As of Monday, there are 1,119 graduate students for fall. That's the largest class since fall 2008. If 20 more students enroll in the next month, it will be the largest since fall 2007. The increased numbers are a huge turnaround from just two years ago, when there were only 606 graduate students in fall 2014. That's an 84.6 percent increase over two years. The school's enrollment increase bucks the broader trends. Enrollment in U.S. MBA programs is down 11 percent since 2009, according to a survey by accrediting group AACSB International. Wayne State officials credit the waiver of  the GMAT  for at least part of that increase. The test is waived for applicants with "at least three years of relevant professional experience that shows increased responsibility over that period." "There are people who want to come back and get an MBA but have been working for a while and don't want to think about taking the GMAT," said Ilitch school dean Bob Forsythe. The school also is benefiting from other exposure, including the renaming of the school for Detroit businessman Mike Ilitch, who is giving millions of dollars toward the construction of a new building near the new Red Wings stadium. The boom in Detroit is also helping, school officials said, with more people wanting to be a part of what is going on in Midtown and the rebirth of Detroit. The rise in enrollment, especially among working professionals, has helped the school in terms of what students are learning, Forsythe said. He said it's not uncommon for class discussion on the topic of the day to feature questions and situations the students are facing in their working life.

The Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University has launched the Institute for Leadership and Diversity, which will serve as a platform within the school that holds meetings and conducts research on increasing diversity in business, and works to strengthen relationships with businesses in Detroit. “Our main focus is on engagement with the business community,” says Toni Somers, associate dean at the Mike Ilitch School of Business and co-founder of the institute. “If you’re looking for leadership or education on how to improve the diversity in your workforce, we want you to come to us.” The institute will offer classes and summer camps in the local community and the business school to foster the growth of leadership and diversity. Somers says the institute was a natural fit for the Mike Ilitch School of Business because of the leadership classes already present at the school.

Dozens of Detroit high school students have an opportunity to learn how to avoid violence and peacefully resolve confrontations. Wayne State University’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies is inviting 60 10th through 12th graders for the week-long Ralph Bunche Summer Institute, named after the first African American to receive a Noble Peace Prize. The Center’s Community Dispute Resolution Specialist, Barbara Jones and former participant Tahmina (Tah-mee-nah) Sultana tell WDET’s Amy Miller that the institute offers alternatives to violence and conflict.

Gary Bryce, longtime head softball coach at Wayne State University, was recently inducted into the Royal Oak High School Hall of Honor. Bryce concluded his 35th season as head coach of the Wayne State softball program in the spring of 2016. After leading the Warriors to the second-most single-season wins (50) in school history in 2016, Bryce will enter 2017 10th on the NCAA All-Time Wins list (all three Divisions combined) with 1,209 victories. A 2008 inductee into the NFCA Hall of Fame, Bryce has led WSU to 10 NCAA tournament appearances in the last 11 seasons.

Wayne State University is hosting its second annual Baroudeur cycling event to raise money for student scholarships on Saturday, Aug. 20. Free Press Insiders save 15 percent off of the registration fee of $50. Price increases to $65 on July 21. The Baroudeur is a fun, non-competitive event offering distances of 25, 62 and 100 miles that all begin and end on campus. Courses take you by metro Detroit's iconic landmarks and sights. Registration fee includes: Post-ride lunch, craft beer and music, Limited-edition Baroudeur T-shirt, Support-and-gear vehicles, and snacks and beverages along the route. For more information, visit: baroudeur.wayne.edu.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson will begin serving on the advisory committee to the director for the National Institutes of Health, the largest financial supporter of biomedical research in the world, officials announced Wednesday. Wilson will serve on a committee that provides recommendations on program development, resource appropriations, policy and more to NIH Director Francis Collins. The committee will consult with and make recommendations to the secretary of Health and Human Services and the assistant secretary for health. Wilson, who will be the only university president on the committee, called the post an “honor and a responsibility.” “Thanks in large part to NIH-funded research, people are living healthier and longer lives than ever before, but there is still plenty of work to be done,” Wilson said. Wilson, who became president of Wayne State in 2013, previously was deputy director for strategic scientific planning and program coordination at the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the NIH. His term begins immediately and will end Dec. 31, 2019.

TechTown Detroit named seven new members to its board of directors. "Our new board members are recognized widely both for their professional expertise and accomplishments, and their community leadership," M. Roy Wilson, Wayne State University president and chair of the TechTown board, said in a statement. "Our new board members, and their returning colleagues, will ensure we continue to make a meaningful impact on Detroit and Southeast Michigan." New board members will serve three-year terms. They are: Diane Dunaskiss, retired principal of Pine Tree Elementary School in Lake Orion and is currently serving her third term on the Wayne State University Board of Governors; Rodrick Miller, president and CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.; Robert Forsythe, dean of Wayne State’s Mike Ilitch School of Business; Christopher Graunstadt, director of treasury services and project management office for Henry Ford Health System; Jacalyn Goforth, partner with PWC's Assurance Services; Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the Michigan Science Center and also serves on the board of directors for the American Alliance of Museums and Chatfield College; and Fredrick Molnar, vice president of entrepreneurism and innovation for the Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Nearly 100 photos stored in a box at the Walter P. Reuther Library at Wayne State University are leaving employees wondering who the kids in the pictures are. "They're stunning images but more than being beautiful examples of photography they're these children. We'd like to know who they were," says Elizabeth Clemens, audiovisual archivist. The photos were taken in the late 1930s and early 1940s. They capture images of children living on the near east side - paradise valley, black bottom and brush park - neighborhoods that don't really exist anymore. They were removed by the construction of I -75. "I think there's a really large hole in our historic record locally. A lot of places didn't really collect the history of African Americans. Even if it's just finding out the name of a child in a photograph we want to record as much as possible while we can," says Clemens. "It's not the famous people, the people we all know but they're equally important in their own way."

On Tuesday June 7, The Arab American Civil Rights League (ACRL) and the NAACP branch of Detroit awarded federal judge Terrance Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan and Dr. M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University, for their commitment to social justice and equality. Wilson created the Office of Multicultural Student Engagement at WSU in 2014 to promote an inclusive environment in a campus that has enrolled a multitude of minority students. Both men were honored at the second annual Justice Awards Tribute at the Music Hall in Detroit. Nasser Beydoun, chair of the ACRL, said the significance of the award is that it is the first and only of its kind, combining the efforts of two civil rights organizations to honor community leaders, chosen by an independent committee of 15 judges. "The beauty and stature of this award is that these individuals are getting an award from their community," Beydoun said. "We just wanted to recognize those individuals who work to protect civil rights and civil liberties of Americans and recognize them for their efforts." He said they awarded Wilson because he is a strong proponent of diversity at Wayne State. Nabih Ayad, former chair of the ACRL, said he helped form the award last year as a joint effort of the Arab American and African American communities to recognize champions of civil rights of minorities in the region. Roy Wilson has been responsive, created positions to employ more diverse teachers, a diverse student attendance and diverse classes, Ayad said. "People need a voice and someone to look out for them," Wilson said at the Music Hall.

Beginning in fall 2017, students will be able to fulfill their general math requirement without passing college-level algebra. New quantitative learning classes are being introduced as an alternative for students like Newhouse. Advisers are already recommending the new courses to students with the assurance of changes to come, said Doug Estry, associate provost of undergraduate education. So long as students pass both semesters of quantitative learning or one semester of quantitative plus a semester of college algebra, they are in the clear, Estry said. The changes won't affect students in programs like engineering that have their own math requirements. The quantitative literacy classes will teach students lessons that more directly apply to their lives than traditional college algebra, Estry said. While math and science students benefit from the traditional approach, running from concept to application, research shows it doesn't translate as well to the kinds of problems other students face in the workplace or in their lives, he added. Wayne State University announced a similar move away from general math requirements earlier this summer. There are also ongoing conversations among the state’s 15 universities on how best to serve students moving forward, said Bob Murphy, director of university relations and policy for the Michigan Association of State Universities.

Photos depict a rare look into the faces of Detroit's long-forgotten historic black neighborhoods. The archivists at Wayne State University's Walter P. Reuther Library are hoping the public can help identify the Detroiters in the 96 images comprising the library's recently acquired Edward Stanton Photographs collection. It was by chance that the photos found their way to the Reuther Library. For the past decade, Stanton's negatives and prints — thousands in total, spanning the photographer's life in Michigan and, later, California — sat in boxes under the bed of Stanton's nephew, Detroit-based author and journalism professor Tom Stanton, who received them upon his uncle's death in 2006. While doing some research at the Reuther, Tom had a conversation with audiovisual archivist Elizabeth Clemens about "dream collections" for the library. Clemens mentioned a wish for an acquisition delving into Detroit's African-American history, even just "a scrapbook, a handful of photos," as she put it. "He said, 'Actually, I have something,'" Clemens said. "We were just blown away. It's a huge hole in our collection; it just means so much to us to have this piece of history. On artistic merit alone, the photos are arresting: stark and detailed portraits captured with the enchanting depth of film. But perhaps what makes the images so particularly magical is that they're almost entirely of children. The kids are so expressive; you fall in love with them," Clemens said. There was just one problem: None of Stanton's Detroit photos were dated or had names. "These are just such beautiful photographs, we'd like to give some context to them," Clemens said. "We'd like to find out who these people were and what their stories were."

The MIT Technology Review has named Ann Arbor-based RetroSense Therapeutics LLC, a spinoff from Wayne State University in 2009, to its annual list of the 50 smartest companies in the world. It was the only company based in Michigan to make the list. The editors rank companies based on how their innovative technologies combine with a strong business model. They rated RetroSense, whose drug to treat patients with retinitis pigmentosa began human trials in March, at 37. RetroSense's drug, with the working name of RST-001, was first administered to a patient at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas. RST-001 has shown in animal trials that its gene-based therapy can confer light sensitivity to cells in the retina, where previously deterioration of rod and cone photoreceptors had caused blindness. The clinical study is based on the research of Zhuo-Hua Pan, a professor of ophthalmology and cell biology at Wayne State and scientific director of the Ligon Research Center of Vision at the Kresge Eye Institute, and Richard Masland of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston. "This is exciting recognition for RetroSense and all of its efforts in finding a way to restore sight," said Joan Dunbar, associate vice president for technology commercialization at Wayne State. "Without the efforts of Sean Ainsworth, RetroSense's CEO, the company would not be in patient clinical trial stages. It is Sean's critical efforts that are bringing this important research to life, and hopefully they will be successfully taking their clinical trials to the bedside in the near future." "This is another example of the strong innovation ecosystem here in Detroit and at Wayne State University," said Stephen Lanier, vice president for research at Wayne State. "It's very nice to see RetroSense being recognized for moving this technology forward, which has the potential for broad impact."    

Michigan's ban on affirmative action still stands, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Thursday. That ruling upholds the University of Texas’ use of race as one factor in its admissions process. But that doesn’t override the ban that Michigan voters approved in 2006, which amends the state Constitution to say public universities can’t discriminate against, or give preference to, anybody based on their race: “The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and any other public college or university, community college, or school district shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting.” So as far as Michigan’s public universities are concerned, nothing changes today because of this decision. http://michiganradio.org/post/michigan-s-affirmative-action-ban-still-stands-despite-court-ruling#stream/0

Wayne State University will host one of two new hubs of the Michigan Cyber Range, a set of specialized networking and computer infrastructure testing and training centers, in Southeast Michigan starting this fall. Wayne State and Livingston County's Pinckney Community High School were selected to host new facilities that include computing infrastracture, cybersecurity training exercises and product testing, after responding to a request for proposals from Merit earlier this year to replicate the training center hubs. The university will host its hub at the Advanced Technology Education Center that opened in Warren in 2014. "This hub will allow us to expand our offerings in cybersecurity to students, as well as professional development training to clients and secure software testing for our corporate partners," Ahmad Ezzeddine, associate vice president for educational outreach and international programs at WSU, said Tuesday. "We look forward to developing graduate, undergraduate and non-degree programs focused on cybersecurity, and preparing our students to be leaders in this growing industry."    

Children’s Hospital of Michigan has been ranked among the best in the country in four pediatric specialties in the 2016-17 U.S. News Best Children’s Hospitals. The four specialties are neurology and neurosurgery, nephrology, orthopedics and cardiology and heart surgery. There are only a handful of children’s hospitals like Children’s across the country that provide a full range of advanced services and specialties designed especially for kids. “This national recognition reflects our commitment to bring the very best, compassionately delivered and quality-driven medical care to children and their loved ones in this community and to all the patients we serve from around the world,” said Steven E. Lipshultz, Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s pediatrician-in-chief and Wayne State University School of Medicine Chair of Pediatrics. “This affirms the expertise of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in providing advanced patient care to some of the most seriously ill and medically complex children, who often have rare illnesses from before birth to young adulthood.”     Other media mentionshttp://patch.com/michigan/stclairshores/childrens-hospital-michigan-ranks-among-americas-best-0

Wayne State is planning several sports camps this summer. The men’s basketball program will host weekend shootouts Saturday and Sunday and July 5-8. The women’s basketball program plans a one-day camp Monday and a two-day camp Tuesday and Wednesday. Track and field athletes can attend the Warriors’ summer camp Monday and Tuesday. A volleyball advanced skills clinic will take place July 16, and an intermediate and beginner skills clinic is set for July 17. The baseball program hosts its summer camp July 18-20.

Carol Miller, Wayne State University civil and environmental engineering professor, was a guest on The Frank Beckmann Show talking about the Healthy Urban Waters (HUW) program at Wayne State University. HUW promotes and delivers research, education, technology development and public engagement on water resources in the urban environment. The focus area is the Huron to Erie corridor, and application extends throughout the Great Lakes watershed. HUW’s mission is to engage and empower the public in creating a sustainable urban environment based on sound science.  

Wayne State University has suspended its requirement that all students take a mathematics course, striking at the heart of a debate over whether math should be a mandatory part of general education. Administrators say they will allow individual departments to develop their own math requirements, while higher education experts and mathematicians hope the public university in Detroit will maintain a broad commitment to quantitative reasoning. The general-education math requirement will be suspended until fall 2018, said Monica Brockmeyer, associate provost for student success at Wayne State. At that point, the university will likely adopt an entirely new general-education program, she said.  

Most people have it backwards. They chase money, but seldom find it, burning themselves out in a vapid pursuit. Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson shares his approach, where passion and purpose are the goal, and money and stability are simply the byproduct.  

Amid live music and storytelling performances on Wednesday night, Detroit leaders in business and government discussed their hopes for the city’s future while offering frank statistics about the city’s challenges. Detroit’s entrepreneurial scene isn’t defined by “one big thing,” said Ned Staebler, president and CEO of TechTown, a Detroit business incubator, as well as vice president for economic development at Wayne State University. Instead, “there’s entrepreneurs all over the city. That’s why we’re going to have a sustained recovery.” Staebler spoke at One Nation Detroit: Jobs and the Economy, an event at St. Andrew’s Hall hosted by the Detroit Free Press and USA TODAY. About 250 people attended the event. In his talk, Staebler stressed the role of entrepreneurs who have been in Detroit long before the city’s recovery became “cool” or newsworthy. He spoke with Free Presseditorial page editor and columnist Stephen Henderson. “I think what’s important (about the recovery) is that it’s not just new people,” Staebler said. “It’s not just the startups. It’s the ‘been-ups.” He added that redevelopment in the rest of the neighborhoods is still in “the early days,” but some new investors are appearing.