Office of the President

Dear Friends,

We often think of graduation ceremonies as the culmination of one’s academic career. Yet, the definition of Commencement is just the opposite – it is “a beginning or start.”

On May 12, Boise State celebrates new beginnings for a record number of graduates – more than 2,400 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, as well as 11 with doctoral degrees – at its 90th Commencement ceremony.

These newest graduates join nearly 45,000 degree-holding graduates in Idaho – by far, Boise State’s most important measure of success. They are prepared to excel at the demanding and rewarding jobs of the future and, if past trends hold true, more than 70 percent of them will remain in Idaho – living, working and paying taxes. Boise State plays its most powerful role in driving Idaho’s economy by serving as a proving ground for young minds seeking a path to tomorrow’s success.

Allen Dykman, an alumnus, donor and dear friend to our university for years, is a living testament to that kind of success. His work as a member of the community and as a Bronco will be celebrated with an honorary doctorate at our Commencement ceremony. A more suitable honoree would be difficult to find.

Allen came to Boise State on a football scholarship and earned his bachelor’s degree in economics in 1974. His work in the family business led to the founding of his own successful company, Dykman Electric Inc., in 1981 with his wife, Dixie. He is one of only two people in Boise State history to serve as president of the Bronco Athletic Association, the Alumni Association and the Boise State Foundation. He also co-chaired our first comprehensive fundraising campaign and currently is helping to lead the effort to build a new Alumni and Friends Center on campus.

George M. Fenton, a Post Falls native graduating with a 4.0 cumulative grade point average, is the featured student speaker. Earning a bachelor of arts in economics with a minor in mathematics, Fenton has had a brilliant academic career at Boise State. He has been accepted to Oxford University and plans to pursue graduate school after serving two years at the Federal Reserve.

I hope you will join me in congratulating all of our newest graduates on the beginning of a new and exciting phase of their lives.

As usual, thank you for all that you do for Boise State University. Go Broncos!

Sincerely,

Bob Kustra

Here are a few recent and upcoming items of interest from Boise State University:

Boise State and the Micron Foundation have teamed up to entice Idaho’s brightest science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students into the state’s classrooms as a new generation of teachers who excel in technical subjects. The new program, called IDoTeach, is designed to meet a desperate need for Idaho science and math teachers in coming years by attracting a largely untapped pool of talented college students majoring in STEM subjects into secondary education careers. With $300,000 in initial funding from the Micron Foundation, IDoTeach will replicate an innovative and highly successful teacher preparation program created at the University of Texas at Austin that has been duplicated at 29 universities around the country, including University of California, Berkeley, Louisiana State University, University of Houston and Florida State University. IDoTeach is the only replica of the University of Texas program in the eight-state Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountain region of the country.

A record 2,300 participants helped raise $40,000 for the Boise State general scholarship fund by racing Boise State football coach Chris Petersen in the fifth annual Beat Coach Pete Scholarship Run/Walk on Saturday, April 14. Presented by Boise State University Health and Recreation, Bronco Athletics and the United Dairymen of Idaho, the race benefited the general student scholarship fund at Boise State while challenging participants to “Beat Pete.” Coach Petersen donated an additional $5 to the scholarship fund for each participant who crossed the finish line in front of him. Exactly 1,062 racers topped Pete’s 28-minute and 50-second run, generating a $5,310 payout toward the total.

Boise State recently honored faculty members Peter Müllner, engineering, and Marion Scheepers, mathematics, as the university’s newest Distinguished Professors. The title is one of the highest honors given to faculty members at Boise State and is reserved for a small number who have made major contributions to their academic disciplines. Müllner is among the leading researchers in the field of magnetic shape memory alloys, with research funding in excess of $5 million. Scheepers’ research has greatly influenced the field of set theory and he is the founder of the mathematical discipline of selection principles. In addition to recognition, the Boise State University Distinguished Professorship includes a stipend to support scholarly activities.

Boise State’s Model United Nations Club was awarded the Distinguished Delegation Award at the National Model United Nations conference in New York City on April 5. The prestigious and competitive conference is attended by more than 5,100 students from around the world. The delegation spent three months preparing for the conference, where they debated real issues that confront the international community, such as human trafficking, an arms trade treaty, disaster relief and emergency preparedness, and the upcoming Rio+20 Conference.

Boise State took another step in continuing to build its nationally ranked football program when it broke ground April 12 on a new $22 million football complex. The 68,000-square foot facility will be located in a grass area at the north end of Bronco Stadium. The target date for completion is June 30, 2013. This state-of-the-art, two story building will include coaches’ offices, meeting rooms, recruiting and players’ lounges, an academic center, weight room, athletic training room, equipment room, and a locker room for the Bronco team.

Dear Friends,

The overwhelming sense of loss from the passing of our friend and fellow Bronco Steve Appleton can only be tempered by the memories and recognition of his legacy at Boise State University. From academics to athletics, we are remembering his widespread impact on helping to make Boise State a place of distinction.

The university is honored to host the public memorial service at 10 a.m. Feb. 23 in Taco Bell Arena, as we all pay tribute to a man who played a critical role in the transformation of his alma mater. We also are thankful that the Boise State University Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Foundation have been designated as the recipients of funds in memory of Steve, including a $25,000 donation by the Micron Foundation.

Steve was passionate about the importance of education, especially in business, science, technology and math, and keenly appreciated the need to have quality higher education and technical education available in the town where his business and employees were located. That was why he found time to co-chair our Comprehensive Campaign, show up to root for his old team at the tennis center he funded and which is named after him, and play a key role in our business and engineering colleges.

Steve was part of the university in countless ways as an adviser, donor, sports fan, alumnus, honorary doctorate recipient and Silver Medallion honoree. The common thread was his competitiveness and quest for excellence in those endeavors. His core values were evident in all he did – never forget where you came from and help those coming up after you.

His legacy at Boise State will be one of great example to our students, as it was during his life. They knew about Steve and understood that if he could accomplish all he did as a graduate of Boise State University, so could they. We at Boise State are committed to keeping his memory and accomplishments alive so they can inspire future Broncos as he did so well during his lifetime.

Sincerely,
Bob Kustra

Dear Friends,

Igniting innovation that breaks ground in new fertile fields of commercial endeavor and creates knowledge-based jobs right here in Idaho is a defining purpose of Boise State’s emergence as a metropolitan research university.

A new initiative proposed by Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter promises to support Boise State’s focus on economic development with the resources, strategic initiative and expertise of the State of Idaho, our sister higher education institutions and Idaho industry. Known as IGEM, the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission is an outstanding common sense initiative that melds the realities of the marketplace with the talents and resources of our universities, all to the great benefit of Idaho’s economy.

It is a critical time for Idaho as a number of neighboring states have implemented comprehensive plans for economic development by investing in higher education. We are acutely aware of our job creation role in this technology-sophisticated economy. Boise State has the core faculty, research programs and facilities in place to effectively leverage the IGEM investment, especially with our strengths in materials science, nanotechnology, sensor development, energy policy and biomolecular science.

IGEM is one of the higher education budget recommendations that we support along with the proposal to fund the enrollment workload adjustment. Our students deserve a funding formula that follows them to attend the public university of their choice – thereby defraying some of the cost of their education. Since 2006, 71 percent of the new students entering the state’s public university system have enrolled at Boise State. Currently, we serve 43 percent of Idaho’s full-time resident university students. When we tallied the number of students who took courses over the fall, spring and summer sessions in fiscal year 2011, we were amazed to see that we had served more than 29,000 distinct students. This figure is a more accurate indicator of our increasingly metropolitan outreach and far in excess of the 19,664 that we reported on the 10^th day of fall enrollment per state guidelines.

Those daunting numbers not only drive our annual funding needs, but they have compelled Boise State to reinvent its academic and business practices, develop key competencies among our faculty and programs, and allocate resources that promote innovation, effectiveness and responsible risk-taking. Mindful of serving our students and our community, the university recognizes, too, that it must be nimble and transformational in its approach to higher education.

As usual, thank you for all that you do for Boise State University. Go Broncos!

Sincerely,

Bob Kustra

Here are a few recent and upcoming items of interest from Boise State University:

Our Department of Music has entered into a unique partnership with the Boise Philharmonic to create four new graduate fellowships. The fellowships are partially funded by private donors and Boise State’s Arts and Humanities Institute. The graduate string fellows will be full-time students pursuing master’s degrees in music with an emphasis in performance, pedagogy or music education. The fellowships will provide tuition and fees as well as $10,000 per year for two years to study at Boise State and perform with the Boise Philharmonic.

A group of engineering students known as Greenspeed were showcased at the prestigious Washington (D.C.) Auto Show last month where they displayed the world’s fastest vehicle that runs on vegetable oil. Amid the likes of Audi, Chevrolet, Mercedes-Benz and Buick, Boise State was part of the ‘Advanced Technology Superhighway’ that focused on safety and sustainability in motion. It was an incredible accomplishment for our students to be invited.

Another Nobel Laureate is visiting our campus in March as part of the Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series. Climate scientist and MIT professor Susan Solomon is an internationally recognized leader in atmospheric science. The Distinguished Lecture Series features speakers who have had major impacts in politics, the arts, science, business or other realms of contemporary significance. Past speakers include Nobel Laureate in Economics Joseph Stiglitz, biologist E.O. Wilson and Nobel Peace Prize recipient and former president of Poland Lech Walesa, among others.

Next fall Boise State will implement a new way of learning that takes our undergraduate curriculum from black and white to high definition. The Foundational Studies Program emphasizes student learning through shared experiences, no matter what major or area of study. When students graduate, they will have four years of learning outcomes in problem solving, communication, innovation, teamwork, ethics and diversity that are relevant for the workplace and life. At the doctoral level, we are pleased to begin new Ph.D. degrees in 2012 in biomolecular sciences, materials science and engineering, and a fully online doctorate in educational technology.

Here are a few recent or upcoming items of interest from Boise State University:

Boise State is now Idaho’s first All-Steinway School thanks to an unsolicited $1 million from Boise benefactors Keith and Catherine Stein. The gift allows the Department of Music to exclusively feature Steinway & Sons pianos for all teaching, rehearsals and performances by providing 35 new pianos. Boise State becomes one of about 135 All-Steinway colleges, universities and conservatories worldwide, joining the company of institutions such as Yale University, The Juilliard School, Carnegie-Mellon University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and the Oberlin College Conservatory.

Winter Commencement will bring the Boise State community together for a traditional ceremony in the Taco Bell Arena to celebrate August and December graduates at 10 a.m., Dec. 16. The ceremony will include the processional and recessional of candidates as well as individual recognition of each person and hooding of the doctoral candidates. Also, Alan and Wendy Pesky and Boise State’s College of Education will honor four distinguished Idaho K-12 teachers and their schools with $10,000 in awards at the ceremony.

Members of Boise State’s intrepid student club Greenspeed are now the proud builders of the world’s fastest vehicle that runs on vegetable oil. The Greenspeed team made two record-breaking runs in November shattering the existing 109 mph record for vegetable oil-fueled vehicles with runs of 139 mph and 155 mph. Next summer, the team of undergraduates from the College of Engineering hopes its souped-up 1998 S-10 pickup will prove that vegetable oil works as well as fossil fuels by overtaking the existing 215 mph record for petroleum-fueled trucks in their division.

The J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation has been especially generous to Boise State in recent weeks. A $3 million grant to the Boise State University Foundation will help expand the football athletic complex, create an academic center within the complex, and continue the Foundation’s Go On awareness campaign in conjunction with Boise State Athletics. Additionally, a $3.85 grant to Boise State Center for School Improvement will provide Idaho’s superintendents and principals with the training and capacity to become effective leaders and create high performing schools where every teacher is supported and all students succeed.

The National Science Foundation has awarded a Boise State University biologist more than $270,000 to study hawkmoths and certain noises they make to discourage predatory bats from hunting them. Jesse Barber, assistant professor of biological sciences at Boise State, will study thousands of different types of hawkmoths from around the world to determine the reasons behind the noises they make when bats are attacking them. To conduct the study, Boise State researchers will pit lab-raised bats against hawk moths in an imaging facility outfitted with multiple high-speed cameras for 3D reconstruction of predator-prey battles. The study will take about four years to complete and will be the first to examine the interactions between bats and hawkmoths.

Dear Friends,

It is a time of new beginnings at Boise State University and the optimism for the future that accompanies a new academic year means more than usual this fall. As our students settle into the promising routines of a new semester, Boise State celebrates the conclusion of the most successful higher education fundraising campaign in Idaho history and the awarding of a new prestigious grant that marks our university’s path forward as an emerging metropolitan research university.

I am very pleased to tell you that we have exceeded our ambitious goals for Destination Distinction, our recently completed comprehensive fundraising campaign, by raising $185.4 million for the people, places and programs of Boise State. This remarkably successful endeavor was Boise State’s first comprehensive campaign, and in typical Boise State fashion, we set and surpassed the very high standard we established for ourselves.

At its official end on June 30, the seven-year campaign engaged more than 23,000 donors and included gifts as small as a few dollars up to a very generous $13 million gift from the Micron Technology Foundation. It provided funding across campus in the form of new and refurbished buildings, new doctoral programs, graduate assistantships and fellowships, faculty support, including nine new faculty endowments, and 376 student scholarships.

The forward momentum that drove our successful campaign is leading to other successes across campus, including the news that Boise State researchers have received the university’s first grant from the prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation.

The highly competitive $1 million grant will support the development of an inexpensive and portable device that can detect up to 250 diseases through the real-time analysis of blood, saliva and other body fluids – similar to the way a home pregnancy test works. The new system could fundamentally change early-stage disease diagnosis and treatment worldwide, especially where medical equipment and resources are scarce.

Will Hughes, assistant professor of materials science, leads the interdisciplinary team of professors in chemistry, biology and engineering as well as a wide range of local and national collaborators in this cutting-edge research effort. This recognition by the Keck Foundation, known for funding high-risk, high-return research, is a testament to pioneering work among our faculty that could have a profound global impact.

Successes like these assure me that bright days and brilliant discoveries are ahead at Boise State and I cannot wait to see the results.

As usual, thank you for all that you do for Boise State University. Go Broncos!

Sincerely,

Bob Kustra

Here are a few recent or upcoming items of interest from Boise State University.

Alzheimer’s research conducted at Boise State University has led to the development of an antibody that will help researchers who are trying to determine triggers for a number of degenerative diseases. Biology professor Troy Rohn formulated the antibody, known as caspase-cleaved beclin-1, as part of his research into the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, and Boise State has signed a licensing agreement to make the antibody available to biomedical researchers around the globe. It is the first antibody developed at Boise State to be licensed.

The Boise State University Alumni Association will present its Distinguished Alumni awards at the fourth annual Presidential Gala at 6 p.m. Oct. 21 in the Stueckle Sky Center. Honorees include Steve Decker (Elementary education, ’81), a recently retired 34-year Boise School District teacher; Michael Knopp (Business administration, ’79), president of Remotec/Northrop Grumman; Deb Riedel (Music, ’77, ’99), first vice president and wealth management portfolio manager at Smith Barney; and Ronald Wilper (Communication, ’77), Ada County district judge. Tickets are $50 for members and $65 for nonmembers by calling (208) 426-1698. A portion of the proceeds generated from this event will support Alumni Legacy Scholarships.

In early October, two of Boise State’s major campus lecture series will present national experts. Both events are free and open to the public, and will be located in the Student Union Jordan Ballroom. Free parking is available in the Lincoln Avenue Garage. On Oct. 3, the Brandt Foundation Lectures presents public policy and legal expert Robert A. Levy at 7 p.m. The lecture is co-sponsored by Boise State’s College of Business and Economics and the John and Orah Brandt Foundation. And on Oct. 6, the Honors College Distinguished Lecture Series presents Raj Patel, the author of “Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System,” at 7 p.m.

Students returning to classes this fall were once again met with a changed landscape as the university opened the five story, 97,000-square-foot Environmental Research Building (ERB) across from Bronco Stadium along University Drive. With modern laboratories and study space, the building enhances research aimed at the pressing issues of the West, including the environment, energy, transportation, water, land use and community planning. Boise State’s first building dedicated solely to research, the ERB is home to the departments of Geosciences, Civil Engineering, Public Policy and Administration and Political Science, as well as a community and regional planning program, the Environmental Finance Office, the Public Policy Center and the Frank Church Institute.

Boise State will offer a new online doctorate in educational technology, building on the College of Education’s successful thesis-based and professional online master’s programs. With the approval of the Idaho State Board of Education last month, the new program will examine the use of current and emerging technologies for effective and efficient teaching and learning in a dynamic, global society. The first full cohort of doctoral candidates is expected to start their studies in fall 2012.