News

WACO, Texas (Feb. 7, 2018) – Baylor University is mourning the passing of Professor Emeritus of History and Master Teacher James W. Vardaman, Ph.D., who died Jan. 31 in Waco. He was 89. A Service of Remembrance at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at Seventh & James Baptist Church, 602 James Ave. in Waco. A memorial gathering will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, in the President’s Suite at McLane Stadium, where friends and family are welcome to visit and remember Dr. Vardaman.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 2, 2018) — The Baylor Lariat, Baylor’s award-winning campus newspaper, debuted its first broadcast newscast, focusing on Baylor related news and events, Friday, Jan. 26.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 2, 2018) – Older individuals who are securely attached to God experience increased optimism over time, and those with confidence in God’s forgiveness often experience higher self-esteem, according to a Baylor University study.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 26, 2018) – The prevalence of human trafficking is on the rise. Researchers estimate that, in Texas alone, there are 313,000 human trafficking victims. As awareness campaigns increase, such as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in January, Baylor University professors are studying ways to educate and empower youth to address human trafficking in their communities.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 25, 2018) – Baylor University has named Neil K. Garg, Ph.D., professor of chemistry at UCLA, as the 2018 recipient of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 25, 2018) — As the first in her family to attend college, Beaumont freshman Sarah Hale was surprised at how quickly she became acclimated to her new home away from home, Baylor University.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 19, 2018) — Annie T. Ginty, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience in the College of Arts & Sciences at Baylor University, has been selected as a "Rising Star" by the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the leading international organization dedicated to advancing scientific psychology across disciplinary and geographic borders.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 18, 2018) — Baylor University student Thomas Watson was among nine undergraduate observers selected by the American Chemical Society to attend the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) related to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

WACO, Texas (Jan. 11, 2018) — Writing a “to-do” list at bedtime may aid in falling asleep, according to a Baylor University study. Research compared sleep patterns of participants who took five minutes to write down upcoming duties versus participants who chronicled completed activities.

WACO, Texas (Jan. 9, 2018) — Belief that mental illness is biological has increased among both health experts and the public in recent years. But campaigns to treat it as a disease and remove stigma may be lacking because other factors, such as bad character and upbringing, still are viewed as playing a role, a Baylor University study has found.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 8, 2017) — Howard Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, was recently named a 2017 recipient of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 6, 2017) – Thomas S. Kidd, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of History in the College of Arts and Sciences at Baylor University, has been recognized for his book, “Benjamin Franklin: The Religious Life of a Founding Father,” which was named one of the 2017 Top 10 Religion and Spirituality Books by Booklist Online.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 5, 2017) — One of the most cherished parts of entering the holiday season is gathering to sing and listen to Christmas carols. Songs like Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing and The First Noel resound as Christmas approaches. However, a Baylor University expert in black gospel music holds another Christmas tradition near and dear to his heart. He treasures the rich sounds of Christmas spirituals, which differ from Christmas carols.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 4, 2017) — Roger E. Kirk, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Statistics and Master Teacher at Baylor University, recently was awarded the Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Psychological Association.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 4, 2017) – Members of Baylor University’s Model UN team received recognition among their conference peers and staff at the 28th annual American Model United Nations (AMUN) Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 4, 2017) – The Office of the Vice Provost for Research at Baylor University has announced the 2017-2018 class of the Rising Stars Fellowship program. Selected from nominations provided by their deans, Rising Stars represent faculty from a range of disciplines, including the sciences, the arts and humanities and the professional schools.

WACO, Texas (Nov. 30, 2017) – Zack Valdez, a doctoral candidate in the Institute of Ecological, Earth and Environmental Sciences (TIEEES) at Baylor University, has been selected as a 2018 Congressional Science Fellow as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellowships. Valdez’s fellowship is sponsored by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA).

WACO, Texas (Nov. 7, 2017) – More than 50 years ago, as the Civil Rights Movement unfolded across the United States of America, Baylor University also experienced the winds of change as it welcomed its first Black students. The Baylor Black Alumni Network will recognize Baylor University’s achievement toward social justice with the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the June 2, 1967, graduation of students – the Rev. Robert Gilbert and Ms. Barbara Ann Walker – at a Gala Scholarship Dinner from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, in Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center, 1311 S. Fifth St.

WACO, Texas (Nov. 7, 2017) – Andrea L. Turpin, Ph.D., associate professor of history in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, has won the 2017 Lilly Fellows Program Book Award for her book “A New Moral Vision: Gender, Religion, and the Changing Purposes of American Higher Education.”

WACO, Texas (Oct. 30, 2017) —The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) and the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) recently announced "Baylor VirtuOso Documentary Short on Use of Technology in VR Music Video" as one of the selections for the 2017 SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival.

WACO, Texas (Oct. 23, 2017) – Baylor University’s Glenn R. Capp Debate Forum won first place at a recent invitation-only tournament that featured the top teams in the nation, including those from Cornell University, Rutgers University, Arizona State University, Gonzaga University, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Binghamton University and University of West Georgia.

WACO, Texas (Oct. 19, 2017) — Although most of the world only pays attention to natural disasters when they are in the headlines, the residents who live in the impacted areas are left to pick up the pieces and begin the long, emotional process of rebuilding their homes and their lives. Instead of going home or traveling during Baylor’s Fall Break, a group of students, faculty and staff used this time of rest to serve the communities affected by Hurricane Harvey. Fifty-five students and three faculty members joined Baylor Missions on a mission trip to provide a helping hand to families in Houston as they work to restore their lives.

WACO, Texas (Oct. 18, 2017) – It began in 2004 when a distinguished engineering professor, Walter Bradley, and his wife, Ann, moved into Texana House to live among students. Today, Baylor University’s faculty-in-residence program is highly competitive, employs 15 faculty throughout campus and serves as a model that brings representatives from numerous universities to campus to learn more.

WACO, Texas (Sept. 29, 2017) – Joseph Stubenrauch, Ph.D., associate professor of history at Baylor University, has won an American Society of Church History book prize for his book The Evangelical Age of Ingenuity in Industrial Britain.

WACO, Texas (Sept. 14, 2017) — Despite the pervasive use of the Internet in everyday life, most Americans report they never use it to find religious or spiritual content, and most never use it to share religious views, according to the Baylor Religion Survey.

WACO, Texas (Sept. 5, 2017) – A high-flying summer internship with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) sounds like a dream come true, and it was for Lilly Johnson, a senior aviation administration major at Baylor University. Johnson spent her summer piloting some of her dream planes while assisting EAA with government relations, advocacy and safety at its headquarters in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

WACO, Texas (Sep. 5, 2017) - This past summer, nearly 300 Baylor students visited nine countries as part of Baylor Summer Missions. Each year Baylor sends its students to the corners of the earth to serve others, share the gospel and make a difference in the world. The students on these trips bring home their experiences and are able to extend it further through long-lasting projects and partnerships.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 18, 2017) – The film “Blur Circle,” a collaborative effort between two Baylor University professors, won the Audience Award for Best Feature Drama at the 2017 Woods Hole Film Festival.

LAKIN, Kansas (Aug. 11, 2017) – When Marley Koons decided to participate in the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” project, she wondered what her family would have in common with the Moes, the family of refugees they would host for dinner.

WACO, Texas (Aug. 9, 2017) – A memorial service will be held for Daniel Samples, M.D., Ph.D., a lecturer in the department of biology and a faculty associate in the medical humanities program, at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 10, at Elliston Chapel on the Baylor campus. A reception with the family will follow in the atrium of the Baylor Sciences Building. Dr. Samples died Sunday after a brief illness.

WACO, Texas (June 19, 2017) — As people grow older, those who are securely attached to God are more likely to have a sense of well-being — and the more frequently they pray, the greater that feeling, according to a Baylor University study. But those who feel more distant from God do not receive the same benefit.

WACO, Texas (June 14, 2017) – Emily E. Martin, a senior University Scholar at Baylor University, has been awarded a U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study Russian this summer in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia.

WACO, Texas (June 7, 2017) --Prior to seeing the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, audiences are introduced to a flurry of previews for upcoming films -- big-budget sequels centered on blockbusting standards: warring apes, animated cars, web-slinging and hammer-bearing superheroes, and space-based lightsaber battles between forces of good and evil.

WACO, Texas (May 11, 2017) – Baylor University today announced a gift in excess of $1 million to the department of geosciences that will dramatically enhance students’ educational experiences by increasing the department’s capacity to provide undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to conduct research under the mentoring guidance of faculty members. Made by parents of a current Baylor student who wish to remain anonymous, the gift also will significantly enhance the department’s ability to attract outstanding students and to prepare them for successful careers.

WACO, Texas (April 25, 2017) – The Baylor Model United Nations (MUN) team received Outstanding Position Paper Awards in five of the seven committees in which they participated—the same number of position paper awards that the team received in the last three years combined—at the National Model United Nations Conference in New York City, where thousands of students from more than 100 nations participated in a simulation of the U.N.

WACO, Texas (April 25, 2017) – Recent Baylor University graduate Taylor Demons has been selected to receive a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Taiwan. Demons earned her B.A. in international studies magna cum laude from Baylor in December 2016.

WACO, Texas (April 24, 2017) — Skimping on sleep, followed by “catch-up” days with long snoozes, is tied to worse cognition — both in attention and creativity — in young adults, in particular those tackling major projects, Baylor University researchers have found.

WACO, Texas (April 21, 2017) – Bulbul Ahmmed, Ph.D. candidate in Baylor University’s department of geosciences, has been awarded a Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Fellowship from the Department of Energy (DOE).

WACO, Texas (April 18, 2017) – Jonathan Tran, Ph.D., associate professor of religion in the College of Arts & Sciences, was chosen for the 2017 Collins Outstanding Professor Award by the senior class.

WACO, Texas (April 13, 2017) – Baylor University senior Emily E. Martin, a University Scholar from Frisco, has been selected to receive a prestigious Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA), which will allow her to spend the 2017-2018 academic year teaching English in Germany.

WACO, Texas (March 28, 2017) – Jade A. Connor, a senior biology major from Lewisville at Baylor University, has been selected to receive a prestigious Fulbright study grant, becoming the University’s 48th student Fulbright recipient since 2001. In the fall, she will begin studies at Maastricht University in the Netherlands for a master’s degree in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health.

WACO, Texas (March 23, 2017) – The Baylor undergraduate mock trial team is headed to nationals after placing second in the Opening Round Championship Series for the American Mock Trial Association, held in Memphis, Tennessee from March 17-19.

WACO, Texas (March 22, 2017) – Instead of reading a textbook and taking notes on a lecture, Baylor University undergraduates in an independent research class led by Marty Harvill, Ph.D., are learning the basics of laparoscopic surgery with hands-on activities, developing enough dexterity that some students were able to fold tiny origami hats in a box.

WACO, Texas (March 16, 2017) – The International Association for the Psychology of Religion (IAPR) awarded the Godin Prize for the Scientific Study of Religion to Wade Rowatt, Ph.D., professor of psychology in the College of Arts & Sciences.

WACO, Texas (March 14, 2017) – Baylor University graduate programs in law, business, nursing and health disciplines, education, engineering, the sciences and social sciences and humanities were among those nationally ranked in the 2018 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools rankings, released today.

WACO, Texas (Feb. 17, 2017) – Portal to the Public at the Mayborn Museum Complex is helping Baylor University science experts bring science to life—sometimes literally.

WACO, Texas (Dec. 29, 2016) — Baylor University is mourning the passing of Dr. Paul W. Powell, the Texas Baptist pastor and leader who served as dean of Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and former chair of Baylor University’s Board of Regents. Powell died Dec. 28 in Tyler at the age of 83.

WACO, Texas (Nov. 15, 2016) – Think twice before clicking the unfriend button this year.

WACO, Texas (Oct. 24, 2016) – Beginning in fall 2017, Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences will add a new interdisciplinary degree plan – the Science Research Fellows (SRF) major – which will allow students to earn a bachelor of science degree with increased opportunities for research.

WACO, Texas (Oct. 13, 2016) — James Kendrick, Ph.D., associate professor of film and digital media in Baylor University’s College of Arts & Sciences, is a Hollywood film historian and an expert on cult and horror films. While horror is not everyone’s favorite genre, Kendrick says, horror films are known to have a universal appeal.