Celebrating Father Biondi's Anniversary - Saint Louis University

SLU makeS
two nationaL
rankingS
Saint Louis University is one of the
top schools in the country for undergraduate
education, say two of the
nation’s leading college guides. In August,
SLU received honors from both U.S.News &
World Report and The Princeton Review.
The 2008 edition of U.S. News’ “America’s
Best Colleges” ranked SLU No. 82 among
262 national universities. According to the
magazine, SLU is ranked as one of the top
five Jesuit universities in the United States.
U.S. News ranked SLU’s undergraduate
engineering programs No. 31 and undergraduate
business programs in the top 100.
The undergraduate entrepreneurship program
ranked No. 21.
In addition, SLU was listed in the 2008
edition of The Princeton Review’s “Best 366
Colleges” guidebook, published by Random
House. Only about 15 percent of the fouryear
colleges in America and two Canadian
colleges were chosen for the book. SLU also
was named to The Princeton Review’s “Best
in the Midwest” list.
SLU ALert SySteM in pLAce
Saint Louis University now has a new
emergency communication tool
designed to quickly alert the entire
SLU community about an imminent public
danger, campus disaster or other major crisis.
SLU recently signed an agreement with St.
Louis-based GroupCast to provide a message
broadcast system that can notify all
students, faculty and staff by office, home
and cell phones within minutes of an emergency
situation. It also sends text messages.
Co-founded by a SLU alumnus and located
in Fenton, Mo., GroupCast provides similar
services to other colleges and universities.
Of Father Biondi’s 20
years as SLU president
MAjor grAnt wiLL iMprove chiLdren’S heALth
The National Institutes of Health selected the city of St. Louis and Macoupin County, Ill.,
as sites for the National Children’s Study, the largest study of child and human health ever
conducted in the United States. The extensive population-based study looks at the health
and development of children by following them from before birth to adulthood.
Saint Louis University School of Public Health is partnering
on the project with Saint Louis University School
of Medicine, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
School of Nursing, Southern Illinois University
School of Medicine in Springfield, Washington
University School of Medicine in St. Louis
and St. Louis Battelle Memorial Institute.
As the lead institution, SLU School of
Public Health has received a $26 million,
five-year contract from the National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development
and a consortium of federal agencies including
the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
Saint Louis University is one of 22
new study centers added to the National
Children’s Study, which will
follow a representative sample of
100,000 children from before birth
to age 21. The study seeks information
to prevent and treat some of
the nation’s most pressing health
problems, including autism, birth
defects, diabetes, heart disease and
obesity.
Sword of Ignatius awarded
to Project Compassion artist
Saint LouiS univerSity preSented its highest honor – the
Sword of ignatius Loyola – to Kaziah Hancock, founding artist and
president of project Compassion, at the duBourg Society dinner,
nov. 3. during the last four years, Hancock has painted hundreds
of portraits of american servicemen and servicewomen who have
been killed in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. the paintings
are given to the families of the fallen soldiers free of charge. to
date, Hancock and four other project Compassion artists have
completed more than 750 paintings.
the Sword of ignatius Loyola is named for the founder of
the Society of Jesus, inigo Lopez de Loyola. Symbolic of
the ignatian vision of service, the sword is awarded to
those who have given themselves to humankind for the
greater glory of God.
past recipients include Harry truman,
Jacques Cousteau and Jackie Joyner-
Kersee.
SLU ScientiStS condUct
groUndBreAking
reSeArch — LiterALLy
This summer, a Saint Louis University
team was part of a group of scientists
drilling deep into the San Andreas
Fault in California to better understand
what causes earthquakes. It’s research that
could have implications back at SLU, which
is near the New Madrid Fault.
As part of the project known as San Andreas
Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD), a team
of scientists has drilled a 3-kilometer, or nearly
2-mile, hole directly into the fault midway between
San Francisco and Los Angeles.
SLU geology professor Dr. David Kirschner,
senior Tim Keenan and recent graduate
Eric Sandusky (Pub Ser, A&S ’07) were part
of a scientific team that studied the unearthed
rock material as part of the SAFOD project.
Kirschner has been involved in the massive
undertaking for several years and has received
three grants from the National Science Foundation
for research related to the project.
coLLege of pUBLic Service reconfigUred, renAMed
During the summer, the College of
Public Service was restructured in
an effort to lead to new efficiencies
and synergies. Educational studies, educational
leadership and higher education, social
work, counseling and family therapy,
and public policy studies have joined to create
a new academic unit: the College of Education
and Public Service.
Formerly independent units, RegionWise,
the Stupp Geographic Information Systems
Laboratory and Center for Organizational
Leadership and Renewal are now part of the
public policy studies department and remain
in the college. The Counseling and Family
Therapy Clinic also remains with the college,
and University officials hope to create more
Portrait of
DuBourg
returns home
in June, Saint LouiS
univerSity welcomed
William page dame iii
and his wife, Beverly,
to campus to mark
the dames’ gift of
a portrait of Bishop
Louis-Guilliamevalentine
duBourg,
founder of SLu.
the portrait was
painted not long after duBourg was consecrated a
bishop. the oil painting is thought to date to 1815
and is believed to have been painted in rome,
where duBourg had journeyed to be consecrated
by pope pius vii as the Bishop of Louisiana and
the Floridas.
in 1817, Bishop duBourg moved to St. Louis. He
established the St. Louis Latin academy (now
Saint Louis university) in 1818, initially run by
the diocese. in 1826, duBourg invited the Jesuits
who resided in Florissant, Mo., to take over the
administration of the college. in 1829, peter
verhaegen, S.J., became the first Jesuit president
of St. Louis College. in 1832, the college received
its charter from the state of Missouri.
the portrait has been installed in the père
Marquette Gallery of duBourg Hall.
collaborations between the clinic’s researchers
and social work faculty.
Dr. Marla Berg-Weger, senior associate
provost for academic affairs, continues to
serve as interim dean of the college as a national
search is conducted for a permanent
replacement.
The communication sciences and disorders
department and its associated clinics
have moved into the College of Arts and Sciences.
Research methodology is now part of
the Graduate School.
The School for Professional Studies, which
joined the college in 2004, has again become
a separate unit under the leadership of Berg-
Weger. She will continue to direct the school
long term.
CheCk oUt ‘trUe SLU’
via new bLogS
wAnt the trUe Story about Saint Louis
University? read the true SLU blogs.
Blogger Alyssa, a sophomore studying
abroad at SLU’s Madrid campus, will tell you
her story. So will jennifer, a nutrition and dietetics
instructor who bikes 6 miles to work
every day, and jared, a member of Legion
1818 who paints his face and puts on a kilt
to support the men’s soccer team (when
he’s not reading history books or playing
trumpet in the pep band).
the blogs are just one part of the University’s
comprehensive student recruitment
effort. Aimed at prospective undergraduates
and their parents, the true SLU blogs give an
accurate, authentic depiction of what life is
like for Saint Louis University students, faculty
and staff.
each blogger posts at least once a week,
and new bloggers will join them during the
year. to read the blogs, visit www.slu.edu
and click the “true SLU Blogs” box in the
lower left-hand corner.
62 SLU-owned buildings in 1987; 127 in 2007 0 Annual full scholarships awarded in 1987; 30 in 2007 113 SLU-owned acres in Midtown St. Louis in 1987; 234 in 2007 »
2 UNIVERSITAS www.slu.edu UNIVERSITAS FALL 2007 3