2019 was another wonderful year for FAU, with much to celebrate. For the first time ever, FAU appeared on the U.S. News and World Report list of Top Public Schools, ranked No. 140 nationwide. FAU also ranked No. 45 in the nation for top performers on social mobility, which is based on the graduation rates of low-income and Pell-awarded students.

We marked several significant anniversaries this year: the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing turned 40, the John D. MacArthur Campus in Jupiter and the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College turned 20, and FAU Tech Runway turned 5. We also welcomed several new faces to the FAU family: Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Dean Safiya George, Ph.D.; College of Education Dean Stephen Silverman, Ed.D.; and Head Football Coach Willie Taggart. Robert W. Stackman Jr., Ph.D., was named dean of the Graduate College.

In Athletics, we celebrated conference titles in baseball, women’s soccer and football. The football team qualified for a bowl game for the second time in three years, and will face SMU on Saturday, Dec. 21 in the CheriBundi Boca Raton Bowl. Click here for tickets and information.

Additionally, we opened FAU Medicine Primary Care, our first university-operated physician practice located minutes from the Boca Raton campus; watched the $72.5 million Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence take shape adjacent to FAU Stadium; began a $25 million renovation and expansion of the Boca Raton Student Union; and received $78.5 million from the Florida Board of Governors to build much-needed student housing on the Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses.

I’d like to thank FAU’s students, faculty and staff for their hard work this year, and our alumni, friends and elected officials for their ongoing support of FAU. The 2010s were a time of tremendous growth for Florida Atlantic University, and we expect the 2020s to be a decade of unprecedented innovation and discovery.

From my family to yours, happy holidays!