In two College ceremonies on Sunday, Brown President Christina H. Paxson and other speakers lauded graduates who, by successfully finishing their degrees during a pandemic, have proven they can handle whatever comes next.
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Student speakers take center stage at Brown’s Commencement
George Kubai and Siddhi Nadkarni, Brown’s undergraduate student orators, encouraged classmates to work toward a better and more equitable future for themselves and those around them.
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News and Events
Brown awards six honorary doctorates during Commencement
During its 253rd Commencement on Sunday, May 2, Brown University bestowed honorary degrees on a diverse group of business leaders, educators, scholars and scientists.
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At the University’s Commencement 2021 celebration, the Brown faculty presented their peers Vincent Mor and Julie Strandberg with Rosenberger Medals of Honor, awarded just 33 times in more than a century.
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A fully virtual Reunion Weekend, featuring longstanding traditions and unexpected twists, and a series of remote Commencement forums complemented in-person events taking place on College Hill from April 30 to May 2.
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Additional Coverage: Commencement and Reunion 2021
All News With an eye toward lives and careers that make an enduring and positive impact, 763 master’s and Ph.D. graduates earned Brown degrees in a Saturday afternoon Commencement ceremony on the College Green.
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At Brown’s medical school Commencement ceremony, the 119 graduates in the Warren Alpert Medical School’s Class of 2021 marked four years of intense academic and clinical training in joyous, jubilant solidarity.
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In a virtual address during the annual celebration of cultures and traditions, former NFL player, business leader and Brown alumnus Steven Jordan urged graduates to uncover their purposes in life by examining their passions.
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In the days leading up to their Commencement ceremonies, members of the Class of 2021 attended campus events preparing them for graduation day and celebrating their academic accomplishments at Brown.
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A series of in-person, socially distanced Commencement ceremonies for graduates and a wide range of virtual events for students, families and Brown alumni will take place from April 30 to May 2 — here is what to expect.
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As part of a virtual celebration for the School of Public Health’s soon-to-be Class of 2021 graduates, Dr. Vivek Murthy drew on his experience as a public health leader to offer advice for the challenges ahead.
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News and Events
Brown to confer 2,505 degrees at its 253rd Commencement
At its 253rd Commencement — which will take place across two days of ceremonies on May 1 and 2, 2021 — Brown University will confer a total of 2,505 undergraduate, graduate, medical and honorary degrees.
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News and Events
Brown to confer six honorary degrees at Commencement 2021
Brown will bestow honorary degrees on a diverse group of business leaders, educators, scholars and scientists during its Commencement and Reunion Weekend celebration from April 30 to May 2.
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In keeping with a Brown tradition of elevating student voices at Commencement, seniors George Kubai and Siddhi Nadkarni will encourage their classmates to strengthen communities and remove barriers.
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Bardiya Akhbari, a Ph.D. graduate in biomedical engineering, and Sonya Brooks, a master’s graduate in urban education policy, will speak about the power of human connection, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
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Recent Highlights
All News By bringing together biomedical research and discovery with world-class physician-scientists advancing care for patients with Alzheimer’s, the center aims to accelerate the pace of development for novel treatments and cures.
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As vice president for human resources, Williams will bring experience and vision to strategic initiatives focused on operational excellence, employee development, and equity and inclusion.
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With its first payout since reaching $10 million in endowed funds, the Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence will support critical initiatives outlined in the Turnaround Action Plan for Providence Public Schools.
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A Carnegie Fellowship will provide support for Françoise Hamlin, an Africana studies and history scholar, to write a book on the risks that young people assumed on the front lines of the civil rights movement.
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Kavita Ramanan, a professor of applied mathematics, is honored for her work in probability theory and random processes.
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The Brown junior and co-founder of Zero Hour, one of the world’s first youth-led climate justice organizations, is working to preserve humankind’s future by promoting environmental policy change.
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Science and Technology
NASA to launch new Brown student satellite
NASA has agreed to provide space on a future rocket launch for a new satellite designed and built by Brown University students to test the performance of next-generation solar cells in space.
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Following the conviction of Derek Chauvin, Brown President Christina H. Paxson wrote to the community about the justice many have hoped for since the murder of George Floyd and the need for continued action to confront anti-Black racism.
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News and Events
Brown to confer six honorary degrees at Commencement 2021
Brown will bestow honorary degrees on a diverse group of business leaders, educators, scholars and scientists during its Commencement and Reunion Weekend celebration from April 30 to May 2.
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Rebecca Schneider will draw on the history of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, performance traditions in the Caribbean and the South, and Black feminist thought to understand how performance is linked to oceanic history.
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News and Events
Passages: Brown University President Emeritus Vartan Gregorian
The University’s 16th president from 1989 to 1997, Gregorian was an accomplished scholar, historian and transformative leader for Brown, the New York Public Library and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
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In keeping with a Brown tradition of elevating student voices at Commencement, seniors George Kubai and Siddhi Nadkarni will encourage their classmates to strengthen communities and remove barriers.
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Arts and Humanities
New center will expand research support, community outreach at Brown Library
The Brown University Library’s new Center for Library Exploration and Research promises to strengthen scholarly inquiry and support for high-impact research by scholars on campus and beyond.
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Joseph Cavanagh, Thomas Usherwood and Hossam Zaki each received Goldwater scholarships, which support students who plan to pursue research careers in the sciences, mathematics and engineering.
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Bardiya Akhbari, a Ph.D. graduate in biomedical engineering, and Sonya Brooks, a master’s graduate in urban education policy, will speak about the power of human connection, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
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The annual Black Arts Showcase offered students an opportunity to celebrate art by members of the Black student community at Brown safely and in-person — and to enjoy traditional soul food to-go.
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Brown is planning to return to a two-semester academic calendar, standard course enrollments, mostly in-person operations and normal student residence occupancy for 2021-22, President Christina H. Paxson wrote to campus.
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News and Events
Brown admits 2,537 students to the undergraduate Class of 2025
The University offered admission on April 6 to prospective members of next year’s incoming class, who were chosen from Brown’s largest applicant pool to date in an admissions cycle impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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After eight years leading biology and medicine at Brown, Elias will become the University’s senior health advisor, working to realize the vision of an integrated academic health system with Lifespan and Care New England.
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Health and Medicine
Innovative virtual course helps leaders tackle pandemic challenges in real time
Brown physician-scholars Dr. Ashish Jha and Dr. Megan Ranney led a virtual course that featured national health and medicine experts and offered lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic while there’s still time to learn from them.
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News and Events
Nitin Padture to deliver Presidential Faculty Award Lecture
Padture, a professor of engineering, will discuss emerging solar technologies and their implementation in grid-scale renewable energy solutions.
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The revised plan will reduce building scale, create new green spaces and complement the character of the neighborhood, while strengthening the undergraduate residential experience and reducing student impact on local housing.
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In a virtual conversation at Brown, Isabel Wilkerson, author of “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” called on Americans to “defend true democracy” by resisting the divisions of the nation’s centuries-old social hierarchy.
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Health and Medicine
National Public Health Week events at Brown will be truly national this year
In pivoting to an all-virtual event, Brown’s School of Public Health will offer opportunities for interaction on key public health issues, including a podcast series and topical discussions, to listeners everywhere.
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University Initiatives
Phase II of Brown’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan to focus on equity, inclusion
In launching Phase II of its ambitious action plan, Brown assessed progress to date, reaffirmed the essential role of diversity and inclusion to academic excellence, and outlined new actions toward a more fully equitable community.
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Science and Technology
Researchers demonstrate first human use of high-bandwidth wireless brain-computer interface
In an important step toward a fully implantable intracortical brain-computer interface system, BrainGate researchers demonstrated the first human use of a wireless transmitter capable of delivering high-bandwidth neural signals.
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The founders of the Farmlink Project, including Brown senior Aidan Reilly, received the award for collecting surplus food from farmers and distributing it to food banks around the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The spring event series, which invites students to engage in a different COVID-safe activity each week, is part of a University-wide push to create more in-person campus events for students.
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As the nation confronts incidents of violence against Asian and Asian American community members, Brown's president conveyed the University's firm stance against discrimination, racism and hate.
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The Brown Arts Initiative teamed up with members of the student organization Brown Esports and a local artist-producer to create a virtual concert venue replete with whimsical details.
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Science and Technology
New AI technique could help doctors predict aneurysm rupture
A new study shows that an artificial intelligence system informed with the physical laws governing flowing fluids can infer pressures and stresses on capillaries just by analyzing images or videos of blood flow.
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Health and Medicine
Brown’s medical students find the silver lining in another virtual Match Day
Soon-to-graduate students from the Warren Alpert Medical School, about to be placed in medical residency programs across the country, celebrated in person with small groups of friends and family — and with many more loved ones online.
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The University responds to COVID-19
In true testament to the University’s mission to serve the community, the nation and the world, Brown students, faculty and staff are addressing the COVID-19 pandemic on multiple fronts. Explore new research, community impact initiatives, expert perspectives and more.
Research News
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Science and Technology
‘Molecular glue’ makes perovskite solar cells dramatically more reliable over time
In a study that could help to bring inexpensive, efficient perovskite solar cells one step closer to commercial use, researchers found a way to strengthen a key weak point in the cells, dramatically increasing their functional life.
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Science and Technology
Mars has right ingredients for present-day microbial life beneath its surface, study finds
New research suggests that rocks in the Martian crust could produce the same kind of chemical energy that supports microbial life deep beneath Earth’s surface.
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Science and Technology
What a glacial river reveals about the Greenland ice sheet
New research shows that water pressure beneath a glacier influences how fast it flows, a finding that could help in predicting the pace at which glaciers slide into the ocean and drive sea level upward.
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Science and Technology
How Brown neuroscientists are using CRISPR to accelerate brain research — and more
Brown University neuroscientist Kate O’Connor-Giles discusses how the revolutionary gene editing technology can help reveal secrets of the brain’s function and role in disease.
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In recognition of high-impact research and fundamental discoveries, the University will celebrate the work of six researchers with achievement awards presented at this spring’s 2021 Celebration of Research.
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Science and Technology
Researchers discover new type of ancient crater lake on Mars
An ancient crater lake in the southern highlands of Mars appears to have been fed by glacial runoff, bolstering the idea that the Red Planet had a cold and icy past.
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A study published in Health Affairs helps close the information gap between mortality rates in nursing homes and those in the U.S. population at large.
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Science and Technology
Brown researchers uncover the underlying genetics that make flies champion fliers
A complex network of wing, muscle and nervous system genes all contribute to flight performance, a new PLOS Genetics study shows.
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Science and Technology
Research finds surprising electron interaction in ‘magic-angle’ graphene
New research in the journal Science describes a technique that weakens the repulsive force between electrons in “magic-angle” graphene superconductors, providing physicists with exciting new details about this strange state of matter.
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Health and Medicine
Study asks: Why isn’t anyone talking about medical students with children?
A new paper by Brown University researchers is one of the first to call attention to the need for more support for medical students who are pregnant or parenting.
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Science and Technology
Humans control majority of freshwater ebb and flow on Earth, study finds
Satellite observations show that more than half of seasonal freshwater level changes on Earth happen in human-managed reservoirs, underscoring the profound impact humanity has on the global water cycle.
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Science and Technology
Math, applied math scholars at Brown earn prestigious Simons Foundation fellowships
With yearlong sabbaticals to focus on research projects, Dan Abramovich, Hongjie Dong and Benoit Pausader will use the fellowships to advance their scholarship on cutting-edge mathematics.
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Science and Technology
Apollo rock samples capture key moments in the Moon’s early history, study finds
A new analysis of samples brought back from the Moon to helps clear up questions about the isotopic composition of Moon’s interior.
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A $2.5 million federal grant will enable the research team to track vaccine rates and safety for Medicare beneficiaries, who face increased risk of severe illness from the coronavirus.
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A team led by Brown University researchers reprogrammed patient blood cells into stem cells to test treatments for Christianson syndrome, finding that treatment responses varied according to the mutations present.
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Science and Technology
Tiny sensor technique reveals cellular forces involved in tissue generation
A team of Brown University researchers developed a technique that uses tiny polymer spheres to sense the forces at play as body tissue forms and grows.
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Researchers found that expanding access to long-acting reversible contraception methods, such as IUDs and implants, could give adolescents more agency in choosing whether and when to become pregnant again.
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A $34 million U.S. Veterans Affairs grant will enable Martin Weinstock, who directs dermatology research for the Providence V.A. and is a Brown professor, to evaluate the effectiveness of a common medication in preventing basal cell carcinoma.
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Science and Technology
New technique builds super-hard metals from nanoparticles
Brown University researchers have shown a way to make bulk metals by smashing tiny metal nanoparticles together, which allows for customized grain structures and improved mechanical and other properties.
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Science and Technology
As the brain plans movements, the middle frontal gyrus is listening
A brain-computer interface study reveals one brain region’s surprising role in planning movements exclusively in response to sounds.
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Science and Technology
Remote sensing data sheds light on when and how asteroid Ryugu lost its water
Rocks on Ryugu, a “rubble pile” near-Earth asteroid recently visited by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, appear to have lost much of their water before they came together to form the asteroid, new research suggests.
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Science and Technology
Researchers discover a new tool for reconstructing ancient sea ice to study climate change
A previously problematic molecule turns out to be a reliable proxy for reconstructing sea ice, a new study by Brown University researchers shows.
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Frequent doctor visits were associated with timely treatment, while prior overdose, alcohol use disorder and back problems predicted non-enrollment, study finds.
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Social Sciences
Infant health inequality has increased since 2010, study finds
After decades of narrowing gaps in health between infants born to the most and least advantaged American mothers, infant health inequality is increasing, portending a rise in health and social inequity that could last for decades.
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Brown in the News
See MoreHighlighting Brown’s Distinction
University Initiatives
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in entrepreneurship
Offering courses, programs and support to students at every stage of the entrepreneurial process, the Nelson Center has become a nexus for entrepreneurship at Brown in just three years since launch.
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Brown’s scholars in international and public affairs are addressing inequality, convening conversations that move the needle on tough issues and connecting students with practitioners on the ground.
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Science and Technology
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in energy and environmental engineering
Researchers in Brown’s School of Engineering are developing next-generation renewable energy technologies, advancing energy efficiency in computing and finding new ways to detect and clean contaminants in the environment.
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Arts and Humanities
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in the arts
The University is advancing its reputation for excellence in the arts by forming new partnerships with artists and scholars and making major new investments in programming and facilities.
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Health and Medicine
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in brain science
Brown researchers are building understanding of the brain, restoring movement for patients with paralysis, unlocking the secrets of devastating diseases and devising new treatments to address brain-related disorders.
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Social Sciences
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in economics
With an increased focus on unearthing novel data sources for analysis, Brown’s economics scholars are bringing new insights to complex problems and teaching the next generation of researchers and policymakers to do the same.
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News and Events
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in educational innovation
Learning at Brown is a collaborative, hands-on experience — one in which students often lead their own research projects or conduct research alongside their instructors.
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Arts and Humanities
Highlighting Brown’s distinction in the humanities
Humanities scholars at Brown are energizing comparative work that informs a deeper understanding of the most challenging questions of global common concern.
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