Jan. 11, 2012–Fostering diversity and a culture of inclusion should be a top priority if the University of Utah wants to continue as a national leader in teaching, research, technology commercialization, and community service, according to Vivian S. Lee, the university’s senior vice president for health sciences.

Lee, who joined the university’s administration last year from New York University, will offer the keynote address for the U’s 28^th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, which runs Jan. 13-19. She will speak on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at noon in the Olpin Student Union Ballroom.

Lee’s keynote remarks will focus on why she believes diversity and inclusion are so important in academic medicine. She’ll also share personal stories and experiences related to growing up in a Chinese-American family in Norman, Oklahoma.

“Developing and sustaining a culture of inclusion is the right thing, and the smart thing, to do in order to recruit and retain top faculty and students,” says Lee, who also serves as dean of the U’s School of Medicine, and CEO of University of Utah Health Care. “Faculty and students working on the most vexing scientific, social, and political challenges are attracted to universities that value diverse points of view and backgrounds. These are the types of scholars we want to recruit and retain in Utah – and the types of graduates we want to produce.”

The daughter of two Ph.D. educated educators, she graduated from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where she received a doctorate in medical engineering. She earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School and also earned a M.B.A. at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

The theme for this year’s celebration week is “moving forward,” which was taken from King’s famous quote, “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”  The celebration will highlight the contributions and legacy of King, as work continues toward the realization of equal opportunity for all.

This year will see the continuation of the popular rally and “marade” (combination march and parade) event, held on the Jan. 16 holiday to honor the late King and his fellow civil rights advocates. The rally will begin at 2:00 p.m. at East High School and will feature a keynote address by Pastor France A. Davis of Calvary Baptist Church. The marade will commence at 3:00 p.m. and progress on 1300 East to Presidents Circle at the University of Utah campus. An educational and historical cultural event will be held that afternoon at 5:30 p.m. in Kingsbury Hall.

Other events include the presentation of the play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,” produced by People Productions, Utah’s first African-American themed theater company. All events are free and open to the public. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration events include:

• Friday, Jan. 13: Utah State MLK, Jr. Commission Luncheon featuring a keynote address by U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder.
  Sheraton Hotel, 150 W. 500 So. 11:00 am.  Suggested $10 donation or donations of cash, coats or canned food appreciated.
• Saturday, Jan. 14: A Day of Service. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, Olpin Student Union Building, room 101 for a collaborative day of service with the Black Student Union and the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center. Service sites will include the Utah AIDS Foundation, First Step House, YWCA and Maliheh Free Clinic.
• Monday, Jan. 16: Rally and Marade. Rally at 2:00 p.m., East High School, 840 South 1300 East, followed by a marade (march/parade) to the Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle at the university. The Marade is 1.3 miles. Participants are asked to dress for the  weather and for walking.
• Monday, Jan. 16: Cultural Celebration. 5:30, Kingsbury Hall, 1395 East Presidents Circle. ‘Ailine’s Touch of Polynesia will present an educational, historical performance of authentic Polynesian and modern dance, drums and music.
• Tuesday, Jan. 17: A Polynesian Dance Workshop. 9:00 a.m. to noon, Olpin Student Union Ballroom. Students in middle school join in dance instruction and learn about Polynesian history and culture. Limited capacity; pre-registration required by calling 801-581-5193.
• Tuesday, Jan. 17: “Get on the Bus.” 6:00 p.m., Heritage Center, room 1B. A screening of the Spike Lee film chronicling the 1995 cross-country journey by bus of 12 Black men headed for the Million Man March.
• Wednesday, Jan. 18: Keynote Address by Dr. Vivian Lee, senior vice president, University of Utah Health Sciences. Noon, Olpin Student Union Ballroom.
• Wednesday, Jan. 18: “For Colored Girls who Have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf,” 7:30 p.m. Olpin Student Union Ballroom.  People Productions, Utah’s first African-American themed theatre, presents Ntozake Shange’s black feminist classic.
• Thursday, Jan. 19: “Celebrating Utah Firsts,” a Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum. 12:15 p.m., Orson Spencer Hall, Room 255. A panel of some of the first persons of color in Utah’s legal profession will share their stories of inspiration and triumph as they tell about their journeys to reach milestones in their careers.

For a complete list of University of Utah Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration events and sponsors, please visit www.diversity.utah.edu/events/mlk/2012.

November 30, 2011 – The University of Utah is No. 1 in the nation at starting companies based on university research for the second year in a row, according to an annual survey recently released by the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM).

The survey ranks U.S. universities and institutions on commercialization success, and in recent years, the U of Utah has climbed to the top, overtaking such schools as MIT, Columbia, Cal Tech and Johns Hopkins.

The newest survey measures fiscal year 2010. The U of Utah had 18 startups from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010, while MIT was second, with 17 new companies. Other top schools included Brigham Young University with 13, Columbia and Cornell with 12, Johns Hopkins and Purdue at 11 each, while Cal Tech, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan all had 10.

The Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) at the University of Utah is part of Technology Venture Development and manages the school’s intellectual property. That involves working closely with faculty inventors, filing patent applications, licensing technologies, finding commercial partners and helping support startup companies.

“We have created a process around startups and commercialization that can be applied to all kinds of new companies, and we look forward to improving these things,” says Bryan Ritchie, director of the TCO.

The AUTM survey ranks institutions on many categories ranging from employees and expenditures to startups and patents. The U of Utah ranked high on many categories beyond startups. Additional highlights include:

• The University of Utah reported 287 active technology licenses in 2010. A technology license is required each time a company or individual wants to use a university technology. The national average was 210 for all institutions.
• The University of Utah collected 208 invention disclosures in 2010. An invention disclosure occurs when a faculty member reports an invention to the university. The national average was 113.
• The University of Utah secured 41 U.S. patents in 2010. The national average was 24.

“We believe the future is very bright for the University of Utah and the state,” Brittain says. “All of our efforts to commercialize technologies help create high-paying, career jobs in Utah. Some of our older startups are now industry leaders employing hundreds and thousands of people, and we look forward to the future, when our current startups grow to the same extent.”

The complete 2010 AUTM survey is available to news media by contacting Jodi Talley of AUTM at jtalley@autm.net or 847-559-0846, ext. 237. The public can purchase it at www.autm.net.

About Technology Venture Development

Technology Venture Development (“Tech Ventures”) at the University of Utah was founded in 2005 to drive all commercialization activities across campus. Its largest department is the Technology Commercialization Office (TCO), which was established in 1968 and manages the university’s intellectual property. Tech Ventures also hosts a variety of programs and outreach efforts to engage faculty, students and professionals in the commercialization process. Learn more at www.techventures.utah.edu.

About the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM)

AUTM was founded in 1974 and provides development and networking opportunities for technology transfer professionals at all career levels and from established and newly forming organizations worldwide. Its global network of members come from more than 350 universities, research institutions, teaching hospitals and government agencies as well as hundreds of companies involved with managing and licensing innovations derived from academic and nonprofit research.  Learn more at www.autm.net.

Dec. 15, 2011—Biomedical engineering sophomores Jessica Ashmead and Annicka Carter are getting a first-hand look at what it takes to invent and commercialize a medical device. They developed a surgical retractor with a battery-powered LED in a freshman bioengineering class at the University of Utah. They call it the OptiGuide. So far, they have received national recognition for their efforts and started the patent process with hopes of eventually selling their device to hospitals across the country.

The young women started the project in spring 2011 while in a class called “Invent.” Their assignment was to come up with a concept for a product, then spend the semester researching and developing their idea.

“After talking to local surgeons about the effectiveness of current lighting in an operating room, we discovered that there was room for improvement,” says 20-year-old Carter. “Although the light intensity in the operating room is great, shadows occupy the actual surgical cavity, making it more difficult than expected for surgeons to see what they are doing. We decided to design a tool that would get the light as close to the surgical cavity as possible.”

Their device only exists as a basic prototype today, but they have filed a provisional patent application with help from the U’s Technology Commercialization Office. A provisional patent application is a placeholder for a full patent application, which they know is much more difficult to put together. The students also received $5,000 and an honorable mention at the national Collegiate Inventors Competition on Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C.

“Next we are going to really research what the market wants and build an even better prototype so we can apply for a full patent next May,” 20-year-old Ashmead says. “This experience has motivated me to want to invent devices that really make a difference in the world. I want to do well in school, so I can get a job that allows me to do that all the time.”

Other similar medical retractors exist in the marketplace, so it is a big hurdle for OptiGuide to secure a full patent and market their device while proving how their retractor is unique. The team just started working with the Technology Commercialization Office to address this question, but they hope the OptiGuide’s battery power supply and the position of the lights is enough to make their device distinct.

Professor Holly Holman taught the class where Ashmead and Carter first came up with their idea. Holman mentored the young women and encouraged them to enter the Collegiate Inventors Competition after noticing their dedication and the potential for the OptiGuide.

“They really stood out because they had the most detailed notebooks, and they made a prototype on their own during the semester, which was not part of any assignment for the class,” says Holman, who accompanied the students at the award ceremony in Washington, D.C. and continues to mentor them. “It was always a treat when they came to ask me questions, because they were so enthusiastic about their idea.”

The Collegiate Inventors Competition is organized by Invent Now, a national nonprofit organization, and it is open to university students from across the country. Eighty graduate and undergraduate teams entered the competition this year — of those, 11 became finalists. The OptiGuide team was different for being one of the few finalists to be composed of freshmen or sophomores. During the final judging in Washington, D.C., the students presented their ideas before a prestigious panel of inventors, including National Hall of Fame inductees Marcian Hoff (microprocessor), Alois Langer (implantable defibrillator) and James West (electret microphone).

A team from Yale called 3derm won the competition and the $12,500 grand prize for a handheld device that takes 3-D images of skin lesions or other abnormalities. Other finalists were from schools including Johns Hopkins, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Cincinnati, Boston University, Harvard, the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

OptiGuide was also a finalist in the annual techTITANS competition at the University of Utah. TechTITANS is one of several idea and business competitions offered through the Lassonde Entrepreneur Center and the David Eccles School of Business. Related competitions include Opportunity Quest (a business summary competition) and the Utah Entrepreneur Challenge (a full business plan competition). These programs and courses like Invent are designed to inspire students to become inventors and entrepreneurs.

“It’s amazing what these young women have been able to accomplish with the help of their faculty mentors and the innovative programs offered at the U,” says Troy D’Ambrosio, director of the U’s Lassonde Entrepreneur Center who works closely with student teams like Ashmead and Carter. “The University of Utah has been very successful at attracting exceptional students and cultivating a culture of innovation that helps inspire students and faculty to invent new products and start companies.”

The Lassonde Center works closely with the Invent class. Its involvement includes providing a prize for the winners of a competition at the end of the year.

The Technology Venture Development office also supports related programs and services at the U. It coordinates all commercialization activities across campus, from invention disclosures and patents to startup formation and licensing. It also sponsors many programs that help students learn about innovation and entrepreneurship.

Find more information about the Collegiate Inventors Competition at http://www.invent.org/collegiate/. Learn more about innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Utah at www.lassonde.utah.edu and www.techventures.utah.edu.

| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |

Accounting* BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business
Anthropology BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Applied Mathematics BS – College of Science
Architectural Studies* BS – College of Architecture + Planning
Art* BFA – College of Fine Arts

• Ceramics
• Graphic Design
• Painting & Drawing
• Photography/Digital Imaging
• Sculpture/Intermedia
• Cross 3-D: Ceramics & Sculpture

Art History BA -

College of Fine Arts

Asian Studies BA -

College of Humanities

Athletic Training -

College of Health – ATEP

Atmospheric Science BS -

College of Mines & Earth Sciences

Ballet* BFA – College of Fine Arts
Behavior Science & Health BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Biology BA/BS – College of Science
Biomedical Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Business Administration* BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business

Chemical Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Chemistry BA/BS – College of Science
Chinese (Languages) BA – College of Humanities
(City & Metropolitan Planning Dept.) – College of Architecture + Planning
- See Urban Planning
Civil & Environmental Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Classics (Languages) BA – College of Humanities
Communication Sciences & Disorders* BA/BS – College of Health
Communication* – College of Humanities
 - Mass Communication BA/BS
- Speech Communication BA/BS
Comparative Lit. & Cultural Studies BA – College of Humanities
Computer Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Computer Science* BS – College of Engineering
 - Entertainment Arts & Engineering
Consumer & Community Studies BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
(Family & Consumer Studies Dept.)
 - Financial Planning

Dance (Modern) BFA – College of Fine Arts

Earth Science Teaching Composite BS – College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Economics BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Electrical & Computer Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Elementary Education* BA/BS – College of Education
English BA – College of Humanities
Entrepreneurship BS – David Eccles School of Business
Environmental Studies BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Exercise & Sport Science BS – College of Health
 - Exercise Science
- Exercise Physiology
- Fitness Leadership

Film and Media Arts  BA – College of Fine Arts
 - Entertainment Arts & Engineering
Finance BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business
French (Languages) BA – College of Humanities

Gender Studies BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Geography BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Geological Engineering BS – College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Geoscience BS – College of Mines & Earth Sciences
German (Languages) BA – College of Humanities

Health Promotion & Education BS – College of Health
- Community Health Education
- Emergency Medical Services
- Consumer Health
- Provider Health
- School Health Teaching
- Nuclear Medicine Technology
History BA – College of Humanities
Human Development and Family Studies BA/BS – College of Social and Behavioral Science
- Early Childhood Education
(Family and Consumer Studies Dept.)

Information Systems* BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business
International Studies BA/BS – College of Humanities

Japanese (Languages) BA – College of Humanities

Languages BA – College of Humanities
Latin American Studies BA – College of Humanities
Linguistics BA – College of Humanities

Management (Business)* BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business
Marketing (Business)* BA/BS – David Eccles School of Business
Mass Communication BA/BS – College of Humanities
Material Science & Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Mathematics BA/BS – College of Science
 - Statistics
- Scientific Computing
Mechanical Engineering* BS – College of Engineering
Medical Laboratory Science* BS – School of Medicine
Metallurgical Engineering BS – College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Middle East Studies BA – College of Humanities
Mining Engineering BS – College of Mines & Earth Sciences
Modern Dance* BFA – College of Fine Arts
Music* BA/BMus – College of Fine Arts

Nursing* BS – College of Nursing
 - Geriatric Nursing Leadership

Occupational Therapy Studies BS-MOT – College of Health
Operations Management* BS – David Eccles School of Business

Parks, Recreation & Tourism BA/BS – College of Health
- NR-Recreation Planning & Management
- Therapeutic Recreation
- Adventure & Outdoor Programs
- Sustainable Tourism Management
- Community Recreation & Sport Management
- Commercial Recreation Management
- Hospitality Management
Pharmacy* PharmD – College of Pharmacy
Philosophy BA/BS – College of Humanities
Physics BA/BS – College of Science
Political Science BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Pre-Dent % (not a major) – University College
Pre-Law % (not a major) – University College
Pre-Med % (not a major) – University College
Pre-Opt % (not a major) – University College
Pre-Vet % (not a major) – University College
Psychology* BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science

Russian (Languages) BA – College of Humanities

Secondary Ed. (must choose a teaching mjr) – College of Education
Social Science Teaching Composite BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Social Work* BSW – School of Social Work
Sociology BA/BS – College of Social & Behavioral Science
Spanish (Languages) BA – College of Humanities
Special Education* BS – College of Education
Speech Communications* BA/BS – College of Humanities

Theatre BA/BFA – College of Fine Arts

Undecided (not a major) – University College
University Studies* BUS – Undergraduate Studies
Urban Planning BA/BS – College of Architecture + Planning
(City & Metropolitan Planning Dept.)

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The university offers more than 100 undergraduate majors and more than 90 graduate degree programs.^[5] Graduate studies include the S.J. Quinney College of Law and the School of Medicine, Utah’s only medical school.^[11] As of 2011, there are 23,371 undergraduate students and 7,448 graduate students, for an enrollment total of 30,819; with 84% coming from Utah and 6% coming from foreign countries.^[5] Just over 10% of students live on campus.^[12]

The university’s athletic teams, the Utes, participate in NCAA Division I athletics (FBS for football) as a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Its football team has received national attention in recent years for winning the 2005 Fiesta Bowl^[13] and the 2009 Sugar Bowl.^[14]

• 1 History
• 2 Campus
  • 2.1 Student housing
  • 2.2 Transportation and sustainability
• 3 Organization
• 4 Academics
  • 4.1 Admissions and demographics
  • 4.2 Notable programs
• 5 Athletics
  • 5.1 Men’s basketball
  • 5.2 Football
  • 5.3 Gymnastics
  • 5.4 Marching band
• 6 Student life
• 7 Media
• 8 Notable alumni and faculty
• 9 References
• 10 External links