If you’ve been to the Food Zoo at UM in the past seven years, there’s no doubt you’ve been greeted with a warm smile and a hearty hello from Margo Kratz, affectionately known around campus as “Mama Margo.” She recently sat down with the Montanan to discuss her job, her trove of letters, cards, and artwork from students, as well as the Food Zoo’s famous Omelet Bar, among other topics. Read Margo’s interview with the Montanan.
Meet Forrest Jessop, a graduate student working with the Center for Environmental Health Sciences in UM’s Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Jessop studies the way cells break down and recycle damaged material in the body in relation to chronic diseases including pulmonary fibrosis, in an effort to determine whether regulating this recycling process could be a therapeutic option for those suffering from inflammation-related diseases. Read more about Jessop’s research.
Two of the most successful businessmen ever to graduate from UM will receive honorary doctorates during Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 17. Terry Payne, founder of Terry Payne & Co. Inc., will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. John “Jack” Poe, former CEO and chairman of the Semtech in Camarillo, Calif., will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Business. Gov. Steve Bullock will be the Commencement speaker. Read more about Commencement.
The Montana Board of Regents on March 7 approved a proposal by UM to open the Neural Injury Center, empowering students with traumatic brain injury and other neural injuries to access support and services from departments and colleges across campus. The NIC is not a physical space as yet, but rather a collaborative of expertise on campus and an extension of UM’s ongoing, interdisciplinary Brain Initiative. Read more about the Neural Injury Center.
The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation has made a $2.4 million gift to the Montana Digital Academy at UM to launch a statewide project designed to help students avoid remedial coursework when they attend college. During the next three years, the Montana Digital Academy will test EdReady, a curriculum from the National Repository of Online Courses that was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Read more about EdReady.
A team of UM students recently won the 18th International Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl after competing against undergraduate students from 32 different universities. Students Hayden Hooker and Joel Johnson both are seniors studying philosophy; Alan Rolph is a senior studying political science and journalism; and team coach Neil Bennett is a graduate student pursuing a master’s in economics. This is the first UM team to win the competition since 1997. Read more about the Ethics Bowl winners.
Assistant Professor Orion Berryman operates UM’s new single-crystal X-ray diffractometer recently in the Interdisciplinary Science Building. The diffractometer measures tiny crystal samples to determine composition at atomic resolution. This tells scientists what the crystals are made of and how the atoms are arranged. Learn more about the new diffractometer.
