On May 13, 2017, Patrick Wiggins, public outreach educator for the University of Utah’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, and NASA solar system ambassador to Utah, spotted something unusual in the sky. He was looking at the spiral galaxy NGC 6946, known as the Fireworks Galaxy, in the Cygnus constellation over 22 million light-years away […]

What is it about a father that affects his teenage daughter’s likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior? Researchers have long shown links between father involvement and daughters’ sexual behavior, with the standard explanation attributing that influence to shared genes that impact both a father’s behavior and relationships and his child’s problem behavior, including engaging […]

Each year, nearly 20 billion sanitary pads, tampons and applicators are dumped into North American landfills every year, and it takes centuries for them to biodegrade inside plastic bags, according to a 2016 Harvard Business School report. Additionally, it requires high amounts of fossil fuel energy to produce the plastic for these products, resulting in […]

The National Council on Teacher Quality, NCTQ, released its latest ratings for 717 undergraduate programs that prepare high school teachers, including ratings for seven colleges in Utah. The University of Utah is the only school in the state to be included on the NCTQ’s list of the “Nation’s Top Tier Secondary Teacher Prep Programs.” The […]

Paisley Rekdal, professor of English at the University of Utah, has been named the new Utah Poet Laureate by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums. The Utah Poet Laureate, established in 1997, is a governor-appointed advocate for literature and the arts throughout the state who presents in communities, schools, libraries and public events. As […]

The University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering video game design program continues to rack up the accolades. According to a new survey by Animation Career Review, an online resource for careers in animation, game development and digital art, EAE was ranked No. 2 in the country for the Top 50 Game Design Schools and […]

Germophobes – let’s chat. Microbes are everywhere – on every surface, every object, every plant and animal. Yes, including on and inside you. True, some of them cause disease. Wait – don’t reach for the hand sanitizer just yet. Many of them are co-residents in our bodies, providing beneficial services in exchange for some of […]

Wesley I. Sundquist, distinguished professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah, was honored with the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence, the U’s most prestigious faculty award. The $40,000 gift is presented annually to a faculty member who displays excellence in teaching, research and administrative efforts. The Rosenblatt Prize Committee, a group of distinguished faculty members, […]

Distinguished professor of biochemistry Dana Carroll, who has devoted much of his career to developing precise genome editing platforms, received one of the highest honors in science today when he was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Carroll is among 84 U.S. scientist-scholars and 21 foreign associates elected by the academy in 2017, […]

At today’s meeting of the University of Utah Academic Senate, I announced that I have asked the State of Utah Board of Regents to begin a search for the University of Utah’s 16th president. In December 2016, I told the regents that my intention was to conclude my service as president at the end of the […]