An experienced clinician and leader, Kodjo will lead health care and wellness programs for students. Following a national search, Cheryl Kodjo ’01M (MPH), University Health Service (UHS) physician and specialist in pediatrics and adolescent medicine, has been named vice provost and director of UHS. Kodjo will begin in the role on July 1, and succeeds Ralph Manchester, who is retiring at the end of June. Cheryl Kodjo (provided photo) UHS delivers primary care and health and wellness services to students; occupational health services to employees; and counseling and mental health services to stu ..read more

The gift is the largest single gift in University history and the largest single gift made by Golisano. (l to r) David Linehan, John Foxe, Sarah Mangelsdorf, Tom Golisano, and Richard Handler during the press conference to announce Golisano’s $50 million commitment to the University of Rochester. (University of Rochester photo / John Schlia) The University of Rochester announced today that entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano has made a historic $50 million commitment, making it possible to build the Golisano Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Instit ..read more

New research suggests partisan hostility can erode democratic institutions and functioning. It is obvious to almost everyone living in America that partisan hostility has reached a fever pitch. But how much does that matter to everyday life in the United States? After all, partisanship is as old as the country itself. A new book by some of the foremost scholars on polarization, including University of Rochester political scientist James Druckman, offers an answer to that question by distilling empirical evidence as to the consequences of partisan animus. The upshot? Partisan hostility alone is ..read more

An international team of scientists has developed a novel way to experimentally produce plasma ‘fireballs’ on Earth. Black holes and neutron stars are among the densest known objects in the universe. Within and around these extreme astrophysical environments exist plasmas, the fourth fundamental state of matter alongside solids, liquids, and gases. Specifically, the plasmas at these extreme conditions are known as relativistic electron-positron pair plasmas because they comprise a collection of electrons and positrons—all flying around at nearly the speed of light. While such plasmas are ubiqu ..read more

The researchers have confirmed that quantum entanglement persists between top quarks, the heaviest known fundamental particles. An experiment by a group of physicists led by University of Rochester physics professor Regina Demina has produced a significant result related to quantum entanglement—an effect that Albert Einstein called “spooky action at a distance.” Entanglement concerns the coordinated behavior of miniscule particles that have interacted but then moved apart. Measuring properties—like position or momentum or spin—of one of the separated pair of particles instantaneously changes t ..read more

Figlio will take academic leave before returning to his faculty appointments. David Figlio, the provost and Gordon Fyfe Professor of Economics and Education at the University of Rochester, has announced that this August, he will be stepping down from the provost’s role for health reasons. Figlio, who joined the University in July 2022, plans to take academic leave and then return to his faculty appointment in the Department of Economics in the School of Arts & Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Warner School of Education. “I am grateful to David for being a valued colleague and ..read more

Faculty, staff, and students help to inform the University’s physical future. The University of Rochester has launched a 15-month master planning process, one that will engage the University community in mapping the future of its physical footprint. One of the drivers of the University’s 2030 strategic plan, Boundless Possibility, the planning process will ensure Rochester’s campuses and facilities across the region meet the evolving needs of students, faculty, staff, and the broader community as well as institutional zoning requirements for the City of Rochester and the Town of Brighton. “We ..read more

We spent the month celebrating the Class of 2024—with a few important detours along the way. Take a look back at May at the University of Rochester. Photos by J. Adam Fenster unless otherwise noted. DESIGNER LOOKS: Optics major Eric Li and other seniors at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences display their projects during the school’s annual Design Day. WITH THE FLIP OF A SWITCH: Electrical and computer engineering PhD student Zhengdong Gao adjusts a new all-in-one microcomb device created in the lab of Qiang Lin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and at th ..read more

The first major addition to LLE in more than two decades includes clean room facilities to advance next-generation laser science and technologies. The University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) has completed construction on a $46 million building expansion that began in August 2022. The opening of the addition marks a significant milestone for the national research facility, which was last expanded in 2003 to house the OMEGA EP laser. Totaling 66,600-square-foot, the new three-floor building, which boasts LEED Silver certification, houses 15,500 square feet of laboratory s ..read more

During his time at Rochester, Garewal led the development of the River Campus Libraries strategic plan and oversaw a library modernization project. Kevin Garewal, vice provost and the Andrew H. & Janet Dayton Dean of the University of Rochester Libraries, has announced that he will step down from his roles effective July 31. Garewal is returning to his alma mater, Cleveland State University–College of Law, where he will serve as assistant professor and director of the law library. “Kevin has led with a deep strategic vision and close attention to the remarkable professionals on the Librari ..read more