July 2012

(Posted July 31, 2012 )

Mazey@BG Alumni and Friends Archive

Dear Alumni and Friends:

As we at BGSU expand our international initiatives, I will be traveling to Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China to visit sister universities. The purpose of these visits is to strengthen our existing academic partnerships and explore new ones. Our goal is to provide more opportunities for our students to study abroad and to bring more Chinese students to BGSU. International partnerships are critical to BGSU’s future as we work to ensure our students are prepared to compete in today’s global economy.

Thanks to a matching grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and Clean Fuels Ohio, we now have three electric vehicle charging stations on our Bowling Green campus. Our Green Initiatives Fund, a voluntary fee initiated by our students to help support campus sustainability efforts, provided the University’s contribution to the project. This is just one way we build on our designation as an Ohio Board of Regents Center of Excellence in Sustainability and the Environment.

Chris Nye, assistant professor of psychology, has completed some interesting new research on how to predict which employees will perform well on the job. The study was featured in Time Magazine’s Moneyland. He is a faculty member in our graduate program in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, which is ranked as one of the top programs in the nation.

BGSU football will be in the national spotlight Sept. 1 as the Falcons open the season against the Florida Gators at 3:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised live on ESPN. Be sure to mark your calendar or make plans to join us in Florida.

Two of our teams have been recognized in the past two weeks for their outstanding academic achievements. The BGSU swim team was named a College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America Team with the 26th best grade point average (3.45) in the country, and our women's basketball team was named to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll, ranking 24th in the nation with a team GPA of 3.35.

I’m so pleased to announce this year’s inductees into our Academy of Distinguished Alumni – one of the highest honors bestowed by the University. This year’s inductees are:

• Joseph Philport '75, president and CEO of Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Management, Inc.;
• Ed Reiter '62, retired Senior Chairman of Sky Financial Group;
• Linda Watters '75, vice president for government relations at John Hancock Insurance Company;
• Jack Williams '79, partner with the law firm of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.

The Academy was established to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of alumni who have made significant contributions to their chosen professional field and/or through their philanthropy. This year’s ceremony will be held on campus during homecoming week, Thursday, Sept. 27. I hope you’ll join us as we honor these outstanding Falcons!

And be sure to check out alumnus Nathan P. McDonald II ’02, who is competing this season on Lifetime’s reality TV show Project Runway as “Nathan Paul.”

Please join me as we congratulate the more than 1,000 students who will receive their degrees as part of the BGSU’s 274th Commencement on August 4.

Classes begin on August 20. What advice would you give to our 3,800 new freshmen as they embark on their college careers? Share you thoughts on my Facebook page.

Regards,
Mary Ellen Mazey, Ph.D.
President