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UTEP’s 2017 Stories of the Year

Last Updated on December 29, 2017 at 12:00 AM

Originally published December 29, 2017

By UTEP Communications

UTEP Communications

The University of Texas at El Paso had another monumental year in 2017. From celebrating milestones in the history of two buildings and four colleges to founding new partnerships with major companies, UTEP’s leading role as the first public research university serving a 21st century demographic continues to change the narrative on U.S. higher education. We invite you to look back on 2017 and learn more about some of the University’s proudest moments.

UTEP’s 2017 Stories of the Year

Milestone Anniversaries

The year 2017 was filled with milestone anniversaries at The University of Texas at El Paso. The Hoover House and Old Main celebrated 100 years, while four of the University’s colleges -- Science, Education, Liberal Arts and Business Administration -- celebrated 50 years as standalone academic entities.

Hoover House: Then and Now

Hoover House: Then and Now

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Memories of UTEP's Old Main at 100 years old

Memories of UTEP's Old Main at 100 years old

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Learn more about the colleges:

College of Business Administration

College of Business Administration

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College of Education

College of Education

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College of Liberal Arts

College of Liberal Arts

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College of Science

College of Science

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XX Factor

The XX Factor: A Century of Women at UTEP

The University of Texas at El Paso prides itself on its mission of access and excellence to men and women from all walks of life pursuing higher education. For 100 years, women have played an important role in making UTEP the diverse and accessible campus it is today.

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NASA

UTEP Team Lands Top Prize in National Space Competition

Students from UTEP’s NASA MIRO Center for Space Exploration and Technology Research, or cSETR, placed first in the United Launch Alliance (ULA) CubeSat launch competition, known as CubeCorps. ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno traveled to El Paso and made the announcement Feb. 16, 2017 on the UTEP campus.

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Winning the Fight Against Cancer

Winning the Fight Against Cancer

It moves quickly, faster than you'd believe or fear, an invader slinking through tiny spaces, using its host's own system to further its multiplication, proliferation, path of destruction. It is a terrifying threat that has ended many lives and irrevocably altered many more. And it takes an army to face it. See how UTEP researchers are helping in the fight against cancer.

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UTEP President Named One of Fortune Magazine’s Top 50 World Leaders

UTEP President Named One of Fortune Magazine's Top 50 World Leaders

Fortune Magazine in March published its 2017 list of the World’s Greatest Leaders and University of Texas at El Paso President Diana Natalicio is included on the list of 50. The fourth annual global ranking features leaders the publication said excel at leading effectively in today’s environment and teach three lessons: acknowledge reality and offer hope, bring followers physically together, and build bridges.

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UTEP to Launch Groundbreaking STEMGrow Program

UTEP to Launch Groundbreaking STEMGrow Program

Students at The University of Texas at El Paso are talented, asset rich and ready to succeed in the classroom, world of work and the global community. UTEP is capitalizing on these strengths by creating programs and activities that increase student learning and professional development. One of the newest such programs is a partnership with El Paso Community College (EPCC) called STEMGrow that focuses on student engagement and professional preparation.

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New Building to Cultivate Campus Collaboration to Achieve Global Solutions

New Building to Cultivate Campus Collaboration to Achieve Global Solutions

The University broke ground for the new Interdisciplinary Research Building (IDRB) on April 7, 2017, 100 years after the first building was constructed on The University of Texas at El Paso’s current campus. The IDRB will be constructed at the southeast corner of Sun Bowl Drive and University Avenue utilizing $85 million authorized by the Texas Legislature. Planning for this 162,000-square-foot, five-story building started in 2015 when UTEP President Diana Natalicio charged a committee of faculty, staff and students with determining the optimal use of the proposed facility.

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UTEP Men’s Golf Wins Conference USA Championship

UTEP Men’s Golf Wins Conference USA Championship

The UTEP men’s golf team claimed the 2017 Conference USA championship title on April 25. It is the first conference title for UTEP men’s golf since 1985 and only the second in program history.

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UTEP, Lockheed Martin Announce Resource Planning Academy

UTEP, Lockheed Martin Announce Resource Planning Academy

The University of Texas at El Paso and Lockheed Martin announced plans to collaborate on a revolutionary business management program that will give students a competitive edge in the workplace. The Lockheed Martin Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Academy will give students an application-oriented view of ERP systems, which integrate data management to enable acquisition, administration and implementation of resources and could involve such core business processes as procurement, distribution, accounting and human resources, to name a few.

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UTEP Women’s Track and Field Captures First C-USA Outdoor Title, and Third Consecutive Indoor Title

UTEP Women’s Track and Field Captures First C-USA Outdoor Title, and Third Consecutive Indoor Title

The UTEP women’s track and field team captured its first ever Conference USA Outdoor Championship, scoring a total of 153 points on May 14. On top of the women's championship, UTEP Track and Field head coach Mika Laaksonen was named the women's C-USA Coach of the Year for the outdoor season. In February, the team completed the three-peat, capturing the Conference USA indoor title for the third consecutive year. The Miners finished with 113 points, while Rice totaled 110 points. Laaksonen was awarded C-USA Coach of the Year for the indoor season.

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New Center to Expand Opportunities for UTEP Musicians

New Center to Expand Opportunities for UTEP Musicians

To help music and other creative arts students prepare for successful careers, The University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Pro-Musica have teamed up to create the Center for Arts Entrepreneurship (CAE), which opened in fall 2017 on the UTEP campus. The center will engage students in projects and workshops geared toward resume enhancement, creating digital portfolios, audience development, and creating performance opportunities, said Steve Wilson, DMA, Department of Music chair.

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UTEP Scientists Awarded Patent for Chagas Disease Vaccine

UTEP Scientists Awarded Patent for Chagas Disease Vaccine

A pair of scientists at The University of Texas at El Paso is one step closer to developing the first ever clinical Chagas disease vaccine. Researchers Rosa Maldonado, Ph.D., and Igor Almeida, Ph.D., both faculty members in the Department of Biological Sciences, were granted a patent for “Mucin-Associated Surface Protein As Vaccine Against Chagas Disease.

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UTEP Ranks No. 1 in Brookings Institution Study of U.S. Public Universities

The national spotlight is once again on The University of Texas at El Paso with the release of a study by the Brookings Institution ranking UTEP No. 1 for performing well in both research and social mobility. The Brookings study examined the performance of 342 public universities along two value dimensions that are commonly used to justify public investments in them: research productivity and student social mobility.

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New Energy: Provost and Deans Bring Opportunity and Experience

New Energy: Provost and Deans Bring Opportunity and Experience

As students returned to UTEP in the fall, new leaders on campus were beginning the next chapter of their careers. Carol Parker, The University of Texas at El Paso’s new provost and vice president for academic affairs; Theresa Maldonado, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering; and Shafik Dharamsi, Ph.D., dean of the College of Health Sciences, brought new energy to UTEP.

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UTEP Pharmacy Program Embraces New Role of Professionals in the Community

UTEP Pharmacy Program Embraces New Role of Professionals in the Community

Pharmacy has evolved considerably since its earliest recorded practice in the 6th century. More than a thousand years later, UTEP is at the forefront of redefining what it means to be a pharmacist in the 21st century with the opening of the University’s new School of Pharmacy.

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UTEP, Prudential Financial Excited about New Finance Concentration

UTEP, Prudential Financial Excited about New Finance Concentration

UTEP and Prudential Financial launched the first cohort of the College of Business Administration’s risk management program under the umbrella of the Prudential Risk Management Academy in the Department of Economics and Finance in fall 2017. The new concentration was created with significant input from Prudential and other insurance industry leaders to integrate finance and quantitative analysis coursework with professional skill development in a lab-based setting that employs “real world” business analytics software.

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UTEP’s Fall 2017 Enrollment Reaches All-Time High

UTEP’s Fall 2017 Enrollment Reaches All-Time High

The University of Texas at El Paso experienced a significant increase in total enrollment for the 2017-18 academic year, jumping from 23,922 students in fall 2016 to an all-time high of 25,078. In a climate of decreased education funding and falling enrollment at many institutions, UTEP’s enrollment increased for the 19th consecutive year. The 4.8 percent increase is the largest at the University since the fall of 2010.

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El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence Celebrates 25 Years of Success

El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence Celebrates 25 Years of Success

Concerned by the large gap that existed in the academic achievement levels of minority and non-minority children in the Paso del Norte region, UTEP President Diana Natalicio and UTEP alumna Susana Navarro, Ph.D., a seasoned education advocate, formed the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence (EPCAE) in 1992. They brought together leaders from UTEP, El Paso Community College, Region 19 Education Service Center, the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization and the superintendents of the region’s three largest school districts to offer high quality educational opportunities to students from pre-K to graduate school regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, ZIP codes or financial means.

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UTEP Students Add ‘Edge’ to 2017 Convocation

UTEP Students Add ‘Edge’ to 2017 Convocation

A trio of students and a recent UTEP alumna promoted their passion for the UTEP Edge, a new student-centered philosophy that is being embraced throughout campus, at the annual Fall Convocation on Sept. 28, 2017.

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UTEP’s Health Team Assists at H.O.P.E. Fair

UTEP’s Health Team Assists at H.O.P.E. Fair

Hundreds of El Pasoans converged Oct. 10, 2017, at the Opportunity Center for the Homeless for the fall H.O.P.E. (Health, Opportunity, Prevention, Education) clinics that were staffed by an interdisciplinary group of health care representatives from The University of Texas at El Paso. Faculty, staff and students from UTEP’s College of Health Sciences and the schools of Nursing and Pharmacy worked together along with a cadre of community partners to make the free event a success for neighborhood residents, including those who live at the Opportunity Center.

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Fed Agency Awards $1.9M for UTEP Health Research

The Health Resources and Services Administration awarded a four-year, $1.9 million Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training grant to Candyce Berger, Ph.D., professor of social work and associate dean for research and faculty affairs for the College of Health Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso. The goal of the grant is to increase the number of culturally and linguistically competent mental healthcare providers in rural, vulnerable and medically underserved communities by expanding internship opportunities in integrated behavioral healthcare settings.

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UTEP Names Jim Senter Director of Athletics

Jim Senter was named UTEP’s new Director of Athletics in November 2017, succeeding Bob Stull who announced his retirement in August. Senter has served as Director of Intercollegiate Athletics at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, since 2014.

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