SMµ÷½ÌËù

Longtime Boulder resident Paul N. Eklund has made a transformative gift to the opera program at the College of Music at the SMµ÷½ÌËù that, combined with additional university commitments, establishes a $2 million endowment for the program, to be renamed the Eklund Family Opera Program in honor of the gift.

Not everybody or everything makes it to 100, but the SMµ÷½ÌËù Homecoming is about to reach that centennial mark. On Nov. 7, 1914, SMµ÷½ÌËù took on Utah to win 33-0 in the first Homecoming featuring an intercollegiate matchup. This year, from Oct. 22 to 25, SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder will host hundreds of guests at dozens of major events. In addition to the traditional football game and parade, the celebration will include a concert, an alumni lecture series, affinity reunions and college and school gatherings.

SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder alumni Michele (Mikhy) and Mike Ritter have a deep love for SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder. They've recently made a trailblazing gift to the classical guitar program in the College of Music that, combined with a commitment from the Office of the Chancellor, will endow and name the program.

As his country continues to suffer from civil war, terrorism and atrocities, renowned Syrian-American composer and pianist Malek Jandali will bring his message of peace and human rights to SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder with a lecture and public concert on Sept. 29.

Tweets sent during last year’s massive flooding on Colorado’s Front Range were able to detail the scope of damage to the area’s infrastructure, according to a study by the SMµ÷½ÌËù. The findings can help geotechnical and structural engineers more effectively direct their reconnaissance efforts after future natural disasters—including earthquakes, tsunamis and tornadoes—as well as provide them data that might otherwise be lost due to rapid cleanup efforts.

The public is invited to attend free, Saturday programs led by SMµ÷½ÌËù faculty on popular topics as part of the SMµ÷½ÌËù on the Weekend series, which begins Sept. 6. With topics ranging from the sweeping stories behind celebrated musical compositions to the micro-level study of bacteria that uniquely forms each person’s microbiome, SMµ÷½ÌËù on the Weekend programs are designed to satisfy the community’s curiosity surrounding some of the intriguing research conducted at SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder.

Ruth Ellen Kocher, professor of English and director of the creative writing program at the SMµ÷½ÌËù, has won a prestigious PEN Literary Award. Kocher was a co-winner of the PEN Open Book Award for her book of poems titled domina Un/blued. The award recognizes an exceptional book-length work of literature by an author of color. Also winning the award was Nina McConigley for Cowboys and East Indians .

Playing in schoolyards that feature natural habitats and trees and not just asphalt and recreation equipment reduces children’s stress and inattention, according to a SMµ÷½ÌËù study.

English alumnus Dick Shahan recently made a $75,000 gift commitment to SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder — $50,000 of which established an endowment to create the Dick Shahan SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder Undergraduate Writing Competition, expected to generate an annual prize of $2,000 for a prose piece that features Boulder. The additional $25,000 will fund the Shahan Graduate Fellowships in the SMµ÷½ÌËù-Boulder English Department, providing an annual $1,000 research grant for an English graduate student.

SMµ÷½ÌËù Provost Russell L. Moore today announced the appointment of a new dean for the College of Music. The new dean will be Robert Shay, director of the School of Music at the University of Missouri in Columbia. His appointment will begin Sept. 1.