UNT President Neal Smatresk speaking with Wende Zomnir
Straight from Smatresk

Dear UNT supporter,

At UNT, we work daily to provide our students with the knowledge, drive and critical thinking skills that will enable them to achieve their dreams and thrive in our rapidly changing world. We were thrilled to welcome home Wende Zomnir ('89), a journalism graduate who did just that by eschewing the beauty industry's status quo and embracing "bold," both personally and professionally.

When traditional beauty companies only sold palettes in pink, beige and red, Wende co-founded Urban Decay Cosmetics, one of the top-selling makeup brands, filling a large void in the market by creating prestige cosmetics in bright colors. Wende shared her entrepreneurial secrets and insight on "How Urban Decay Disrupted and Transformed an Industry" during the UNT President's Lecture Series on Oct. 17, and you can watch a video of her speech.

Wende continues to lead the brand and its mission to deliver beauty with an edge, providing coveted products and an unexpected point of view while also transforming lives through The UltraViolet Edge, the company's fund to support organizations that empower women. She's an entrepreneurial makeup maven with persistence to push beyond the norms. As a creative, caring and tenacious alumna, Wende is the true embodiment of UNT.

UNT Proud,
Neal Smatresk
President
twitter @UNTPrez

The Inside Scoop
UNT students inspire
the nation
Kathy and Emma Earhart
UNT mother-and-daughter duo Kathy and Emma Earhart, who are students in our Department of Biological Sciences, are inspiring folks from across the nation with their shared dream to become doctors. Kathy and 16-year-old Emma enrolled at UNT this fall after earning associate degrees from North Central Texas College. Emma is on track to complete her bachelor's at 17 and her doctorate by the time she is 22. The Earharts, who were featured on local news stations in September, have shared their inspirational story with national media outlets following a recent in-depth story aired by WFAA. CBS This Morning, CBS News, ABC News, Southern Living, Yahoo! News, Inside Edition, Good Morning America and many others have featured them. We're so proud to count the Earharts as part of our UNT family!
 
 
Learn more about Emma and
Kathy Earhart »
Inclusive and diverse
STEM faculty
Tao Yang at a computer
UNT is one of 20 universities participating in a three-year institutional change effort funded by the National Science Foundation to further develop inclusive faculty recruitment, hiring and retention practices. We're proud to be partnering with the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities for Aspire: The National Alliance for Inclusive & Diverse STEM Faculty. This effort is aimed at ensuring that all STEM faculty use inclusive teaching practices and that institutions increase the diversity of STEM faculty. We will begin by completing a self-assessment of current practices and assets, then develop and implement campus action plans to drive change across all of our STEM programs.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Read more about UNT's focus on
diverse STEM faculty opportunities »
HEED Award
UNT students
UNT continues to earn national recognition for its efforts in diversity and inclusion. For the second consecutive year, we've received the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. This is a national honor that recognizes U.S. colleges and universities who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. One of our newest initiatives is the Latinx Advisory Council, an affinity group for UNT's Latinx alumni designed to support the Latinx Student Initiative in our Division of Institutional Equity and Diversity. Other programs include A Few Good Men, housed in the Multicultural Center and led by alumni who provide mentoring and career development skills to diverse students, and the Unlikely Allies program, which creates opportunities for dialogue among those with the same racial and ethnic identities and between groups of differing identities.
 
 
Read more about UNT's diversity
and inclusion initiatives »
CIO hired for UNT, UNT System
Chris McCoy
Chris McCoy, vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, joined the UNT System and UNT as chief information officer this week. Chris has 30-plus years of information technology experience in higher education and will oversee the central information technology operation that supports UNT, UNT Dallas, UNT HSC and UNT System Administration. Chris' rich experience as a leader and innovator at similar institutions makes him a perfect fit. It's crucial for UNT, as a Tier One research university, to continue to improve our student, faculty and staff user experience with technology inside and outside of the classroom, and we're excited for Chris to help us grow strategically.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Learn more about
Chris McCoy »
Spotlight on Excellence
Sarah Broom
Alumna Sarah Broom nominated for National Book Award

We're always proud to see our alumni succeed, and it's especially gratifying when they achieve national success. Sarah Broom's ('02) The Yellow House, her memoir of growing up in New Orleans, has won great reviews from Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times, and it is now a finalist for the National Book Award for nonfiction. She even mentions her time at UNT, giving shoutouts to West Hall and Willis Library. When the North Texan talked to her for its fall issue, Sarah said she began jotting notes for the book while she was at UNT. She spent years writing the memoir while working for O Magazine and two nonprofit organizations. We're glad to see her perseverance and creativity result in such acclaim, and we'll be rooting for her when the awards are announced Nov. 20.

Ribbon cutting ceremony at Lovelace-McNatt Practice Facility
Indoor practice facility will take Mean Green to the next level

We celebrated the opening of the new Lovelace and McNatt Families Practice Facility on Oct. 19 ahead of the Mean Green's 33-30 win over Middle Tennessee. The new facility is a game-changer for our student-athletes, and this Beyond the Green episode gives you an inside peek. Our athletic and construction teams worked together on the design, incorporating features from our favorite facilities across the country to open the third-largest indoor practice facility in Texas. It will be used not only by our football players, but by all student-athletes, and it will provide them with a space to practice regardless of outdoor weather conditions. The facility includes OmniDeck™, a surface protection product co-invented by UNT alum Marcos Gonzalez ('10, '12 M.S.), a product engineer for Signature Systems Group in Flower Mound.

UNT 2019 Homecoming - Out of THis World - UNT mascot Scrappy in a spacesuit
Mean Green Homecoming will be out of this world

It's Homecoming Week at UNT, an annual time for members of the Mean Green Nation ― students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends ― to come together as a family, embrace our traditions and celebrate our university. We're honoring many great alumni at the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Awards and will gather Friday for the Homecoming Bonfire and Saturday for a Class of 1969 Golden Eagles breakfast before the 9:30 a.m. Homecoming Parade and tailgating on The Hill at Apogee Stadium. The Mean Green football game against UTEP kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Come cheer loudly for head coach Seth Littrell and the team!

2019 Wingspan event - Las Vegas theme lights
Viva North Texas

Single tickets are now on sale as well as tables and sponsorships for our 2019 Wingspan Gala, Saturday, Nov. 16, at the University Union. I'll be presenting the Wings of Eagles Presidential Award at this event, which gives us an opportunity to celebrate UNT excellence and the achievements of our UNT family. Proceeds benefit the President's Scholarship Fund to support UNT's best and brightest students. We would love for you to come celebrate with us.

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