Celebrating U of A’s Achievements and Research Excellence - May 9, 2023

Dear Faculty, Staff and Graduate Assistants,

As the semester comes to a close and the campus prepares for commencement, now is a good time to reflect on all we have achieved this academic year.  The university has so much to be proud of, and I’d like to commend each of you for your role in our success – not only as we prepare students to start their careers with the upcoming commencement ceremonies but also our accomplishments as a university.

The university recently celebrated the grand opening of the Art Studio + Design Center, and earlier this year, we launched the Arkansas Center for Black Music and a master’s degree program in black sacred music, the first program of its kind in the U.S. In addition, construction continues for the Institute for Integrative & Innovative Research (I³R).  Our researchers have also started the development of the Multi-User Silicon Carbide Research and Fabrication Facility (MUSiC), which will lead the way in manufacturing semiconductors used in most electronic devices and will significantly impact Arkansas’ economy. 

While these initiatives encompass some of the university’s larger achievements this year, we also have a multitude of creative endeavors and other projects that are producing groundbreaking research, innovation and discovery. Faculty, staff and graduate assistants throughout the university are fulfilling our research mission and exploring new frontiers.

Our faculty and researchers are finding ways to simulate growing rice on Mars, learning how social media use and depression are connected,  helping heal wounds through the study of cell metabolism, making breakthroughs in Autism research, and inventing radiofrequency electronic devices used in detection and sensing systems and radars. Our accomplishments are too many to name, and I’m proud of the quantity and quality of the research and creative activities going on across campus.  All these activities reinforce and cement our status as an R1 research institution.

With summer around the corner, I know many faculty, research staff, and graduate assistants plan to intensify your scholarship.  Many other faculty, staff, and graduate assistants will stay on campus, teaching courses as part of our initiative to invite students to spend their summers on The Hill.  I encourage each of you also to take time to relax, re-energize and reset this summer.  Taking the time to do the things you enjoy most is always time well spent.

Congratulations again on everything you have accomplished this year.  You are the reason for the university’s successes, and I look forward to what’s yet to come.

Best regards,

Terry Martin, Ph.D.

Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Professor of Electrical Engineering