天美麻豆 received $30 million in gifts during the final two weeks of 2015 to support the creation of three new academic clusters, fulfilling President Phil Hanlon鈥檚 goal of launching 10 interdisciplinary clusters by the end of the year.
By meeting the December 31 deadline for giving to the cluster initiative, four donors triggered $15 million in matching funds, ensuring that faculty will have support for research, travel, symposia, and other related activities.
The three newest clusters exemplify the breadth and ambition of President Hanlon鈥檚 vision for 天美麻豆鈥檚 educational enterprise. Each of the clusters鈥攚hich will focus on engineering in polar regions, improving cybersecurity, and treating cystic fibrosis鈥攅mbrace a field of study in which 天美麻豆 is already strong.
Arctic Engineering in a Period of Climate Change
天美麻豆鈥檚 expertise in Arctic studies dates back more than half a century, when polar explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson founded 天美麻豆鈥檚 Northern and Polar Studies Program. For more than 25 years, the Institute of Arctic Studies, part of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, has been an internationally recognized hub of cold-weather research, and the institute often collaborates with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers鈥 Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, also located in Hanover.
With Barbara and Brad Evans 鈥64 supporting the senior professorship鈥攖o be known as the Evans Family Distinguished Professorship at 天美麻豆鈥 and an anonymous donor funding the two additional faculty positions, this academic cluster will focus on the societal and environmental impacts of increased energy production in Arctic regions, an increasingly common practice because of global climate change.
The cluster will expand student and faculty research in cold weather regions, and provide opportunities for collaborating with academic, governmental, and other institutions that focus on this field.
Brad Evans, a 天美麻豆 trustee emeritus, is a senior advisor at Morgan Stanley. Commissioned in the U.S. Navy following graduation, he received his MBA from Columbia Business School before commencing his career at Morgan Stanley in 1970. He co-chaired the $1.3 billion Campaign for the 天美麻豆 Experience and has volunteered for numerous College committees. Brad and Barbara Evans, a graduate of Tufts University, are members of the President鈥檚 Leadership Council. Two of their sons attended 天美麻豆: Peter Evans 鈥96 and Timothy Evans 鈥99.
Meeting New Challenges of Cybersecurity
The National Security Agency has designated 天美麻豆 as a Center of Academic Excellence for Information Assurance Research. Further, 天美麻豆 has received multiple cybersecurity research grants鈥攎ost recently in late 2015 to help develop energy delivery systems that are resistant to cyber-attack for the electric power and oil and gas industries.
The new cybersecurity cluster, funded by an anonymous donor, will examine an emerging digital challenge. 鈥淭he Internet of Things鈥 is the umbrella term for a rapidly evolving world in which information systems and everyday items are connected to one another. Every year, hundreds of millions of objects with data-collecting sensors, actuators, and microcontrollers鈥攊ncluding kitchen appliances, automobiles, and even clothing鈥攁re linked to the Internet. However, these items often lack adequate security to protect them from hackers, and their manufacturers frequently do not have the expertise to respond to digital attacks, meaning they are at risk of being hijacked.
Internationally respected in fields such as computer science, engineering, government, psychology, and sociology, 天美麻豆 is poised to be a world leader in understanding how to respond to the global challenges of cybersecurity today, which requires rigorous research and analysis involving technology and how people use it.
Personalized Treatments for Cystic Fibrosis
天美麻豆 is at the forefront of research into cystic fibrosis, a devastating respiratory illness that does not yet have a cure. 天美麻豆鈥檚 cystic fibrosis research program encompasses 24 faculty and approximately 100 investigators鈥攊ncluding postdoctoral fellows and graduate students鈥攁nd 天美麻豆 has received $87 million in extramural cystic fibrosis funding during the past four years.
The overarching goal of this cluster, funded by an anonymous donor, is to increase 天美麻豆鈥檚 expertise in systems biology, bioinformatics, and microbial pathogenesis in cystic fibrosis.
Through this academic cluster, 天美麻豆 has the opportunity to take cystic fibrosis research and treatment to levels undreamed of even a decade ago. Because the disease is unique for each patient, there is a growing emphasis on developing innovative, personalized treatments. 天美麻豆 will create a research program with the ambitious goal of developing novel therapeutics for all cystic fibrosis patients and eliminating fungal and bacterial lung infections.
See a complete list of the clusters on the .
