As the shrinking Great Salt Lake exposes an ever-growing area of its lakebed, wind-blown dust becomes more dangerous for those living in Utah’s most populous region. It also makes the snowpack dirty, which threatens the state’s most precious resource—water. In a new study, University of Utah researchers analyzed the impact of dust on snow during the 2022 season. They found that 2022 had the most dust deposition events and the highest snowpack dust concentrations of any year since observations began in 2009. The dust caused the snowpack to disappear 17 days earlier than if no dust had been deposited. The…

As the practice of medicine evolves, Sara Lamb leads Utah’s effort to reimagine how we train the next generation of health care providers. Sara Lamb wants to see a world where health care is accessible for all. It’s a lofty goal, but she is not alone in aiming to achieve it. Equitable health care requires communities to work together—each individual playing a part for the greater good. For Lamb, that comes in the form of training and educating medical students through cutting-edge programs that prepare physicians of the future to not only provide exceptional care but serve as advocates for…

Everything from the apps we use to do online banking on our smartphones to the algorithms that calculate credit scores uses financial technology (fintech). And Utah is developing a reputation as the epicenter of financial technology education and innovation.   Now, the University of Utah, in partnership with the Stena Foundation and founders Steve and Jana Smith, is leading out at the crossroads of fintech education with a new entrepreneurial laboratory—the Stena Center for Financial Technology. Using $65 million in “orchestrated” funding assembled over the next 10 years, the center will include industry-sponsored labs, a start-up incubator, venture funds and…

I fell in love with medicine at a young age.   I’ve always had the desire to help people. In high school, I started looking for ways to get involved, like volunteering at Primary Children’s Hospital. One summer, I emailed a bunch of professors at the U and asked, “Can I do research in your lab?” Someone got back to me and said yes. Then I found the PathMaker Scholars program at Huntsman Cancer Institute, where you get to live on campus, work in a research lab, and shadow doctors. I loved seeing how they made patients feel safe at…

Bryan Hubain makes it his mission to help U of U students achieve their dreams   When Bryan Hubain, Ph. D. looks back on his childhood, the events that transpired—and profound, meaningful experiences—have informed who he is today. One of these experiences inspires some of his work at the University of Utah. During moments of his childhood on the island of St. Lucia, Bryan Hubain did not always have access to food. There were times when stale or moldy bread was all that was available. His mother would get creative by scraping the mold off, adding butter and cheese, and…

Gretchen Dietrich wants everyone to feel welcome at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts   The Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) is working hard to meet people where they are and engage them in the wonder of art in a whole new way. Trained as an art historian and a lifelong art museum professional, Gretchen is committed to helping break down both the stigmas and barriers associated with the artworld. So it’s important to her that the U’s art museum serves the entire community—the campus, the city, and the state of Utah as a whole. “We’re working really hard…

The University of Utah is teaming with renowned designer Mehrdad Yazdani to imagine a new home for the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine. The result will change the way we see health care throughout Utah and beyond.   As long as Mehrdad Yazdani can remember, he’s had a sketchbook. Even as a child growing up in Iran, he would carry it around and draw the things he loved. In elementary school, it was soccer: sketches of his favorite teams, drawings of a goalie blocking a shot. Later he moved on to his favorite cartoon characters. But by high school…

When you exit the hospital, one story ends—and another begins. I wanted to share my experience with the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics, which I am incredibly grateful for. When I experienced a medical emergency during my pregnancy, the hospital’s exceptional care team saved my life and my baby girl, Avery’s. She was born premature and weighed only 1 lb. 9 oz. The NICU staff took fantastic care of her, and after 101 days, she was finally discharged. I am writing to let you know about U of U Hospitals and Clinics’ Here For You Fund, which allows you…

As a college athlete at Brigham Young University, Alan Day excelled as a pole-vaulter—clearing an impressive height of 16 feet, 1 inch as his personal best. After college, Alan continued to enjoy his favorite sports. Then, during an afternoon of wakeboarding, Alan tore his Achilles tendon. He had surgery to repair the injury and fully recovered. Several years later, he met the activity that would radically alter his life for the next two years. While celebrating his daughter’s birthday at a trampoline park, Alan landed awkwardly on a 45-degree trampoline and felt something tear. When the pain didn’t go away,…

Professor Abe Bakhsheshy takes a compassion-first approach to the world of business   Dr. Abe Bakhsheshy is dressed in his signature attire: a tailored suit and university red tie. All cameras are on him as he participates in an interview to discuss why he is passionate about the University of Utah. He is polished and charming. Poignant and generous. He pauses midsentence as a hint of remembrance flashes across his eyes. He takes a few breaths, clears his throat. Smiles. “That’s the difficulty when you talk from the heart,” he says. “Emotions take over.” Dr. Abe, as his students call…

Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision last Friday to uphold the First Amendment rights of a Colorado web designer to deny services to same-sex couples, we affirm that services at the University of Utah will continue as usual: with a commitment to serve everyone.

The University of Utah is monitoring three related nationwide data breaches traced back to MOVEit Transfer, a file transfer software used by third-party contractors. U Advancement records were exposed through software used by TIAA Kaspick. Human Resources benefits records may have been exposed through TIAA’s third-party vendor contract. And student records managed by the University Registrar through the National Student Clearinghouse, a software system for verifying degrees and enrollment, may also have been compromised. On June 29, a third-party vendor for University of Utah Advancement reported a data breach involving donor records. TIAA Kaspick alerted U advancement leaders about the…

The College of Nursing is eager to announce its Caregiver Scholarship— designed for students like me, Julie Bauserman. A scholarship for nursing students caught between tending to a loved one’s medical needs while trying to complete a degree program. When my husband and I got word that I was one of the six recipients, we felt immediate relief and gratitude. The scholarship money has allowed me to keep my work hours to a minimum. I’m more present in my schoolwork while spending time with my daughter, Sophia, who was born with Trisomy 18 and whose birthdays are never guaranteed. I…

You could make the case that we are living in a new Utah. The state is growing, diversifying, aging, and urbanizing, and all of those changes create a whole new set of dynamics. The University of Utah is poised to shape that future.

Explore the impact of Imagine New Heights: The Campaign for the University of Utah.

As part of its celebration on April 29th, the University of Utah premiered The Climbers, a short film projected onto the John R. Park Building in Presidents Circle.

Dean Kathryn Bond Stockton embraces the controversy—and reward—that welcoming challenges brings In 1987, Elton John had not yet publicly come out as gay. It would be another ten years before Ellen would come out. It was, as Kathryn Bond Stockton, dean of the School for Cultural and Social Transformation notes, a very different time. “Things were much more closeted,” she says. Dean Stockton, however, was unapologetically living authentically to her true self—even if doing so meant her dream of becoming an Episcopal priest would not be realized. Though she had completed a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, Dean…