UNT Insider: President's newsletter

Share this:

GZA speaks at the UNT Distinguished Lecture Series.

Hip-hop and science came together during Wu-Tang Clan founder GZA's March 2 visit to campus as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Get tickets to see the lecture series' next speaker, Bill Nye, April 6.

Straight from Smatresk

Dear Alum,

Spring is in the air at UNT. Our campus is bursting with green this spring, from the beautiful foliage to the many opportunities to celebrate our green pride.

UNT Hurley Admin Building And we've made it easy for you to spread your #UNTgreen every day. Join in as we continue to observe our 125th anniversary with Wingspan Week April 11-17. The week's events -- including University Day, a University Union ribbon-cutting and our Wingspan Gala -- celebrate our history, growth and transformation from our founding as a teacher's college into one of the nation's top-tier research universities.

For 125 years, UNT has been a catalyst for change and we've set ourselves apart from others by being independent and original. Our new commemorative book, Independent, Original and Progressive: Celebrating 125 Years of UNT, created by the UNT libraries, vividly recounts our history and the milestones that shaped us along the way. See how you can buy the book and celebrate its launch.

And this spring, we'll honor six UNT sports greats during the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame luncheon before our annual Green and White Game. I hope you'll join us at the game for a preview of new head football coach Seth Littrell's Mean Green football team in action at 2 p.m. April 23 at UNT's Apogee Stadium. Mark your calendars for the season's games and buy tickets.

I'm excited about these opportunities to come together as a campus community to celebrate our history, pride and future.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
@UNTPrez

The Inside Scoop

Campus carry

UNT Campus Carry Policy goes into effect Aug. 1

UNT's Campus Carry Policy takes effect Aug. 1 along with Texas Senate Bill 11, which will allow licensed holders to carry concealed handguns on Texas public university campuses. I want to thank all of you in the UNT community who provided feedback and worked to put together UNT's policy. After receiving extensive input, the UNT System Board of Regents accepted the policy at its February quarterly meeting. To ensure our campus community is well informed about the new law and policy, we'll hold informational presentations this spring to promote awareness and safety.

Learn about UNT's campus
carry process »

Thesis competition

Doctoral candidate pitches research in 3 minutes

Our graduate students are talented researchers -- and good communicators. Doctoral candidate Garima Bajwa recently competed in the national Three Minute Thesis competition, where she presented her research on Neuro-Sign, a vital sign that correlates cerebral blood flow and blood pressure with EEG brain waves. She hopes that her research and an Android app she created will help patients and physicians begin to routinely monitor brain waves, an indicator of mental and impending physical disorders. Kudos to Garima for making it as one of the eight finalists from universities across the nation who presented their research in three minutes to a panel of judges.

Read more about
Garima's research »

Shining a green light

Guido Verbeck, associate professor of chemistry, center, with doctoral students Phillip Mach, left, and Roberto Aguilar, right, in Chile (Photo by Annah Verbeck)

Finding the most pristine air and water environment

The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve at the southern tip of South America continues to be a rich resource for UNT environmental researchers. Chemistry associate professor Guido Verbeck (center) and a group of students recently collected air and water samples in the region with his mobile mass spectrometer, finding the most pristine air and water environment in the world. Read more about Dr. Verbeck's Chile research, which makes up the first-ever recorded data set on the region's air and water chemistry, a record with great scientific and economic relevance.

Graduate's hair journey sparks research, mobile app

While transitioning her own tresses to a natural state, Terresa Hardaway realized African American women's relationships with their hair was a great topic for her M.F.A. thesis in design research. Working with associate professor of communication design Michael Gibson, she researched the natural hair movement and launched the art exhibit Project Naptural: Celebrating the Beauty of Natural Hair this spring. The December graduate and adjunct faculty member is working to create a mobile app for women to get tips, share information and find resources on how to style their natural hair. Learn about Terresa's "naptural" research.

Follow me on Twitter

Connect with UNT

Office of the President

University of North Texas
Hurley Administration Building, Room 201
Mailing Address:
1155 Union Circle #311425
Denton, Texas 76203-5017
940-565-2108

Return to the Insider home ·
Subscribe to our newsletter ·
Unsubscribe from our newsletter

Copyright © 2016 The UNT System and the University of North Texas are the owners of all of their trademarks, service marks, trade names, slogans, graphic images, music, photography and videography and they may not be used without permission. If you have questions about using any of this material, please contact the UNT Division of University Relations, Communications and Marketing at 940-565-2108.