News

WACO, Texas (Sept. 28, 2023) – Baylor University and the Waco communities will have the opportunity to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin during this year’s Beall-Russell Lecture in the Humanities at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, in the Grand Ballroom of the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center, 905 S. University Parks Drive. The lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is requested.

Felipe Hinojosa Joins Baylor to Serve as Jackson Family Chair for Baylor in Latin America.

According to the recently released data from the Academic Philosophy Data and Analysis (APDA) project, covering a 10-year period from 2013 to 2023, Baylor has secured the #2 spot out of 147 programs worldwide for permanent academic position placement.

WACO, Texas (Sept. 20, 2023) – Richard Rankin Russell, Ph.D., professor of English and graduate program director of English at Baylor University, has been selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of Inklings Project Fellows for the academic year 2023-2024. Based out of the University of Notre Dame’s McGrath Institute for Church Life, the Inklings Project is an intercollegiate initiative that invites scholars to explore the worlds of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the other members of the famed Inklings author group.

Yoaav Isaacs, Ph.D., had a co-authored article selected as one of the 10 journal articles included in the 2022 Philosopher’s Annual.

Baylor University has appointed Doug Weaver, Ph.D., as the Barbara Jo Beard Driskell Endowed Research Chair in Historical Studies.

Two history professors are using their heritage to engage students

WACO, Texas (Sept. 7, 2023) – John L. Wood, Ph.D., The Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and co-director of the Baylor Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Lab, has received the Ernest Guenther Award in the Chemistry of Natural Products from the American Chemical Society.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 30, 2023) – George Cobb, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Science at Baylor University, has been selected to serve as chair of the Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC), which provides independent advice on science and technical issues to assist the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in implementing the Toxic Substances Control Act

WACO, Texas (Aug. 30, 2023) – Ten Baylor University faculty members across the disciplines have been selected by Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., to serve as 2023-2024 Baylor Fellows for their excellence in teaching and commitment to pedagogical innovation, inspirational teaching and the cultivation of these areas among Baylor faculty.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 28 , 2023) – Michael A. Trakselis, Ph.D., professor and director of graduate affairs for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, overcame two barriers to conduct his groundbreaking research on a novel DNA enzyme. 

WACO, Texas (Aug. 28, 2023) – Hot flashes are one of the most concerning and most reported symptoms among menopausal women and breast cancer survivors. In an article published this month in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, researchers at Baylor University tested the efficacy of paroxetine by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of six clinical trials, finding that the benefits of paroxetine in the treatment of hot flashes to be comparable to that of the placebo response.

Many Baylor fans may not realize that one of the key reporters they’re reading or watching in CBS Sports’ college football coverage is a fellow Bear — in fact, one whose work they may have read right here on campus.

Less than a decade after his days writing for The Baylor Lariat, Shehan Jeyarajah (BA ’16) has established himself as a leading national voice who now serves as a national college football writer for CBS Sports.

Will Erickson, Ph.D. Baylor Mathematics Postdoctoral Associate won the 2023 George Pólya Award, awarded by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

WACO, Texas (Aug. 17, 2023) – Baylor University is mourning the death of Provost Emeritus John S. Belew, B.A. ’41, Ph.D., who served as a longtime chemistry professor well into the 2000s, The Jo Murphy Chair of International Education, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and later as provost, the University’s chief academic officer. Dr. Belew passed away Aug. 9 at the age of 102.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 16, 2023) – As students head back to class, they may feel challenged by the adjustment of waking up early to make it to class on time. This is especially true of adolescents, whose natural sleep pattern tends to be late to bed and late to wake, said Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D., director of Baylor University’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory and associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. 

Joining Baylor from Duke University, Benjamin Rose, Ph.D., will serve as co-principal investigator on a project infrastructure team preparing space telescope for use by 2027.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 1, 2023) – Dr. Coretta M. Pittman has assumed the newly created position of associate dean for diversity and belonging in the Baylor University College of Arts & Sciences.

WACO, Texas (July 27, 2023) – Daniel Romo, Ph.D., The Schotts Professor of Chemistry at Baylor University and co-director of the Baylor Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Lab, is providing synthetic chemistry leadership on an international team of researchers in pursuit of a groundbreaking drug to treat hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (HIBI) in newborns.

WACO, Texas (July 26, 2023) - Baylor University announced today the appointment of Garritt J. Tucker, Ph.D., as the inaugural Eula Mae and John Baugh Chair in Physics with a focus on innovative research and teaching in the area of materials science.

When Hunter Harlow (BS ’10) graduated from Baylor with a degree in geosciences/geology, he didn’t imagine taking the road less traveled.

It all started with an idea to create a cooler hat for Big Bend National Park; Sendero Hat Co. created a fun design that included a topographic map inside the bill of the hat. Soon enough, they rebranded to Sendero Provisions Co. and went from packing up hundreds of boxes during their lunch break to hiring about 20 people full-time and operating their own warehousing, fulfillment and distribution. Today, the brand is international.

As a child growing up in Nebraska, Richa Sirohi (BS ’18) never imagined she would pursue a career in space exploration — but a few signs were already there.

Today, Sirohi serves as an end-to-end information systems engineer at the Jet Propulsion Lab, working on a project called NISAR — a spacecraft that utilizes radar imaging to understand how the Earth is changing. The work has implications for climate science, resource management, and more back on Earth.

Did you know that a Waco hotspot appeared in Food & Wine’s list of the best coffee shops in America?

It’s true: in 2019, Pinewood Roasters turned heads nationally with a place on the elite list. Waco shined in the description as well: “Is Waco secretly one of the coolest places in Texas right now? This out-of-the-way find, where the house coffees are handled with care and there’s always a good record on the turntable, is one of the growing number of excellent small businesses making a very strong case.”

WACO, Texas (July 12, 2023) – Baylor University announced today the appointment of Felipe Hinojosa, Ph.D., as the inaugural Jackson Family Chair for Baylor in Latin America, expanding Baylor’s international footprint and providing additional leadership to advance the priorities of the Baylor in Latin America initiative. 

When Dr. Alan Keister (BA ’92) began offering free health screenings in Amarillo schools 10 years ago, the overwhelming response made it plain: People in his community were suffering and in need of health care resources. Those early services grew into what is now Heal the City, a healthcare organization with clinics providing free services to Amarillo’s uninsured.

In 2018 and 2019, Sarah Kienle, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Baylor University, and her colleagues collected movement and dive behavior data and samples from leopard seals off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Their goal was to compile crucial baseline data on the ecology and physiology of this enigmatic species.

WACO, Texas (June 16, 2023) – Five Baylor University faculty members have received the 2022-2023 Core Curriculum Virtues Recognition Award from the College of Arts & Sciences for inspiring moral, intellectual and/or spiritual virtues in their students.

WACO, Texas (June 15, 2023) – Baylor University is well-represented on a prestigious list compiling the top most-cited researchers in the world. In a database compiled by Stanford University, 36 current or retired Baylor faculty members appear among the top 2% of the most-cited researchers across 22 disciplines.

WACO, Texas (June 6, 2023) – Caleb Martin, Ph.D., associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Baylor, and a team of international researchers set out in 2022 to determine first-ever challenge of elemental analysis validity, which has sparked conversations among journal editors and chemists about reevaluating this current threshold.

WACO, Texas (June 2, 2023) -- Heidi Pullmann-Lindsley, a doctoral candidate in biology, has been selected to make a presentation about her mosquito research at the Rising Stars in Entomology Symposium at the Entomological Society of America annual meeting.

How did a Baylor professor play a role in adjusting what scientists thought they knew about Africa’s historic timeline — by 10 million years?!?

It all comes down to a lot of digging, a decade’s worth of research, and the definitive presence of warm-weather grasses.

WACO, Texas (May 30, 2023) – Baylor University’s Department of Religion has announced that Ba Wool (Paul) Kim has been named the recipient of the 2023 Robert L. Gilbert Scholar in Religion Graduate Stipend. Kim has been accepted to the University’s Ph.D. program in religion with a concentration in Old Testament studies.

WACO, Texas (May 17, 2023) – Baylor sleep researcher Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and neuroscience, and Blake Barley, doctoral candidate in psychology in Scullin’s sleep lab, examined how institutional factors, biological factors and behavioral choices play a role in sleep problems for college students and if these "chronotypes" may more flexible than current theories suggest.

WACO, Texas (May 16, 2023) – For most of U.S. history, tattoos have been associated with sailors and bikers, but not church-going people. As tattoos have become more popular, with nearly one-third of U.S. adults sporting at least one tattoo, religious-themed tattoos have also increased. A recent study examined the behaviors of college students with tattoos, including religious tattoos.

WACO, Texas (May 9, 2023) – Twelve Baylor University professors have been honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Every spring, the Baylor Family bids happy retirement to professors and staff who have dedicated their professional lives to the university and its students. It’s always a bittersweet mix — sadness in seeing them go, happiness for a well-deserved next step — but we wish them all well in the next phase of their lives.

Here, we honor some of the longest-serving and most recognizable professors who are retiring this year — men and women whose faces will be missed, but whose impact will not be forgotten:

Last year, Baylor set a school record when 13 Bears earned prestigious Fulbright scholarships — almost twice the previous BU record! — as part of the nation’s flagship program for international graduate student and education. The year also included a Truman Scholar (BU’s first in 15 years), a Goldwater Scholar, a Churchill Scholar, and two Critical Language Scholars.

And yet — 2023’s student honors may be even more impressive.

WACO, Texas (May 2, 2023) – Results from the Waco COVID Survey have provided needed insights into how the dynamics of COVID-19 transmission, health behaviors and COVID-19-related attitudes changed across the first two years of the pandemic in the McLennan County, Texas.

​WACO, Texas (May 1, 2023) – May 1 marks the 125th anniversary of the Battle of Manila Bay – the first battle of the Spanish-American War.  Baylor University military historian David A. Smith, Ph.D., senior lecturer in history, is the author of A New Force at Sea: George Dewey and the Rise of the American Navy, which tells the story of one of the most important officers in the U.S. Navy between the Civil War and World War II. 

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Fueled by the post-war boom, 1947 was a busy year at Baylor -- and an important year in our nation’s history, as President Truman enacted legislation that created the United States Air Force as a separate military service, breaking ranks from the U.S. Army. Mere months after that birthday — on July 1, 1948 — Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was formed at Baylor, making our Detachment 810 one of the oldest in the nation.

How does your body respond to stress? What is the impact of stress on heart health? When it comes to answering these and related questions, Baylor can rely on one of the top scientists in the field.

WACO, Texas (April 24, 2023) – Baylor University faculty members Julie deGraffenried, Ph.D., department chair and associate professor of history in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Karon LeCompte, Ph.D.,  associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the Baylor School of Education, have been selected to receive the 2023 Centennial Professor Awards for summer research projects.

WACO, Texas (April 24, 2023) – Baylor University students from across the disciplines have continued their strong momentum into the 2022-2023 academic year by receiving some of the most prestigious – and highly competitive – scholarships and fellowships at the national and international levels for public policy and diplomacy, critical language study, STEM research and more.

WACO, Texas (April 19, 2023) –  Thomas D. McGrath, Ph.D., senior lecturer of chemistry and undergraduate program director in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Baylor University, has been selected as the 2023 Collins Outstanding Professor, an honor voted on annually by the senior class.

WACO, Texas (April 17, 2023) – Richard Rankin Russell, Ph.D., professor of English and graduate program director of English at Baylor University,  was presented with the 2023 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year at the annual Academic Honors Convocation on April 14.

WACO, Texas (April 14, 2023) -- Baylor's Model Organization of American States team successfully represented Argentina in a recent international competition in Washington D.C.

WACO, Texas (April 13, 2023) – Something as simple as a grass can fundamentally change the understanding of life in the prehistoric world. A pair of studies funded by the National Science Foundation and published in the journal Science document the earliest evidence for locally abundant C4 grasses in eastern Africa and how C4 grasses and open habitats influenced early ape evolution.

WACO, Texas (April 12, 2023) – Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced today that Mikeal Parsons, Ph.D., professor and The Macon Chair in Religion at Baylor University, has been designated as Baylor’s inaugural University Distinguished Professor, the highest honor bestowed on Baylor faculty.

WACO, Texas (April 4, 2023) – Before a celebratory crowd in front of the iconic Tidwell Bible Building, Baylor University today unveiled and dedicated statues honoring the University’s first Black graduates, the late Rev. Robert L. Gilbert, B.A. ’67, and Barbara A. Walker, B.A. ’67.

WACO, Texas (April 3, 2023) – Following a six-month internal candidate search, Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced today that DeAnna Toten Beard, M.F.A., Ph.D., chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and professor of theatre history and dramaturgy, has been selected as vice provost for faculty affairs, effective July 1, 2023.