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Seven distinguished alumni recognized with 2025 awards

The 2025 Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Award winners highlight leaders in their industries, creating new ways of conducting business, collaborating on innovations, maintaining their curious nature and making an impact in their communities and around the world. This January we introduced the Franklin Spark - characteristics that unite us across the arts and sciences. These traits are undeniably ambitious, exceptionally curious…

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UGA music minor Laila Carter shows her spark on Today

A first-year UGA student with big musical dreams got a chance to showcase her singing Tuesday morning during a surprise moment on The Today Show. She did not disappoint: Laila Carter, a journalism and political science major minoring in music who attended North Oconee High School, was on the TODAY plaza on spring break with other members of UGA when host Craig Melvin asked for her. Carter told Melvin that she wanted to one day be on Broadway, '…

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Janet Westpheling, 1951-2025

Longtime professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ genetics department, Janet (Jan) Westpheling passed away Feb. 16 after an extended illness.  Westpheling's UGA legacy will be honored through a Foundation Fellowship fund: “Jan was a dear friend and an extraordinary member of the UGA faculty,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “She was a devoted mentor to many students, a responsible and dedicated University leader, and a…

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How I Got the Job: Franklin Math Alumni share insights at Industrial Math Day 2025

This spring, four UGA Department of Mathematics alumni returned to campus for Industrial Mathematics Day to share insightful advice with undergraduate students at the event’s panel. Returning alumni include: Patrick Akande (PhD Mathematics `24), Jack Beasley (BS Mathematics `23, MS Business Analytics `24), Annabelle Marshall (BS Mathematics `23) and Bria Ross-Butler (BS Mathematics `23).  Jack Beasley received his B.S. in Mathematics at UGA…

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Franklin alumnus Artis Stevens shares wisdom on the importance of mentorship

In 1985, the Holmes-Hunter Lecture Series was established in conjunction with the University of Georgia to honor Dr. Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first Black students to enroll at UGA. The lecture is given by a distinguished scholar or public figure who exemplifies excellence. This year’s keynote speaker was Artis Stevens, President and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and a Franklin College alumnus. He earned a…

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Herod named Regents' Professor

Two University of Georgia faculty members, including Franklin College professor Andrew Herod, have been named Regents’ Professors in recognition of their innovative and pace-setting research. The honor is the highest professorial recognition bestowed by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. The university’s 2025 Regents’ Professors are Andrew Herod, Distinguished Research Professor in the department of geography in the Franklin…

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UGA Hacks Turns X: School of Computing’s 48 Hour Annual Coding Event

Earlier in February, UGA’s School of Computing club, UGAHacks, hosted the 10th annual Hackathon. The Hackathon took place over 48 hours beginning Feb. 8 in the Zell B. Miller Learning Center.  This year’s theme was Rock n’ Roll and hackers were encouraged to think outside of the box and embrace the spirit of innovation in unconventional ways. The event showed the community of driven individuals here at UGA as there were 12 sponsors, over…

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Kudos, February 2025

From individual achievement and career success to community impact, Franklin College faculty, students, staff and alumni were recognized for excellence. Tapping into their Franklin spark, these individuals demonstrated their ambition, curiosity, creativity, and innovative spirit. Congratulations to:  Community UGA boosts Georgia’s economy by $8.4 billion – UGA Today The Athens Wellbeing Project transforms data into change – R&B UGA tops…

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Noted and Quoted, February 2025

The benefits of vacations, global dust and the Georgia Museum of Natural History headline the top February features of work and engagement from our faculty colleagues and outstanding alumni. Did we mention vacation? Those stories plus few more: The best thing you can do for your well-being on vacation, according to science — and the worst – research led by Ryan Grant, doctoral student in the department of psychology, reported by the New York…

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UGA alumna Mackenzie Britt returns to UGA for 2025 Industrial Mathematics Day

On February 8, Mackenzie Britt, (BS Mathematics `20, MS Business Analytics `21), spoke to mathematics students at the UGA Department of Mathematics’ Industrial Mathematics Day.  Britt, currently a senior business analyst at Capgemini in Austin, Texas, specializes in business-to-business commerce. Prior to Capgemini, she worked at Ad Victoriam Solutions and was a part of the Elevate Program. At Ad Victoriam Solutions, she was promoted three…

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Four Franklin faculty named NAI Senior Members

Leading a record number of inductees for the institution, four Franklin College faculty are among eight University of Georgia researchers selected by the National Academy of Inventors  as 2025 NAI Senior Members, surpassing the record number of five inductees set last year. UGA now has 24 Senior Members overall: NAI Senior Members are distinguished faculty, scientists and administrators who have demonstrated success in patents, licensing…

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Franklin advisors recognized with UGA excellence awards

Academic advisors help guide students at every point on their academic journey. The sustained depth and professionalism of the Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services has resulted in a near sweep of the 2024-2025 University of Georgia Outstanding Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards.  Alexandria Brock, Tashia Caughran, and Greg Kline of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Office of Student Academic Services received…

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The Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing: Where Creativity, Community and Culture Meet

In the fall of 2024, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Office of Development hosted a naming ceremony for the Jill and Marvin Willis Center for Writing.  The event took place in the Miller Learning Center, one of three locations where the Center is housed. Associate professor and director of the Center, Rebecca Hallman Martini, English department head, Roland Végső, Franklin College Dean, Anna Stenport, University of Georgia…

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Pack for study away, pack for life

With 33 study abroad programs across five continents and 57 countries, the Franklin College is a significant driver of international UGA student experiential opportunities. As the home of many of UGA's longest-standing programs, our faculty and advisors remind students at every turn to dial-up their campus learning experience by integrating one or more of these well-established programs into their university. That's one reason why we are so…

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UGA Theatre presents “John Proctor is the Villain”

Set in a high school English classroom in rural Georgia, “John Proctor is the Villain” depicts a group of students as they grapple with Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” and discover unsettling parallels to their own lives in the process in UGA Theatre’s next production, “John Proctor is the Villain” by Kimberly Belflower and directed by Sloan Elle Garner. As the story unfolds, deep-seated secrets surface, challenging their notions of heroism,…

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Interdisciplinary seed grants propel UGA AI

As machine learning techniques and the reach of large language models (LLMs) become integrated into leading-edge research projects that span the university, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence is creating early leverage for collaborative faculty projects to access greater external support. Four university-wide research projects have been awarded seed grants under the new initiative: “Artificial intelligence is not just about creating…

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Trailblazing colleague, Criminal Justice Studies program, honored with President's Medal

The late Susette Talarico, scholar and longtime leader of the UGA Criminal Justice Studies Program, and the Honorable Steve C. Jones, Senior U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Georgia, were honored with the President's Medal at the 2025 Founder's day luncheon: The President’s Medal recognizes individuals, not currently employed at the university, who have made extraordinary contributions to the UGA community by supporting students…

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Time away, time to play, keeps work in perspective

The critical element of life balance and time away from professional duties provides an ever-green yet timely focus of new research from UGA psychology. Employees and employers can enhance both work and life by adhering to a regular cadence of vacation rest and relaxation – and honestly unplugging from work obligations: The meta-analysis of 32 studies from nine countries suggests that not only are vacations more beneficial for boosting employee…

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The pesky business of pesticides

Pesticide-resistant crops create prosperous opportunities but spark concern about health for both humans and the environment.    Agricultural biotechnology has created pesticide-resistant crops that are central to many Argentinian farmers. Franklin College faculty member Pablo Lapegna, associate professor of Sociology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, explores the way these farmers view the pesticides sprayed on their crops and…

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Noted and Quoted, January 2025

Across the New Year, Franklin faculty remained constantly engaged in research, scholarship and media outreach around the globe.  A few of the many stories that framed the calendar change over the previous month: 2024 likely the warmest year on record — why it matters to you – Georgia Athletic Association Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences  Marshall Shepherd writing at Forbes The Semester at Skidaway study program shines –…

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Record Schwarzman Scholars exemplify Franklin academic diversity

The diversity of opportunity in the Franklin College is exemplified in the record number of UGA Schwarzman Scholars for 2026. Three Honors students, four Franklin degree programs charts the route to international study with one of the most prestigious major scholarships: UGA set a record with three Schwarzman Scholars in a single year, and the Schwarzman Scholars program announced its 10th class of recipients. The UGA recipients are seniors…

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Raise Your Voice: UGA choir brings music and community in harmony

Gregory Broughton, associate professor of voice for the Hugh Hodgson School of Music and conductor of the African American Choral Ensemble (AACE), never misses a moment to celebrate and lift up the people around him. Upon seeing the original founder of AACE (formerly Pamoja Singers) in the crowd of their November concert, he invited Pastor Nawanna Lewis Miller to join him on stage. Broughton was surprised to find that Miller was already equipped…

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Mobility and education are reshaping Black accents in Georgia

The vanishing Southern accent in Georgia has been well-documented, most recently by linguists from the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech in 2023. In a new study, the same research team shifted their investigation from the White population to the accents of Black Georgians, with results that highlight the effects of migration and education on the accents of Black Generation Z speakers. The study, published by the American Dialect Society,…

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Dance students learn the STEPS on Broadway

The Franklin College department of dance showcases the talents of some of UGA's most exceptionally curious and wildly creative students. The inaugural Domestic Field Study Fellows program, an opportunity for selected faculty to develop and launch a new course-based study away program within the United States, sent a troupe of 11 University of Georgia dance students to immerse themselves in the mecca of professional dance, New York City this past…

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Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences! From our family to yours, all the best of the holiday season and warm wishes for 2025.
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