April 2014

Dear Alumni and Friends,

What a great spring semester it has been at BGSU! While we are winding down the school year, the campus is already busy getting ready for what is going to be an exciting fall.

I'm very pleased to let you know that The Peace Corps launched eight new Paul D. Coverdell Fellows programs in partnership with the University to provide graduate school scholarships to returned Peace Corps volunteers.

We also have great news about one of our talented College of Musical Arts faculty. Mikel Kuehn, professor of composition, received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for exceptional creative ability in the arts.

I have been honored to become friends with one of our most ardent supporters—William Frack. It was recently announced that the value of his gift benefiting the BGSU men's basketball program and community needs in Hancock County has nearly doubled to about $20 million since it was initially announced in 2011.

As many of you know, one of our strategic goals is to expand our student base to be more accessible to non-traditional students. One new development is that we are one of just three schools in the nation that were chosen to participate in a pilot program for veterans called Peer Advisors for Veterans Education. This exciting news came just as we announced plans to open a new Veterans Center this fall.

Another of our strategic goals is to form new partnerships, both public and private. This month we were excited to announce two new partnerships. One is with Owens Community College to add new transfer agreements and identify new opportunities for students by developing clear pathways to degrees. Another is with The University of Toledo to help meet the aviation industry's growing worldwide demand for pilots, airport administrators and other aviation professionals.

Plans are already underway for 2014 Homecoming events, and the line up for this year's Festival Series looks great — I hope you will plan on attending one of these performances if you are in the area.

In bittersweet news, I'm proud to announce that Montique Cotton Kelly '94, '04, director of alumni affairs and executive director for the BGSU Alumni Association, has been appointed as the University of Connecticut's assistant vice president for alumni relations and executive director of the UConn Alumni Association. Although she will be greatly missed, her many contributions to BGSU ensure her a lasting place in the Falcon family.

There are just too many wonderful things happening at BGSU to fit into one note! I hope you will read more about some of the activity and research at the University in the latest issue of the BGSU Magazine.

Regards,

Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D.
President