FIU student-athletes set new GPA high: 3.29

–By FIU Athletics FIU Athletics continues to raise the bar in the classroom, as student-athletes posted the highest term grade point average in the department’s history after earning a 3.29 GPA for the spring. The three highest GPAs on record for the athletic department have all come in the last three semesters, with a 3.28 last […]

Unleashing the “Aha!” moment: STEM education transformed

The STEM Transformation Institute has redesigned the education experience, creating a model for the rest of the nation –By Ayleen Barbel Fattal for FIU Magazine At 19, Laird Kramer saw himself as an accountant. One of his college professors saw a physicist. Kramer was good with numbers so he enrolled as an accounting major at […]

The Patron: Kimberly Green on her work in Haiti and the center that bears her name

–By Amy Ellis for FIU Magazine When Kimberly Green was in first grade, her teacher asked a simple question: What would you do if you were president? For Green, who grew up watching the evening news with her father, a business executive who would later serve as ambassador to Singapore, the answer was easy. She […]

Young alumnus’ gift lays foundation for media, technology institute

–By Sarah Hernandez for FIU News The average age of philanthropists is 65, but Steven Cruz, 28, is bucking the trend. In support of the FIU Next Horizon campaign, Cruz has announced a planned gift of $1.2 million to establish the Steven Cruz Institute for Media, Science + Technology within the College of Communication, Architecture […]

Five questions for the head of fundraising

For FIU Magazine Howard Lipman understands the value of philanthropy. For the CEO of the FIU Foundation, it’s more than just a sum of money; it is a sign of pride, a symbol of gratitude and an investment in the future of all those whom the university serves. Leading the $750 million Next Horizon campaign, Lipman has seen […]

CasaCuba receives $750,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that CasaCuba has received a $750,000 matching grant, which encourages additional private support. The funding will support the architectural design phase of the state-of-the-art center that will host lectures, academic conferences, community events, and digital and physical exhibitions intended to further the study and public understanding of […]

Alumnus creates first fellowship endowment in history

-By Amy Ellis for FIU News Henry “Hank” Voegtle graduated with a history degree in 1974, when FIU only had five history professors. Since then, the Department of History has grown exponentially and, throughout the years, its faculty and students have earned numerous awards for their research. To give back to his alma mater and strengthen research […]

Scientists unearth clues to seismic event on day the dinosaurs died

–By Ayleen Barbel Fattal for FIU News A discovery confirms the meteor strike that likely wiped out dinosaurs produced tsunami-like waves reaching what is now North Dakota, according to FIU Professor Florentin Maurrasse who helped identify fossils and interpret data for the recently released findings. That means the waves traveled more than 2,800 miles from where the […]

From poverty to Panther basketball, Ghanaian student has come a long way

–By David Drucker for FIU News Six years ago, freshman James Ametepe thought he would never go to college. So even though he has to bike from his home in Kendall to Modesto A. Maidique Campus every day—a 40-minute commute under the scorching Miami sun—he is always smiling. Ametepe is a biomedical engineering major and […]

Pediatricians should encourage parents to use their home language with their children, says researcher

As part of an op-ed series, FIU News shares the expertise and diverse perspectives of members of the university community. In this piece, associate professor of applied linguistics Melissa Baralt discusses the importance of bilingualism and its role in early child development and lifelong child health. Her colleagues, Ashley Darcy Mahoney, a neonatal nurse practitioner at Baptist Children’s […]