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Following a national search, R. William (Bill) Ayres IV, Ph.D., of Toledo, Ohio, has been selected as the new dean and chief administrative officer of �鶹��Ƶ at Trumbull. Ayres is currently a professor of political science at the University of Toledo, where he previously served as senior vice provost for academic affairs from 2018 to 2020 and vice provost for academic affairs from 2017 to 2018.

The American Academy of Nursing recently announced that Versie Johnson-Mallard, Ph.D., APRN-BC, FAAN, FAANP, �鶹��Ƶ College of Nursing Dean, professor and Henderson Endowed Chair, has been elected to serve on the Board of Directors until 2024. In this role Johnson-Mallard will oversee the Academy’s strategic planning and financial management.  

�鶹��Ƶ’s season of giving launched on Nov. 1 with Giving Tuesday, a monthlong celebration of philanthropy. Now halfway through the campaign, the generosity of the �鶹��Ƶ community has already begun to shine. 

Lt. Col. Adrien G. Humphreys is the department chair and a professor of military science at �鶹��Ƶ, a position that is responsible for overseeing the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Learn more about Humphreys as she answers 10 questions about herself and her decision to take on this role.

�鶹��Ƶ Ashtabula’s Viticulture and Enology programs were recently awarded a $180,000 grant from the Ohio Grape Industries Committee for a pair of research projects to be conducted over the next two years. �鶹��Ƶ Ashtabula is partnering with the Ashtabula Agricultural Research Station, a division of the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences’ Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, to conduct the projects at Markko Vineyards in Conneaut, Ohio.

�鶹��Ƶ’s Brain Health Research Institute celebrated the grand opening of its new lab spaces on Friday, Nov. 5, with an afternoon of activities that included a keynote presentation, space dedication, tours and student research demonstrations. The new space, featuring interdisciplinary research facilities, is located on the lower level of the Integrated Sciences Building on the Kent Campus.

�鶹��Ƶ’s current graduation rate is the highest among public universities in Northeast Ohio and fifth highest among all of Ohio’s public universities, behind Ohio State, Miami, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University. In northern Ohio, the graduation rates of other public universities range from 40 to 55 percent.

For the 10th time, �鶹��Ƶ is being recognized as a “Great College to Work For,” according to the latest survey by the Great Colleges to Work For program. The program recognizes the colleges that get top ratings from their employees regarding workplace practices and policies. 

National First-Generation College Celebration is on Nov. 8, and �鶹��Ƶ is hosting a weeklong celebration filled with campus-wide activities and learning opportunities to recognize students who will be the first in their family to graduate with a four-year degree.

�鶹��Ƶ held its annual Veterans Day Commemoration in person at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Risman Plaza on the Kent Campus.