Michigan has reached its highest rate in six years of people earning post-secondary degrees, but it’s slightly below the national rate. Residents between 25 and 64 years old who earned a degree increased from 35.7 percent in 2008 to 39.3 percent in 2014, according to a report from the Lumina Foundation, the nation’s largest private foundation focused on increasing success in higher education. That’s a 3.6 percent increase. “Progress is being made in Michigan,” said Daniel Hurley, CEO of Michigan Association of State Universities. “It’s a long climb up, boosting the levels of educational attainment. But it is absolutely critical to the state’s future and it’s good to see progress is being made.” Nationally, the proportion of adults 25-64 who held two- or four-year college degrees reached 40.4 percent in 2014. That is up 4.7 percent from 2008, when educational attainment was 35.7 percent. The bulk of Michigan residents with a degree — about 18 percent — earned a bachelor’s degree, according to the report, which was released Friday. Nearly 11 percent held either a graduate or professional degree while 10 percent held associate degrees.  

Cancer Research, the premier journal published by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), is celebrating its 75-year history. As part of the celebration, the magazine recently honored 48 of the most influential scientific articles in its history. Gloria Heppner, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at Wayne State University, was selected as one of the 48 outstanding researchers for her 1984 article 'Tumor Heterogeneity,' which was described as being 'more often highlighted by editors, AACR Fellows, and cancer researchers than any other article.' According to a special Cancer Research commentary written by Danny R. Welch, Ph.D., associate director of basic science at the University of Kansas Cancer Center, older literature is often overlooked or ignored because of lack of ease to access older articles not available on PubMed. Welch said the longevity of Heppner's article is due to her "clarity of thought, objective presentation, and interpretation of the data, and, as importantly, by the insights that have withstood the tests of time."  

April is National Donate Life Month. More than 120,000 men, women and children are waiting for an organ transplant that could save their life. Organ recipient Nicholas Giannamore, organ donor Jacqueline Giannamore and Wayne State University student Alyssa Krieger talked about their efforts to save lives.  

Three area foundations are committing a combined $350,000 to a Wayne State University scholarship for students with a community service focus, in honor of Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen in Detroit. The Honorable Gerald E. Rosen Scholarship for Community Commitment is a collaboration among the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the university announced Tuesday. Rosen, who also teaches at the Wayne State Law School, was chief mediator during the Detroit Chapter 9 federal bankruptcy and is credited with helping to birth the idea of the "grand bargain" during a chance meeting with Community Foundation President Mariam Noland at a deli while the bankruptcy was pending. "This investment from these foundations will help fortify Judge Rosen's legacy of service and encourage our students to follow his example," Heidi Coates, director of foundation relations at WSU, said in a statement. Full-time undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to apply for aid under the scholarship program. More than 150 have done so for the 2016–2017 school year, the university said Tuesday. Awards will be funded with earnings from an endowed fund where the contributions have been invested.  

A research team from Wayne State University recently published a paper in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that provides a paradigm shift in the understanding of cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and wound healing in the treatment of corneal and skin diabetic ulcers. DPN is one of the earliest and most common pathological manifestations of diabetes, occurring in more than 75 percent of diabetic patients. It can cause ulcerations in the cornea and skin, where it often leads to neuropathic pain and foot ulcerations that often require amputation. Understanding of the development of DPN is mostly obscure, partly due to the lack of good animal models available. Because of this, immune-neuron interactions have been a major focus of researchers in the past few years. According to Fu-shin Yu, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and director of research at the Kresge Eye Institute of Wayne State University, the cornea is the most densely innervated mammalian tissue and is an excellent model to study the underlying mechanisms for DPN. "Using Streptozotocin-induced type I diabetes and cornea epithelial wounding experimental models, we made novel observations that may soon lead to innovative therapies to treat DPN and ulcerations of the cornea and skin in diabetic patients," said Yu.       Other media mentionshttp://www.sciencecodex.com/wayne_state_study_provides_new_understanding_of_diabetic_peripheral_neuropathy-179943

Students or graduates interested in the criminal justice field can attend a Tuesday, April 12 job fair at Wayne State University to learn about opportunities with a host of agencies and departments. Wayne State's 25th Annual NOBLE Criminal Justice Job and Career Fair is expected to draw hundreds. The event is from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the ballroom of the Student Center building. Attendees will be able to learn about careers with a host of police and criminal justice-related agencies including: Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Michigan Department of Corrections, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and U.S. Probation Department, to name a few. The event is sponsored by the Wayne State University Criminal Justice Department, NOBLE, and the WSU Criminal Justice Student Organization.  

Do you have your elevator speech ready? Some students at Wayne State University are competing to have the best. Wayne State University's Mike Ilitch School of Business is hosting its first ever "Elevator Pitch Competition" Friday, April 8 at the RenCen. A select group of Wayne State students will take an elevator ride there with an executive from Quicken Loans, PwC, Blue Cross Blue Shield, GM or Ford. And the students will have that 90-seconds from the ground floor to Coach Insignia to give their elevator pitch to one executive, and then they'll have the trip down to pitch to another executive. The top three will win scholarship money.  

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson has been recognized with a “giving back” award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, which covers inclusion and diversity in higher education. Wilson was honored for his work in guiding underrepresented students toward science careers. In 2015, he improved WSU’s pipeline of underrepresented students interested in science careers. He also formed a coalition of Detroit-based colleges and universities to launch the National Institutes of Health-funded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program. Wilson is featured in the April issue of the magazine, along with 26 other award recipients.  

From New York City's Toloache to London's Grub Kitchen as dining out options, and from cricket pasta to cricket protein bars for cooking in or eating on the run, insect cuisine is all the rage these days. Entomophagy (eating insects) isn't only a trend for "foodies" in the West, it's often also framed as a saving strategy for the world's hungry. By 2050, the world will need to increase its food production by 70 percent to meet the needs of 9 billion people. With insects, the argument goes, protein needs can be met without the need for large tracts of land or the huge cost of greenhouse gases that accompanyintense livestock farming. Wayne State University anthropologist Julie Lesnick reminds us in this short video, entomophagy has been happening for millennia and in a sustained way cross-culturally. Now it's a powerful part of the Euro-American re-evaluation of our global food systems.     Other media mentionshttps://www.wbez.org/shows/npr/bugs-on-film-digging-into-insect-cuisine/502157f4-5cba-4adb-805d-248e8bd5c93b

Thad Wilhelm, head of Birmingham Seaholm’s department of mathematics, worked with Kenneth Chelst, director of engineering management and professor of operations research at Wayne State University, to develop an operations research course for high school classrooms. The course aims to approach math as a way to solve practical problems beyond the textbook, such as how to find the best cellphone wireless plan or how to make an optimized schedule for a workplace. Recently, Wilhelm, along with the Seaholm Math Club, hosted an event called “Putting Math to Work” — the first in a series of talks from professionals in math-based careers — in which Chelst explained his analytics-based approach to the discipline and its use at the high school level. “My main strategy has been (that) every teacher I reach will teach 100 kids that year, and maybe 1,000 over their career,”  he said. “I almost never talk to high school kids directly. I only talk to their teachers in hopes of motivating them to use some of the examples, some of the concepts in their class.” In his talk, Chelst said operations research students learn how to analyze data using Microsoft Excel. The dreaded word problems involving flagpole shadows, rates of travel between two cities, and speeds of filling a bathtub are tossed in favor of using computerized models to produce results that make students think critically about how to optimize data. “It’s a different experience,” he said. Chelst said analytics and operations research are some of the fastest-growing job fields today and can be applied to a variety of interests.  

A Wayne State University program to help nurture budding scientists has been so successful, the National Institutes of Health has given it an additional $3.6 million in funding, which will enable it to grow and run at least another five years. The Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) is designed to support underrepresented students and help keep them engaged in the college experience. The IMSD began in 1978 as the Minority Biomedical Research Support program led by Joseph Dunbar, associate vice president for research at Wayne State. Dunbar is still deeply involved in the IMSD program and said the goals are to facilitate the “entry, persistence, and success” of minority students majoring in science, ultimately guiding them to pursue careers in academics and scientific research. Dunbar said when the grant was renewed in 2011, WSU instituted yearly evaluations to measure the progress of both the students and the program. Dunbar has used that feedback to refine the program’s offerings. Over the last five years, the data shows that students in the IMSD program have a grade-point average that is between .7 to 1.0 higher than students who don’t participate. IMSD student graduation rates are at 87 percent, compared to 21 percent for the control group of underrepresented minority, non-IMSD students at WSU with comparable high school GPAs and standardized test scores. In addition, 64 percent of the IMSD students have gone on to pursue post-graduate degrees, compared to just 11 percent of the non-IMSD group. “We introduce them to university life—how to navigate it, what to expect, financial literacy, where services are, et cetera,” Dunbar explained. “The most important thing is to give students a sense of community and support.”    

At Wayne State University, researchers hoped to make a breakthrough for heart attack victims. By finding a way to deliver oxygen directly to the heart through the bloodstream, they believed they could minimize the amount of permanent heart damage a patient might incur. But an environmentally-minded researcher saw an opportunity to expand the technology. He spent 15 years refining it and eventually discovered a breakthrough for wastewater treatment. He developed the nano gas process. His mechanism joined with Concept Equity Group to create Nano Gas Technologies, Inc., a solution to the fundamental issue in the world of hydraulic fracturing. The vast majority of oil companies have been injecting wastewater directly into the ground, through the soil, deep below water resources, and into porous underground rock formations. This practice is coming under heightened environmental scrutiny and some operations have begun recycling the water using dissolved gas flotation, an expensive, high maintenance, and chemical-intensive practice that fixes gas bubbles onto oil droplets, raising them to the surface and making them easy to remove.  

Wayne State University has named Keith Whitfield as its new provost – the person in charge of academics at the school and the No. 2 executive behind President M. Roy Wilson. Whitfield, vice provost for academic affairs at Duke University and an expert on aging among African Americans, will start June 1. The WSU Board of Governors approved Whitfield’s appointment Friday. "We are delighted that Keith Whitfield will be joining the university,” Wilson said in a press release. “We could not have hoped for a better-qualified candidate for the provost's position, and we look forward to his guidance and leadership in all academic matters at Wayne State University.” Whitfield also holds Duke appointments as professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, research professor in the Department of Geriatric Medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and senior fellow in the Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. He also is co-director of the Center on Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research. “I am very honored to have been selected to serve as the next provost of Wayne State,” said Whitfield in a press release. “It is clear that the university is working on great things, and I hope to provide the leadership needed to realize its ambitions.”     Other media mentionshttp://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2016/04/01/wayne-state-university-names-provost/82531896/http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160401/NEWS/160409985/wayne-state-hires-duke-university-exec-as-next-provosthttp://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/04/prweb13312018.htmhttps://www.insidehighered.com/people/2016/04/01/provosthttp://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2016/04/vice-provost-keith-whitfield-named-wayne-state-provost

Midtown sees about 3 million visitors a year, according to statistics gathered by Midtown Detroit. About 60,000 people work at institutions like the Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University and Henry Ford Hospital, in addition to the small businesses. Roughly 30,000 college students attend Wayne State University and the College for Creative Studies. And, 20,600 people live in the Midtown area, according to 2015 numbers. Add to that national attractions like the Detroit Institute of Arts and it's not hard to see that Midtown is meant to serve a bigger area than just those who live within the borders. With recent talk of zoning changes in Midtown, it's possible those trying to push the neighborhood toward something of a shopping district might inch closer to ideals slowly taking form: Getting people on the street, giving them parks and store fronts and cafes, and getting outsiders talking about Detroit.  

A Wayne State University program has received a $400,000 grant to design an environmental project aimed at boosting the health and quality of life of Detroit residents. The Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation is giving the grant to the Detroit Revitalization Fellows. Fellows representing the Belle Isle Conservancy, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and EcoWorks will tackle the project. Detroit Revitalization Fellows, a program of Wayne State’s Office of Economic Development, consists of mid-career leaders working on civic, community and economic development endeavors.                 Other media mentionshttp://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/a56446d077fd48c3845df934fa9b77d4/MI--Wayne-State-Environmental-Granthttp://www.pendletontimespost.com/view/story/a56446d077fd48c3845df934fa9b77d4/MI--Wayne-State-Environmental-Grant/#.Vv0VTfkgtD8http://baytownsun.com/article_76fdf1bd-8055-5968-9af6-c96e33860eca.htmlhttp://www.wilx.com/news/headlines/Wayne-State-program-gets-grant-for-environmental-project-374065581.htmlhttp://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=8255&DateTime=3%2F31%2F2016+5%3A21%3A38+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=8255&playclip=True&RefPage=http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=4405&DateTime=3%2F31%2F2016+6%3A04%3A01+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=4405&playclip=True&RefPage=http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/state-region/wayne-state-program-gets-grant-for-environmental-project/article_118c1be6-e74e-56be-80fc-e946df86ceca.html

Quicken Loans Inc. founder Dan Gilbert said 3,100 of his workers live in Detroit, up from the 77 who lived in the Motor City when Gilbert first moved his online mortgage firm downtown in August 2010. If they could find a place to live in the city, “there would probably be another 2,000 ...,” Gilbert said. The revelation came Wednesday night in front of an estimated 700 people who filled a Wayne State University auditorium to hear the billionaire talk about his Detroit roots and his vision for the city. Gilbert earned his law degree from Wayne State by attending night classes  while delivering pizzas and then selling real estate, mainly in Southfield. That real estate business led him to what would become Quicken Loans, he told the crowd. The event was a wide-ranging question-and-answer session, moderated by WSU Law School dean, Jocelyn Benson, in which Gilbert said he is a third-generation Detroiter, whose father owned an east-side bar.               Other media mentionshttp://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2016/03/31/gilbert-detroit-wayne-benson-quicken-blight/82460736/http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20160331/NEWS01/160339982/dan-gilbert-says-detroit-is-home-for-3100-of-his-employeeshttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/31/dan-gilbert-says-detroit-is-home-for-more-of-his-e/http://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article69160592.htmlhttp://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article69160592.htmlhttp://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2785&DateTime=3%2F31%2F2016+6%3A09%3A36+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2785&playclip=True&RefPage=

After the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history, Detroit is pushing for a comeback, driven in part by local businesses with a belief in the city's future. Resources are also plentiful for current and aspiring business owners. TechTown, which is now a nonprofit, was founded in 2000 by Wayne State University, General Motors and Henry Ford Health System and serves as the city's innovation hub. From 2008 through 2015, there have been nearly 1,600 companies served and more than 1,200 jobs created. More than $122 million has been raised in funding by TechTown's companies in that time frame. TechTown rents space to start-ups, connects them to capital resources and accelerates and incubates companies via several programs with varying focuses, including technology, health care and traditional brick-and-mortar retail. The space is a renovated former Chevrolet facility where the Corvette was designed, and that culture of innovation is still present. "The biggest opportunity is the low barrier to entry," said TechTown president and CEO Ned Staebler, who added, "You can get up with a relatively low amount of capital due to low real estate costs in a relatively short amount of time."   

After nearly 30 years of leadership in the battle against sickle cell disease (SCD) in Michigan, Dr. Wanda Whitten-Shurney will now play an expanded national role in shaping federal policy and guidelines aimed at lessening the impact of the genetically triggered blood disorder. During her 29 years as a clinician specializing in treating Detroit-area children with SCD, Whitten-Shurney has worked relentlessly to help kids and their families manage the chronic ailment while enjoying healthier, more active lives. Now she’s being recognized for her long career as a pediatric physician who specializes in treating SCD. Whitten-Shurney, assistant clinical professor of Pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, will be formally installed as a member of the committee during its next regular meeting in June.     Other media mentionshttp://patch.com/michigan/bloomfield-mi/detroit-pediatrician-awarded-seat-national-sickle-cell-disease-advisory-committee

Wayne State University’s Forum on Contemporary Issues in Society (FOCIS) is welcoming Harvard professor Robert Putnam to Detroit today to discuss the growing gap between rich and poor, and the impact it has on opportunity, especially for children. Irvin D. Reid, director of FOCIS, commented about the program’s topic. “The earlier you address this gap between the children of rich and poor, the better off it will be for the society, starting even with daycare, with preschool. Mayor Duggan is doing the same thing in terms of community college opportunities here in the city of Detroit.” Today’s FOCIS discussion, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 10:30 a.m. at Wayne State’s Community Arts Auditorium.        Other media mentionshttp://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=2785&DateTime=3%2F28%2F2016+6%3A14%3A31+AM&LineNumber=&MediaStationID=2785&playclip=True&RefPage=

A new study shows that knowledge of government surveillance causes people to self-censor their dissenting opinions online. The study, published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, studied the effects of subtle reminders of mass surveillance on its subjects. Elizabeth Stoycheff, lead researcher of the study and assistant professor at Wayne State University, is disturbed by her findings. “So many people I've talked with say they don't care about online surveillance because they don't break any laws and don't have anything to hide. And I find these rationales deeply troubling,” she said. She said that participants who shared the “nothing to hide” belief, those who tended to support mass surveillance as necessary for national security, were the most likely to silence their minority opinions. “The fact that the 'nothing to hide' individuals experience a significant chilling effect speaks to how online privacy is much bigger than the mere lawfulness of one's actions. It's about a fundamental human right to have control over one's self-presentation and image, in private, and now, in search histories and metadata,” she said.