Welcome Back, Owls!

Happy New Year and welcome back to our students, faculty and staff. I everyone had a safe and pleasant holiday break and that you share my excitement for the start of the spring semester and the beginning of a new year.

FAU has worked to create a learning environment that considers not only the health and safety of students and faculty, but also the importance of high-quality instruction. For Spring 2021, the University will add more opportunities for students to engage in on-campus instruction while continuing to allow for remote participation in classes. Additional information about academic instructional, campus operations, safety protocols, and more, will be shared in the days ahead.

Remember to Protect Your Owl Family. Following safety protocols and public health recommendations will limit COVID-19 on our campuses, as well as locally and across the country. Visit the FAU coronavirus website for additional information.

Amidst the many challenges we endured in 2020, we had much to celebrate:

• For the second consecutive year, FAU was listed among the nation’s top public universities by U.S. News and World Report. We moved up four spots to No. 136 overall, and an impressive 12 spots to No. 33 for Social Mobility. FAU excels at providing access to higher education for students from all backgrounds, and we’re very proud of that.
  
  
• The Schmidt Family Complex for Academic and Athletic Excellence opened to the FAU community. It will create a national model of academic excellence in athletics to attract the best coaches and student-athletes to FAU. The 166,000-square foot complex features academic support and athletic training facilities, athletics staff offices, and entertainment venues. It also is home to the College of Business’ Executive Education programs and the Avron B. Fogelman Sports Museum.
  
  
• FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute landed an $11 million contract from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to study ocean bioluminescence. Results from this project will help to secure our coastlines from potential threats, and will help to stimulate economic development and growth in our region by creating new high-tech jobs.
  
  
• FAU announced an exciting partnership with Broward-based Memorial Healthcare System, which will advance clinical trials in our community. The university’s strengths in scientific research and discovery, combined with Memorial’s outstanding medical services, will lead to further development of cutting-edge technologies and treatments for some of today’s most devastating diseases.
  
  
• A.D. Henderson University School was ranked the No. 2 Best Public Elementary School and the No. 11 Best Public Middle School in America by Niche, the largest website for researching public and private K-12 schools. Henderson also was ranked the No. 2 Best Public Elementary School and No. 2 Best Public Middle School in Florida, while FAU High School was ranked the No. 2 Best Public High School in Florida. FAU High also is No. 1 out of all public and charter schools in the state for national merit semifinalists with 34!
  
  
• Arthur Gutterman gave a multi-million dollar gift to name the Arthur and Emalie Gutterman Family Center for Holocaust and Human Rights Education at the Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. His gift will endow the critical work of Holocaust and Human Rights Education at FAU in perpetuity.
  
  
• Kurt and Marilyn Wallach gave $20 million — the largest gift in FAU history — which will construct the Kurt and Marilyn Wallach Holocaust and Jewish Studies Building on the Boca campus and endow an institute for Holocaust and Jewish Studies.

I am incredibly proud of how Owls responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers in our College of Engineering and Computer Science made national news with their findings about how far coughs can travel, and also which type of face mask is the most effective in preventing the spread of germs. Our School of Architecture, A.D. Henderson and FAU High Schools, and Institute for Sensing and Smart Systems, made face shields and other PPEs to help protect our local healthcare workers. FAU nurses handed out masks to the homeless in our community. The FAU Cares Emergency Fund provided much-needed support for students who lost the jobs that helped put them through school. College of Business students brainstormed ideas to help entrepreneurs hurt by the pandemic.

For more on our successes in 2020, click here for a video recap of the year.

Thank you again for your hard work, patience and resilience over the past year. Working together, 2021 will be our best year yet.

Go Owls!