2023 Distinguished Alumni Award J. Charles Rich BS’62 MD’65 served as president of both the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and American Academy of Neurological Surgeons and was vice chairman of the American Board of Neurological Surgery. He was also a neurosurgical delegate to the American Medical Association House of Delegates, and was chief medical officer of the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympic Games before joining the Utah Sports Commission Board of Directors. Chuck was president of the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine’s Alumni Association for eight years, a member of the U Alumni Board of Directors for three…

2023 Distinguished Alumni Award James S. Hinckley, BS’71, MS’77 is chairman of the Hinckley Institute of Politics Board of Directors and Investment Committee, positions he has held since 1990. He was a member of the Chrysler Corp. West Region Dealer Council 1982 through 1990 and the Chrysler Corp. National Truck Advisory Board from 1988 through 1992. Jim was president of the Utah Automobile Dealers Association from 1988 through 1989 and was inducted into the Utah Automobile Hall of Fame in 2013. He is a sustaining member of the U’s National Advisory Council, and has been a member of the National…

Anke Friedrich BS’90 MS’93 is an endowed professor of geology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich where she established a Master’s degree program in geology, led international student field trips involving U students, and set up student exchange programs with several international institutions, including the U. She is an adjunct professor at the U’s Department of Geology & Geophysics and in 2019 she received the department’s Distinguished Alumni Award. She played a crucial role in establishing one of the world’s first continuously operating space-geodetic networks, which served to monitor the tectonic activity around Yucca Mountain, the then-proposed nuclear waste repository site.…

Connie Hanks remembers the feeling of being in love on the University of Utah campus in 1962: driving around in Gordon Hanks’s old convertible, meeting during study hours and between classes in the library. The way the fall foliage on campus lit up her heart on beautiful autumn mornings. It was a magical time that made a lasting impression. Connie and Gordon’s love story has evolved over the years, extending to four daughters, four sons-in-law, and six grandchildren. And they count many University of Utah alumni and students as part of their family. For nearly three decades, the Hanks have…

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For 128 years, the University of Utah’s College of Engineering has been the state’s premier research and educational institution for engineering and computer science. Today, the college receives a major boost. The college is proud to announce a historic $50 million gift from the John and Marcia Price Family Foundation that will benefit future students, educational programs, research centers, and entrepreneurism, as well as the construction of a new $190 million computing and engineering building on the U campus. In November 2021, John and Marcia Price were the first to come forward and pledge significant funding for the new building.…

The University of Utah today announced a $15 million donation from The Kahlert Foundation to provide support for the university’s renowned School of Computing.

From Good Notes — The blog for University of Utah Health CEO Michael L. Good, MD Thanks to an historic $110 million gift from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation, today we broke ground on the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah. The building will open in 2025. The promise of a new home is driving innovation in our MD program. Design with a Purpose We are creating a new culture of learning at our medical school. This culture emphasizes group and individual learning, relationships, and…

Being accepted into medical school can be such a thrill. However, that thrill can easily be overshadowed by pending debt. Raquel Maynez, a scholarship recipient, and second-year medical student decided to attend University of Utah’s School of Medicine because of supporters like you. “Medical school is expensive, so having scholarships that help me avoid and minimize debt is incredible in terms of my mental health and then also my future career prospects.” Thanks to supporters like you, the majority of our students get awarded for their exceptional grades and community service with scholarships that help reduce tuition and other costs…

Sabah Sial, BS ’22 heads to Oxford as the first Rhodes Scholar from the U in two decades—thanks to dedication, hard work, and scholarship support from people like you.   Last year, Sabah Sial, BS ’22 received a Rhodes Scholarship to study finance at the University of Oxford, one of 32 awardees out of 2,300 students who applied. The last student from the University of Utah to receive the prestigious award was in 2002. “Being a Rhodes Scholar is a great honor, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the scholarships that preceded it,” Sial said. “The University of Utah,…

Ground will be broken this week on the Impact and Prosperity Epicenter. This newest addition to the David Eccles School of Business will be a multidisciplinary hub for innovation, impact, and prosperity, which will provide student housing and office space for the Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity and the Sorenson Impact Center. The $114 million project is made possible by the generous support of anchor donations from Jim Sorenson and Robert and Lynette Gay. The six-story building will include a dedicated gathering space on the first floor, known as The Forum, which will serve as the heart of the…

The geography that makes Utah unique—red rock deserts, greatest snow on Earth, cities amidst natural beauty—also makes us vulnerable to one of the biggest challenges of our time: Climate change, which can drive or exacerbate severe drought, wildfires, air pollution, water scarcity, and disappearing snowpack. Luckily, the University of Utah has a deep pool of experts who use the campus location as a living laboratory to address these immense challenges. A generous $20 million gift from Clay and Marie Wilkes will leverage the U’s location and interdisciplinary knowledge to create the Wilkes Center for Climate Science and Policy. William (Bill)…

Introducing a new home to tomorrow’s medical leaders. Our graduates advance the standards of excellence in teaching, research, and patient care in today’s rapidly changing world of medicine.

Robert “Bob” Garff loved the University of Utah and was passionate about accelerating the rise of both the university and its students. It is with great sadness the U community notes that Garff, who was 77, passed away due to complications of COVID-19 on Sunday, March 29.