Presidential Perspective - January 4, 2024

Baylor Students, Faculty, Staff and Parents:

Happy New Year, Baylor Family! 2024 is already off to a fast start, with this week’s opening of the Paul and Alejandra Foster Pavilion for both our nationally ranked men’s and women’s basketball teams. I cannot wait for all of you to see – and experience – this incredible facility and wonderful addition to the developing Waco riverfront. If you haven’t been to a game at Foster yet, the women host new Big 12-foe Houston this Saturday at 2 p.m., and tickets are available.

The spring semester will continue to be a busy and important time on our campus. In a couple of weeks, we will host our annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations, to be followed by the February groundbreaking of the Memorial to Enslaved Persons on Founders Mall, the National Collegiate Day of Prayer on our campus Feb. 29 and FM72 in March. We are continuing work on the development of our new strategic plan that will be presented to the Board of Regents in May, and we’ll soon welcome two new vice presidents and two deans to our leadership team.

And, of course, we can’t forget Eclipse 2024, as Waco will be the place to be for the best viewing in the United States of the total solar eclipse on April 8, which will coincide with all the fun and festivities of Diadeloso.

We have so much to look forward to, and we will see all of you back on campus soon.

A few updates as we begin 2024:

• TOP 5 RESEARCH STORY: A Baylor engineering professor’s latest research breakthrough in computer chip energy along with colleagues at Oregon State caught the attention of the National Science Foundation, which noted their work as one of NSF’s Top 5 Research Stories of 2023. Alan X. Wang, Ph.D., The Mearse Chair in Biological and Biomedical Engineering, led the researchers who developed a new, ultra-energy-efficient method that could dramatically reduce the energy consumption of the photonic chips used in data centers and supercomputers. As The Mearse Chair, Dr. Wang was the first endowed chair hire of 14 funded and created through the Give Light campaign’s Foster Academic Challenge, and we are excited about his impact on our growing materials science research initiative.
• FACULTY FELLOWS: Congratulations to Lorin Swint Matthews, Ph.D., and Dorina Mitrea, Ph.D., who have been recognized as Fellows by the professional societies in their respective fields. Dr. Matthews, chair and professor of physics and associate director of the Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER), has been appointed Fellow of the American Physical Society. She is the first faculty member to earn an APS Fellowship at Baylor and the second current faculty member bestowed this honor. Dr. Mitrea, chair and professor of mathematics, was named Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, one of only four mathematicians from Baylor honored with the prestigious designation.
• MLK SHARE THE DREAM: Monday, Jan. 15, is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and Baylor’s Truett Seminary invites you to a special MLK Day Share the Dream event at the seminary. The event begins at 4 p.m. with Stephen Breck Reid, Ph.D., vice provost for faculty diversity and belonging and professor of Christian Scriptures, moderating a panel discussion on Dr. King’s life, ministry and legacy. At 7 p.m. in Powell Chapel, a worship service will be led by Stephen Newby, D.M.A., The Lev H. Prichard III Endowed Chair in the Study of Black Worship and professor of music, with the message shared by Baylor and Truett alumnus Joseph C. Parker Jr., D.Min., M.Div. ’97, senior pastor of David Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Austin.

Until next week’s Presidential Perspective,

Linda A. Livingstone, Ph.D.
President

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Foster Pavilion is officially open thanks to the generosity of Paul and Alejandra Foster, Paula and the late Mark Hurd, the City of Waco and so many donors and friends of Baylor. Our basketball teams will now have a true homecourt advantage!