Wayne State has a strong focus on identifying health disparities, said President M. Roy Wilson, a Harvard alumnus who joined Bacow on the panel Friday morning. "I would love for Larry to come back out and take a tour of our bio building, which focuses on urban issues related to health, and we'll have a conversation and see what might be of interest," Wilson said. Those types of relationships typically are forged by faculty, however, Wilson said. "It's hard to do it from top down."

Wayne State University’s graduate global supply chain management program is among the nation’s top 25, according to Gartner, a leading industry research company that releases rankings every other year. Ranked No. 17, WSU is a new entrant alongside the University of Minnesota, the University of Southern California and the University of Washington. Offered through the Mike Ilitch School of Business, Wayne State’s global supply chain management program prepares students with in-depth knowledge about global challenges and the critical links in the value chain of goods.

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) have announced grants to eight public universities, including Wayne State University, supporting the piloting and scaling of university-community partnerships focused on advancing student success. 

During his university address, Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson spoke about the 2016–2021 strategic plan, which includes increasing the six-year graduation rate, increasing total enrollment to 30,000 and eliminating gaps in graduation and retention. “This fall, we are welcoming the largest group of full-time freshman in our 150-year history,” Wilson said. The increase is 15 percent more than last year’s freshman class.

The opioid epidemic has devastated families across the nation, prompting Wayne State University to host an informative day on Tuesday, Sept. 18 from noon to 5:30 p.m. to educate others about the misuse, abuse and consequences of opioids. Through this day-long event, the university aims to better understand the scope of this crisis and how it impacts the local community. All students, faculty, staff and community members who are interested in gaining insight on opioids are welcome.

Distinguished Professor of Law Robert A. Sedler wrote a piece for The Conversation about the definition of treason, as set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Sedler wrote: “In the furor over the anonymous New York Times op-ed by a Trump administration “senior official,” the word “treason” has been used by a variety of people. President Trump tweeted “TREASON?” in an apparent reference to the op-ed’s author.

Michigan's universities and colleges fared well in the latest edition of the U.S. News' annual rankings of the nation's four-year schools. Most Michigan schools stayed stable, landing around the same spot on the lists they have for the last couple of years. The rankings are among the most-watched rankings every year by colleges, which use them to market themselves. The rankings changed this year, with more weight given to student outcomes, including graduation. Wayne State University ranked 205 overall in the national universities ranking tied with Central and Western Michigan Universities.

Wayne State University announced this week that its program, the Michigan Area Health Education Center , has received $1.1 million from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

Jeffrey Horner, senior lecturer of Urban Studies, wrote an article for The Conversation about the history of segregation in Detroit. He wrote: “Police routinely used violent force against blacks in the U.S. before the 1940s, primarily as a means of preserving segregation in cities. It became a last line of defense for segregationists after the U.S. Supreme Court in 1948 weakened the ability of property owners to refuse to sell to people of color. 

Noah Hall, an environmental lawyer from Wayne State University, said the changes wrought by climate alterations could require amendments to water compacts. “The Great Lakes Compact states made a rare move to address a problem before it became a problem," Hall said. "While some of these reforms can happen at the state level," Hall wrote, "or through operational changes in compact administration, more fundamental changes will require revision of existing compacts." Such changes will not come easy, he added, and “will require leadership and political will." 

Last week, the presidents of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University made their case in front of the Detroit Economic Club that a new, comprehensive higher education strategy for the state is long overdue. They couldn't be more correct. Healthy universities are part of the infrastructure of a successful state as much as roads are. And Michigan is lagging.

The net economic output by the University Research Corridor — consisting of Michigan State University, the University of Michigan and Wayne State University — equates to more than 20 times the $890 million that the state Legislature appropriated for the three schools, according to an annual economic impact study conducted by East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group LLC.

The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, a program within the College of Fine, Performing, and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, is launching the 2018-2019 season with the three-time Tony Award-winning Broadway musical "Avenue Q," an adult parody of children's puppet shows like "Sesame Street", "The Muppets", and "Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood".

The associate vice president and chief human resources officer of WSU and Detroit native seeks to engage 'top talent' to serve students at the university.

M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State, said he wants the next governor and Legislature to scale back the performance-based funding model created under Gov. Rick Snyder that rewarded universities with more money for a higher percentage of undergraduate degrees and penalized more research-focused universities. It's one reason why Wayne State has not recovered nearly as much funding as UM and MSU, its counterparts in the University Research Corridor.  With medical, law and other graduate schools, Wayne State gets penalized for having too many graduate degrees and too few bachelor's degrees awarded each year, Wilson said. "If we weren't a research institution, we'd be getting much more (state funding)," Wilson said in an interview. "That doesn't make much sense.

The presidents of the state's Big Three universities lamented a drop in financial support from the Michigan Legislature, but no one is talking about the issue in the gubernatorial race.

Nike stock took a hit Tuesday morning after an announcement that former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has a new deal with the athletic clothing and footwear maker. Kaepernick is expected to be one of the faces of Nike's 30th anniversary "Just Do It" campaign. WWJ's Mike Campbell talked with Wayne State University Associate Professor of Marketing Jeff Stoltman about the move.

A plan being considered by Republican lawmakers to short-circuit two proposals now slated for the November ballot would be a "blatant" violation of the Michigan Constitution, several legal experts say. The two legislative initiatives in question are strongly opposed by business groups. To keep them off the ballot, some lawmakers have proposed adopting the initiatives this week and then amending them during the lame-duck session after the November election. "It would defeat the purpose of the initiative process for the legislature to turn around and amend the law at the same session," Wayne State University Law Professor Robert Sedler said in an email. 

Wayne State University president — and AAMC board chair — cycles 515 miles and visits four Michigan cities to talk about the value of a higher education.

Thousands of music fans packed Hart Plaza this weekend for the annual jazz festival, but for much of the year, Hart Plaza remains largely empty. In an important way, the problem with Hart Plaza is not just the emptiness of all that concrete but the lack of activities immediately surrounding it. Jefferson remains a barrier, while the Renaissance Center, even after its redo in recent years that saw the creation of the Wintergarden and waterfront plaza, still remains something of a fortress on the river. The great European plazas that inspired places like Hart Plaza, the civic squares in Venice and Siena and other cities, tend to be surrounded by engaging buildings that make the plaza themselves natural gathering spots. That's what's missing here. "Hart Plaza is less of a design issue and more of a demand issue — we need a reason to go there," said Robin Boyle, former chair of urban planning at Wayne State University. Now the City of Detroit is beginning to mull how to enliven Hart Plaza, including whether to scrap the current design that hails from the 1970s and start over with something entirely new.