On Saturday, April 6, Carolyn and I hosted the annual FAU President’s Gala, a wonderful opportunity for the university community to celebrate our achievements over the past year while raising funds to support student scholarships. Hosted at FAU Stadium, this year’s Gala highlighted the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and featured handcrafted, liquid nitrogen-infused cocktails at the Molecular Bar; a Seafood Galaxy; an Orbital Dessert Station; and stellar entertainment, including a special appearance by Astro, an artificial intelligence dog, and a dazzling Big Bang fireworks display.

The 2019 President’s Gala was a tremendous success. Through a year-long initiative and the gala, FAU raised more than $7 million in support of student scholarships. A monumental $5,992,864 was raised for scholarships between May 2018 and April 2019, with an additional $1,806,559 raised from this year’s President’s Gala. Carolyn and I would like to offer our most sincere thanks to our sponsors, guests and volunteers for supporting this wonderful annual event and helping current and future Owls acquire the education and skills necessary to become tomorrow’s leaders.