News

Dr. Pack joins Baylor after seven and a half years as Dean of the College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Previously, he was Mary Clarke department Chair and Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA). He became a full professor at the U.S. Air Force Academy and holds electrical engineering and engineering science degrees from Purdue, Harvard, and Arizona State.

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 31, 2023) – For the second year in a row, Baylor University has been named among the nation’s top 10 Most Trusted Universities, according to global research firm Morning Consult as part of its Most Trusted Brands project, the definitive measure of consumer brand trust across industries, including higher education.

Every year, U.S. News unveils its annual ranking of American colleges and universities to the world. Last fall, Baylor came in at No. 77 in the nation — again among the top 20% of national universities — and was one of just eight schools to make the outlet’s top 25  for both undergraduate teaching and undergraduate research opportunities. (Baylor was also named among the nation’s top 10 for first-year student experiences and top 20 most innovative schools.)

Based on the volume of responses and comments I have heard over the past few days, I know many of you have already seen and shared in my excitement over two of the newest additions to the Baylor Family: Judge Belle and Judge Indy!

WACO, Texas (May 19, 2023) – During its regular May meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents elected new leadership and approved the 2023-2024 operating budget, three renovation projects and two new degree programs – a Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies and a Bachelor of Science/Master of Science degree in Biology of Global Health.

Campus sure is a little quieter this week! We’re in the midst of Baylor’s quarterly Board of Regents meeting, so I will get right to a few updates:

It seems like just yesterday we began the spring semester, yet here we are – at Commencement! Tomorrow and Saturday, we will celebrate more than 4,000 graduates, which is the largest graduating class in Baylor history.

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:

WACO, Texas (May 4, 2023) – Baylor University today announced a $1.5 million gift from Charlie and Cindy Fuller of Woodway, Texas, and their family, establishing an endowed faculty chair position to support innovative research and teaching within the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work.

I hope you will join me tomorrow at 11 a.m. in the Paul Powell Chapel at Truett Seminary for “Lift Up Your Hearts,” a semester-ending service of prayer and worship not only for faculty and staff, but also for students and friends of the University.

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 3, 2023) – Baylor University today announced a $1.5 million challenge grant from the J.E. & L.E. Mabee Foundation of Midland, Texas, providing significant momentum and support for the renovation and construction of the Honors Residential College. The grant will fund a significant portion of the more than $7 million needed in philanthropic support to complete the project, one of many capital projects funded through the Give Light campaign.

WACO, Texas (May 3, 2023) – Noted Baylor University smartphone researchers Meredith E. David, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Marketing, and James A. Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in the Hankamer School of Business, have investigated the correlation between the “flow states” – or happiness experienced by individuals – while using Instagram and TikTok and psychological well-being.

WACO, Texas (May 2, 2023) – Andrea L. Dixon, Ph.D., The Frank M. And Floy Smith Holloway Professor in Marketing and executive director of the Center for Professional Selling at Baylor University’s Hankamer School of Business, has been honored as a Piper Professor of 2023 for the state of Texas by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation.

Baylor biological anthropologist Michael Muehlenbein, Ph.D., seeks to understand the medical, social and psychological factors involved in a long-term pandemic response.

As you are making plans for the summer, I encourage you to consider Baylor’s Summer of Discovery. This program offers tuition-discounted courses for students across multiple summer sessions. 

WACO, Texas (April 25, 2023) – Highlighted by the graduate entrepreneurship program breaking into the Top 10 nationally, several Baylor University graduate and professional programs were among those ranked in the 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings, released today by U.S. News & World Report.

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.

I hope you had a chance to see the news about an exciting addition to our Spring Commencement roster – our very own Lady is graduating! 

WACO, Texas (April 19, 2023) – Baylor University is inviting students, alumni and all associated with the Baylor Family to join in celebrating the graduation of the University’s beloved American black bear, Lady, as she moves from the campus habitat to a private, auxiliary facility fully maintained by her Baylor Bear Habitat caregivers, staff and veterinary team.

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.

Kevin A. Morrison, professor of British Literature at Henan University, will present his lecture on Robert Browning’s 1855 poem, The Guardian Angel: A Picture at Fano, exploring how Browning "refined his sensory alertness to and perceptual engagement with historical materiality." 

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 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.

Greetings from a warm Washington, D.C., as I am beginning my first meetings today as the new chair of the American Council on Education.

As we approach the promise of Easter Sunday, our hearts anticipate its glory with great eagerness. 

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 4, 2023) – Baylor University's collegiate recovery program, Beauchamp Addiction Recovery Center, known as BARC, is celebrating National Collegiate Recovery Week and National Collegiate Recovery Day with a line-up of engaging activities for students April 11-15, including daily lunches, games, puppy therapy and a formal dance.

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.

This Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. will be a historic moment in the life of Baylor as we unveil and dedicate the statues honoring the first Black students to earn their undergraduate degrees from the University – the late Rev. Robert L. Gilbert, B.A. ’67, and Mrs. Barbara A. Walker, B.A. ’67. 

WACO, Texas (March 29, 2023) – Baylor University is again joining universities and communities around the country to increase public awareness and prevention education about sexual assault and interpersonal violence during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) in April.

WACO, Texas (March 30, 2023) – Baylor University announced today that its Dunn Center for Christian Music Studies (CCMS) in the School of Music has been awarded a four-year, $1.25 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer Initiative.

There are a lot of ways to know how students are feeling on campus – from formal means (like our campus climate surveys) to more informal methods.

From music to literature to television and more, Baylor women have elevated the game for more than a century.

The Baylor women's basketball team begins its 19th-consecutive NCAA Tournament run on Saturday when it faces Alabama in the opening round at Gampel Pavilion.

The Baylor women's tennis team hits the road and continues Big 12 play this weekend with matches against No. 19 Kansas and Kansas State.

It’s March Madness time at Baylor University! Did you know that Baylor is among only 26 universities that have BOTH their men’s and women’s basketball teams competing in the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships? That is some pretty select company.

Coming off easily its most complete game of the season, Baylor baseball (6-11) will open Big 12 Conference play with a three-game series against Kansas State (12-5) that starts with Friday's 6:30 p.m. game at Baylor Ballpark.

Baylor Softball is set to host Houston for its first three-game weekend series of the season. The Bears are playing the Cougars for the 38th time in program history and BU leads the all-time record, 22-15. 

WACO, Texas – Baylor men's tennis opens the Hurd Tennis Center again for the final time before conference play begins next month to No. 19 Illinois, No. 16 Wake Forest and Prairie View A&M on Friday and Sunday.

Champions' TriBUne is a special feature through Baylor Athletics that gives you the student-athlete's perspective and the chance for them to share their own story. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi, who goes by Juampi, is a fifth-year senior from Mar del Plata, Argentina, who is in his second season at Baylor after three years at UCF. Part of the Bears' 2022 Big 12 Tournament championship squad, Juampi paired with Finn Bass to reach the doubles semifinals at the ITA Fall National Championships in San Diego. Baylor (8-9) hosts a pair of ranked teams this weekend, facing No. 22 Illinois at 6 p.m. Friday and No. 14 Wake Forest at 1 p.m. Sunday.

WACO, Texas – No. 21 Baylor softball split its Wednesday night doubleheader against South Dakota State at Getterman Stadium, falling to the Jackrabbits, 5-2, in game one and shutting them out, 3-0, in game two.

Baylor acrobatics & tumbling earned two of the three possible weekly awards from the NCATA, the organization announced Wednesday.

IRVING Texas – No. 9 Baylor equestrian has been tabbed as the No. 4 seed for the upcoming 2023 Big 12 Equestrian Championship, as previously announced by the league office.

Bears Spring Game to Kickoff at 12 p.m. on April 22

WACO, Texas – Baylor baseball (6-11) shut out Rice (8-9) 6-0 on Tuesday night at Baylor Ballpark in Waco behind a strong performance on the mound and production from the top of the lineup offensively.