How fortunate are we to be a part of a university that never stops? No matter what the situation, the NSU community always looks for solutions while continuing to strive for excellence in academics, research, innovation, and more. In the months ahead, the university may face numerous challenges as we prepare to reopen our physical spaces, but I have no doubt that we will accomplish whatever we set out to do.

Recently I had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation between NSU President George L. Hanbury and members of the Fellows Society. Dr. Hanbury discussed the university’s proactive response to the virus threat, how our clinics have responded to the crisis, and our plans going forward. We compiled the highlights of that conversation into a short video.

We are excited to share the announcement that Kevin James, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice, was appointed president of Morris Brown College. He is one of the youngest college presidents in the country, and we look forward to following his journey.

Another NSU Alumnus, Richard Ashworth, took center stage at a White House briefing in April. As then-president of Walgreens, Ashworth was one of several national retailer representatives to address the nation and tell us how pharmacy, and Walgreens in particular, is responding to Coronavirus. Walgreens is a Fellows Society member and funds three endowed scholarships in the NSU College of Pharmacy. We appreciate Ashworth taking the time to share his perspective before he transitions to the role of president and CEO of Tivity Health on June 1.

Respiratory therapists are used to doing their jobs unnoticed, but with COVID-19 requiring their expertise, their work has been thrust into the spotlight. We spoke with Dr. Lisa Farach, Chair for the Department of Cardiopulmonary Sciences and Program Director for the Respiratory Therapy Programs in the NSU Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences, about how professional students who are working and attending classes online are faring. She also shared more information on the ventilators that NSU recently loaned to local hospitals. Read the original Sharkbytes story on that effort here.

In upcoming events, NSU’s Mailman Segal Center for Human Development is hosting a virtual workshop entitled, “Autism: Caring for the Caregiver during COVID-19.” The Alvin Sherman Library is offering a series of workshops about how to best utilize the library’s resources. I am also looking forward to a conversation with Dr. Scott Poland on June 10th about the emotional and social reactions of children when they return to school in the fall. We invite you to join us for any of these upcoming sessions. If you’ve missed any talks, please subscribe to our YouTube channel to view past workshops.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me or someone on my staff. I appreciate hearing from all of you.

Stay safe and fins up,

Jennifer O’Flannery Anderson, Ph.D.

Vice President for Advancement and Community Relations

joa@nova.edu  |  cell: 954-647-1527