Lu Lingzi Memorial Scholarship Honors Slain Student

Just days after the Boston Marathon bombing, BU Trustee Kenneth Feld (SMG’70), chair of the Campaign for BU, proposes establishing the Lu Lingzi Memorial Scholarship Fund. Thanks to support from more than 1,300 individuals across the globe, the scholarship fund named for Lu reaches its $1 million goal in record time.

“This tragedy reflected the best and the worst of humanity,” says Senior VP for Development & Alumni Relations Scott Nichols. “You see this horrific, senseless terrorist act and then you see the response from total strangers worldwide.”

The Lu Lingzi Memorial Scholarship Fund endows two scholarships for graduate students.

TFA’s Kopp Rallies Grads

Wendy Kopp developed the idea for a national teacher corps as her senior thesis. Just a year later, her vision became Teach For America, an organization that trains recent college graduates to teach in some of the nation’s most needy public schools.There’s no how-to guide for how to change the world,” Kopp said at BU’s 140th Commencement. “We are making progress today not because of a big idea, but because of a big commitment. Because we plunged in and embraced the journey of constant learning and improvement.”

BU Joins Online Education Group edX

In May, BU joined edX, the Harvard- and MIT-led online learning platform that shares the University’s commitment to using technology’s benefits for students on campus as well as off. The partnership gives BU professors more flexibility in designing their courses and discerning which educational methods work best with students.

Mayor Approves Master Plan

In May, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (Hon.’01) signed off on the Charles River Campus Institutional Master Plan (IMP), clearing the way for a series of strategic changes on BU’s Charles River Campus that will reflect the University’s growth and prominence and improve its standing in the future.

State OKs NEIDL Research Levels

In March, the Massachusetts Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs gave approval for BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) to conduct research at Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) and Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4). The Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) certificate clears the way for the issuance of final state permits for the project.

Moody’s Upgrades BU’s Bond Rating

The rating agency recently raised the University’s bond rating to A1 from A2. The upgrade “reflects BU’s sustained improvement in its student market and research profile following years of strategic governance and leadership changes that have elevated BU to a more competitive position,” Moody’s wrote in a report on its decision. “The University is also beginning to generate philanthropic support more in line with its size and prominence and has launched its first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign.”

Study Abroad Expands

BU offers programs in more than 30 cities on 6 continents across the globe, with concentrations ranging from anthropology to public health to finance. This year, 7 new programs were offered in locales such as Washington, DC, Zanzibar, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Dakar, and Paris.

New SHA Dean

Arun Upneja takes over the reins at SHA after 15 years as associate dean for academic affairs at Pennsylvania State University’s Schreyer Honors College and professor of hospitality management at Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management, where he established new interactive honors programming for students and faculty.

Record-Setting Applicant Pool

Some 52,532 students applied for admission at Boston University, a nearly 20% spike over last year’s record of 44,006 applicants. The University saw a 19% increase in applications from African American students and Hispanic and Latino students, and a 39% increase from international students.

Association of American Universities

BU was invited to join the Association of American Universities (AAU), an elite organization of 61 other leading research universities in the United States and Canada. "Boston University’s admission to the AAU is first and foremost an acknowledgment of the quality and productivity of our outstanding faculty,” says Jean Morrison, University provost and chief academic officer.