Category: Research
New Wheelock Policy Center Examines Educational Inequities
The Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC), a new interdisciplinary hub for research, will inform policy decisions that impact educational outcomes for historically marginalized students. The center’s research will focus on rethinking policies that have contributed to persistent inequities within the education system for students of color, students with disabilities, and English learners, among others.
Rockefeller Foundation Awards $1.5 Million to BU Antiracism Center
The Rockefeller Foundation, a global science-driven philanthropy founded more than a century ago, is giving the BU center $1.5 million over two years to tackle questions around racial disparities in the United States—and to provide solutions. While most of the grant is unrestricted, a significant portion will fund the center’s COVID-19 Racial Data Tracker.
Twitter and Square Cofounder Donates $10 Million to BU Antiracism Center
Jack Dorsey, Twitter and Square cofounder, donated $10 million to Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, just six weeks after it was launched by leading scholar Ibram X. Kendi. Of the total gift, $9 million will go to the center’s endowment and $1 million will be available for immediate use, allowing the center to hire staff and fund its first research and policy teams on COVID-19 racial disparities.
BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories Tackles COVID-19
NEIDL scientists are working to develop a vaccine for the virus that has killed more than one million people worldwide. Doctors are just beginning to understand its intricacies—how it affects patients, how it is transmitted, and who is at greatest risk of complications and death—as well as its long-term effects. Led by director Ronald Corley, a School of Medicine professor, NEIDL researchers have been working with live samples of the novel coronavirus since March and often collaborate with the wider research community.
Vertex Foundation Gives $1.5 Million to BU Antiracism Center
The gift will support the center’s research and data collection to identify innovative policies that may reduce or eliminate racial disparities in the United States. To help the center enhance relationships in, and dialogue with, the community, the foundation’s donation will also support the center’s annual public symposium on a topic relating to antiracism. The nonprofit Vertex Foundation is a long-term source of charitable giving and part of the corporate giving commitment of Boston-based global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Ibram X. Kendi to Join BU and Launch BU Antiracism Center
One of the nation’s leading scholars and historians of racism will join Boston University’s faculty on July 1 and launch the BU Center for Antiracist Research. Kendi, 37, is the author of the 2019 best-selling book How To Be an Antiracist. He won the National Book Award in 2016 for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. The new center will foster collaborations across the University; build multidisciplinary problem-centered research teams, and collect, organize, and utilize data on racial inequity.
Eric Kolaczyk Named New Director of Hariri Institute
College of Arts & Sciences Professor of Mathematics and Statistics Eric Kolaczyk will replace the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering’s founding director, Azer Bestavros, who was recently appointed associate provost of the new Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. Kolaczyk’s work across bioinformatics, computational neuroscience, and even social work has earned him an international reputation. His appointment further strengthens BU’s position in the burgeoning fields of computing and data sciences.
BU’s Center for Computing & Data Sciences Breaks New Ground by Design
The energy-efficient Center for Computing & Data Sciences taps a geothermal well underground as a natural energy source. With state-of-the-art insulation and natural light, the 345,000-square-foot building will be warm in winter and cool in summer, all without using fossil fuels. It has also been designed to be resilient to coastal flooding.
Azer Bestavros to Lead BU’s Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences
A William Fairfield Warren Professor who gained international prominence as the founding director of BU’s Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering, Azer Bestavros has been named associate provost for computing and data sciences.
BU’s First Computational Artist-in-Residence Reinvents Invention
Francisco Alarcon, BU’s inaugural computational artist-in-residence, works with ENG and CFA students to explore the use of software algorithms, graphic design, fabrication tools, and cutting-edge robotics to create multidisciplinary artwork projects. This new residency is a partnership between the BU Arts Initiative and the Hariri Institute, with additional support from Innovate@BU, CFA, the School of Visual Arts, and BU Spark!
