BUILDING BLOCKS OF RESEARCH. The Legislature and UT System Board of Regents have approved a new 300,000-square-foot engineering research building for UT Arlington. In June the Legislature OK’d $70.4 million in tuition revenue bonds upon funding of an additional $10 million by the UT System. In August the regents earmarked an additional $27 million for an integrated engineering facility with science labs to the building. This will enable the University to blend research and teaching in engineering and science and work more closely with industry. Construction should start in fall 2007 with completion possible by late 2009 or early 2010.

HEALTHY FUNDING. Nursing Professors Jennifer Gray and Mary Lou Bond have received a three-year, $767,687 federal grant to prepare advanced education nurses to become clinical researchers and faculty. The project, “Reducing Health Disparities through Doctoral Education,” intends to increase the number of post-Ph.D. productive years of employment by admitting bachelor of science in nursing-prepared nurses; eliminate the mismatch between professional nurses and those they serve by admitting more students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and graduate these students, as well as those entering the program with master of science in nursing degrees, to fill the growing number of positions for faculty and clinical nurse researchers. The Advanced Education Nursing Grant is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

MODELS OF SUCCESS. School of Architecture alumnus Josh Spoerl and senior Amin Gilani won the New Orleans Prototype Housing competition last spring. Their entry, “The Porch House,” topped the work of more than 500 architects and architecture students in the contest sponsored by Architectural Record and Tulane University’s School of Architecture. The competition focused on reconstructing the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina through the design of multi- and single-family homes. A model of their winning entry has been exhibited at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans and at Venice Biennale, a major contemporary art exhibition in Venice, Italy. Architectural Record featured the project in its June issue. Architecture faculty  members Bijan Youssefzadeh and Heath MacDonald sponsored the work.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR. The American Association of University Women recently presented its Outstanding Woman of the Year Award to Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dana Dunn. The award goes annually to a local woman who personifies the AAUW’s mission of promoting lifelong education and positive social change. Dr. Dunn, who joined the UT Arlington faculty in 1987, is a sociologist whose teaching and research centers on gender inequality, women and work, and women and politics. The 150,000-member AAUW lobbies for gender equity; works with teachers, administrators, students and parents to institute gender-fair education programs in schools; provides leadership training; and promotes multicultural awareness.

AERIAL DISPLAY. A team of mechanical and aerospace engineering students won third place at the Fourth Annual AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition in July. In addition to the third-place overall finish (with a $3,150 prize), the team took third in mission performance and fifth in oral presentation. The competition is sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the U.S. Navy Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation.

COUNTING CADETS. UT Arlington’s ROTC ranks second in enrollment out of 19 programs in Texas, according to a report by the U.S. Army’s Cadet Command. Nationally, the program ranks 28th out of 271. Lt. Col. Kevin Smith, the ROTC admissions and scholarship officer, says the rankings could bring additional Army scholarships for cadets. The military science program partners with several universities in which students complete their primary academics at the partner school and participate in UT Arlington ROTC at the same time.