two Outstanding Young Alumni Awards were presented at the luncheon ceremony in the Collins Executive Center on the SMU campus.
June 11, 2019
DNA From 31,000-Year-Old Human Teeth Reveals New Ethnic Group Living in Siberia During Last Ice Age
An international team of researchers, including SMU anthropologist David Meltzer, discovered a new group of ancient Siberians. The research was published June 5, 2019 as a story in Nature.
June 20, 2019
A gift from the heart
Bromberg bequest inspired by lifelong interests in art, the law and education
June 21, 2019
SMU DEDMAN LAW’S TSAI CENTER FOR LAW, SCIENCE AND INNOVATION GIFT AMPLIFIES LAW RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Additional $2 million dollar gift expands endowment and current operational funding
July 10, 2019
SMU Remembers Visionary Patriot H. Ross Perot
The SMU community mourns the loss of H. Ross Perot, who died July 9 at the age of 89.
August 19, 2019
Malcolm Gladwell Discusses New Book Oct. 7 at SMU
Talking to Strangers examines why interactions with strangers often go wrong and how to make them go right
August 29, 2019
DART station renamed SMU/Mockingbird Station
Agreement underscores busy rail station’s proximity to campus neighbor
September 04, 2019
SMU welcomes a Boulevard game changer
New Indoor Performance Center features Armstrong Fieldhouse
September 11, 2019
SMU Mourns Legendary T. Boone Pickens
SMU mourns the loss of legendary Texas oil and gas magnate and entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, who died September 11, 2019 at the age of 91.
September 24, 2019
SMU paleontology grad named one of the AAAS IF/THEN ambassadors
The ambassadors are encouraged to share their stories of being women innovators, in hopes it inspires the next generation of women to get into science, technology, engineering and math [STEM].
September 24, 2019
SMU researcher and Garland students use smartphones to monitor bridge safety
By gathering information from smartphones in passing cars, an SMU professor and students aim to check the bridge’s structural health.
October 09, 2019
Transforming the future of arts education
A $5 million gift from Dallas art collectors and patrons Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers extends their long-standing support of artists by establishing a vibrant hub for the visual arts at SMU.
October 16, 2019
New SMU law clinic to focus on First Amendment issues
Carolyn L. and David B. Miller ’72, ’73 have made history with a $50 million gift to SMU. This unprecedented commitment will drive innovative education in SMU’s Edwin L. Cox School of Business. It also builds on the Millers’ decades-long support for academics, athletics, student scholarships and other areas to benefit generations of world changers.
October 25, 2019
High speed, high tech, high impact
Dallas entrepreneur, industry leader and educator Bobby B. Lyle ’67 builds on the farsighted generosity that named the Lyle School of Engineering 11 years ago by designating $10 million to power a new strategic vision for the school.
November 12, 2019
Landmark $100 million gift to SMU from Moody Foundation to create separate graduate school, fuel significant research
SMU will take a major step forward in serving the talent and research needs of a challenging world, thanks to a landmark $100 million commitment from the Moody Foundation that will fund the University’s eighth degree-granting school – the Moody School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.
November 19, 2019
2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards
Each year, SMU honors four outstanding leaders in philanthropy, business and civic life with the highest honor the University can bestow upon its graduates.
November 22, 2019
Owen Arts Center renovation kickoff inspires a new challenge
SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts paved the way toward the future of arts education with today’s kickoff of the Owen Arts Center renovation during SMU Homecoming Weekend. The $34 million initiative will improve academic spaces in the north wing for visual arts, art history and creative computation, while creating grand, welcoming and accessible exterior entrances.
November 25, 2019
Wastewater leak in West Texas revealed
SMU Geophysicists say that evidence of leak occurring in a West Texas wastewater disposal well between 2007 and 2011 should raise concerns about the current potential for contaminated groundwater.
November 25, 2019
Is West Texas sinking?
New NASA-funded research from SMU found a “…large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and sinking at alarming rates.”
December 06, 2019
Statement from President Turner regarding our relationship with the United Methodist Church
I would like to provide an update regarding our relationship with the United Methodist Church (UMC) in response to the ongoing debate over the future organizational structure of the Church.
December 09, 2019
SMU names new Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Elizabeth Loboa will join SMU as provost and vice president for academic affairs on July 6, 2020. As chief academic officer for the University, she will be responsible for the overall quality of teaching, scholarship and research and all aspects of academic life, ranging from admissions and faculty development to supervision of SMU’s eight schools, library system, and international programs.
A treasure-hunting smartphone app developed by SMU and Literacy Instruction for Texas (LIFT) to help low-literate adults learn to read tied for the grand prize Thursday in the competition hosted by the Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE.