Dr. M. Roy Wilson officially became the 12th president of Wayne State University April 4 at a ceremony hosted by the university's Board of Governors and attended by faculty as well as regional leaders, educators and heads of colleges in the metro area and from across the country. The event formally marked the beginning of what Wilson calls an era of "opportunity and access" for the university and the community. In his presidential address, Wilson struck a chord with the audience in the packed Community Arts Auditorium when he went back to his childhood days, almost choking as he described the challenges of his childhood and what his parents went through. "I do not take for granted the breadth of experiences I've had throughout my life," Wilson said. "I feel truly fortunate to have experienced the challenges of the urban core culture, to have been immersed in diversity at both the local and global level, to have experienced the thrill of discovery of new knowledge and educational excellence where the highest of achievements for the public good was an expectation." Casting Wayne State as a place of light, Wilson warned that the university should not fall prey to what he calls "the fallacy of false choices," as he sought to define what it must become now. "We must reject as false the choice between being a university of opportunity and access or a nationally prominent research university," Wilson said. "We must reject as false the choice between offering a broad liberal arts education or a more skilled-oriented education that is responsive to the specific workforce needs of the state."

Actor Tom Skerritt will return to Wayne State University for a conversation on stage at the Hilberry Theatre. The question and answer session, titled "A Conversation with Apple Award Recipient Tom Skerritt," will be at 5:30 p.m. April 22. Skerritt is a Detroit native and former Wayne State student. He has appeared in many films and television shows since his start in the early '60s.

British Ambassador of the United States Sir Peter Westmacott delivered a lecture at Wayne State University on Wednesday titled "Transatlantic Alliance: Security through Prosperity." Westmacott talked with Craig Fahle about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

Sir Peter Westmacott, the British Ambassador to the United States, talked with WDET's David Cassleman about the case for implementing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership currently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States. Westmacott speaks at noon today at Wayne State University's Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. The title of his talk is "The Transatlantic Alliance: Security through Prosperity."

Dustin Shillcox was told he could never move or walk again. With the flick of a switch, that all changed. The switch turned an electric stimulator, which had been implanted into his spine. And even after two years of being paralyzed from the chest down, he noticed almost immediately that he could voluntarily move his right leg, toes and ankle. In addition to Shillcox and the case that inspired him, two other young men with complete paralysis have undergone the same procedure. All have gained voluntary movement in their legs, according to a new study published in the journal Brain Tuesday. Neurological experts not involved with the research were similarly impressed. Dr. Hazem Eltahawy, assistant professor of neurosurgery at Wayne State University, said the finding "invites optimism that this is not a complete injury that has no prognosis for recovery." "If this is true and reproducible, I think that would be the first time to demonstrate you can achieve some voluntary control across an injured spinal cord," he said.

WDET's Sandra Svoboda talked about Detroit's bankruptcy filing and, in particular, the total amount of debt stated in the filings. Noted civil rights and public policy experts convened at Wayne State University for a conference titled "Bankruptcy and Beyond: Organizing for Change in Distressed Cities." The two-day conference was held April 7-8 at the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights.

In recognition of April as National Volunteer Month, TV 20 is highlighting volunteers who are making a big difference in people's lives by giving back to their community. Reporter Jorge Avellan visited with Wayne State University student Sean Shepard as he was tutoring a Detroit Public Schools (DPS) student. WSU students are volunteering as tutors at about a dozen DPS locations offering one-on-one instruction. District officials say the program is helping the literacy effort. "We have noticed a major difference with our Wayne State tutors helping our students," says Sherrell Hobbs, Golightly Education Center principal. "Not only have they helped to increase our literacy rate with our students, we see our students have so much enthusiasm here at the school. It is unbelievable."

One psychologist described it as education's holy grail. Another called it "the very measure of learning itself." They were talking about the transfer of learning. Such transfer occurs in its most cognitively valuable forms when students draw on something they learned in one context, ideally by generalizing its core principles, and apply it appropriately to a situation that is far different from the original. For example, a student in a military-¬history course might learn about a general who attacked by dividing his army into many small groups so they could safely move through terrain infested with land mines. In a biology course that student might learn how a doctor treats a tumor by using many low doses of radiation to damage the tumor while preserving the tissue. The underlying strategy was the same. While it is a longstanding goal, transfer of learning has gained renewed appeal as critics press institutions to prove the worth of a college education. At a recent conference, a team of researchers from George Washington, Oakland, Seton Hall, and Wayne State universities described how some approaches to teaching writing in general-education courses can help produce gains in students' ability to transfer their knowledge. The researchers found encouraging signs of writing-skills transfer after the first year of college. The track rec¬ord after two years, though, was less hopeful. Still, the idea of transferrable knowledge continues to draw many faculty members' interest - and skepticism.

Wayne State University is hosting a Criminal Justice Job Fair today from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Student Center Building ballroom. The event is open to current college students and graduates interested in exploring career opportunities with various organizations including federal, state, and local police, probation, corrections agencies, juvenile justice, counseling agencies and private companies.

More than a year ago, the Wayne State University Board of Governors approached M. Roy Wilson about becoming the next president. It wasn't the first time Wilson had thought about Wayne State. "I had had conversations with a colleague and told them that if ever I was to lead a university, it would be one like Wayne State," Wilson said Friday. As he was formally installed as WSU's 12th president, Wilson talked about how his academic path mirrors Wayne State's role as a higher education institution. He said Wayne State must be both an institution of access and high-level research. "My own experiences (show) that different paths need not be oppositional," Wilson said, adding he is launching a new strategic planning process and will hire a Detroit firm to help the university plan for its future. "Wayne State University is a place of light. So let that light shine, for that young boy in east Detroit ... or the girl in a Midwestern town ... the young men and women from other countries who come here ... let it shine in pride of who we were and what we do. It is our time, our responsibility. Let's make sure the yet unwritten chapters of the history of Wayne State University are the best ones yet." He reviewed the history of the university but said he's looking forward to what's still to come. "There's a future Wayne State that will be different in so many ways than the present day. Now it is our time to move Wayne State forward."

As General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra faced congressional panels last week, she may well have felt like it was a firing squad. The members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's oversight panel grilled her, demanding answers about why it took the automaker more than a decade to recall 2.6 million vehicles over a faulty ignition switch that has been linked to 13 deaths. "I think she's been amazing. It's been a textbook performance," said Matt Seeger, dean of Wayne State University's College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts who teaches crisis communication. "She has managed to humanize this and be responsive. She's been extremely calm and thoughtful. She hasn't gotten angry - even though the questions in some cases have been politically motivated."

Announced on June 6 of last year, Wayne State University has plans to rebuild and rename its baseball field after legendary Detroit Tigers broadcasting legend Ernie Harwell. Split into two parts, the first phase includes a new baseball stadium that seats about 500 people at an estimated cost of $500,000 dollars, all looking to be raised by donations. With the plans to break ground this spring, the raised total sits around $300,000, according to Wayne State University director of athletics Rob Fournier. "My hope is that, if we can finish up the phase one fundraising by July 1, that would give us time to get a majority of the building started before the winter of 2014-15." At the time of the announcement last June, Wayne State had already raised $209,000 internally for the first phase of the project.

Is NHTSA tough enough? Not according to Joan Claybrook, a one-time Ralph Nader protégé who headed the U.S. vehicle safety agency from 1977 until 1981 and now works as a consumer advocate in her position as president-emeritus of watchdog group Public Citizen. In Detroit to talk to Wayne State University Law School students this week, Claybrook, labeled the Dragon Lady 30 years ago by auto-industry insiders forced to square off against her over safety issues, says the ongoing General Motors ignition-switch recall scandal has put the spotlight on NHTSA's own defects: mainly lack of leadership, funding and legislative teeth. "You have to act like a cop on the beat," she says of the role of NHTSA administrator, but without naming names says those at the top of the safety agency too often have been unwilling to wield the billy club. "Look, people are going to hate you," Claybrook says. "GM hates me. I was nicknamed the Dragon Lady. That's OK, I didn't mind."

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson was a guest on The Craig Fahle Show on the occasion of the April 4th inauguration. President Wilson talked about his first eight months at the helm and his plans for the university's future.

Ron Sims, former Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Carol O'Cleireacain, former senior fellow at The Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said "Detroit is not alone" in its financial woes. They talked about lessons learned from cities across the nation and discussions that will occur at next week's Wayne State University Law School conference. "Detroit Bankruptcy and Beyond: Organizing for Change in Distressed Cities," takes place April 7 and 8 at the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium. It will explore lessons learned from cities in similar financial situations as Detroit.

Getting acquainted with a new couple spurs passionate feelings about your own partner, new research shows. "What's important is that it allows for deep conversation," says Richard Slatcher, assistant professor of psychology at Wayne State University. "When you and your partner are opening up to this other couple and getting to know them ... the extent to which they respond to you in a way that conveys understanding and is validating increases your feelings of passionate love toward your own partner," Slatcher says.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson was interviewed about this week's inauguration events set to begin on Thursday. He also commented about Gov. Rick Snyder's proposed budget for higher education. Inauguration events are scheduled to begin today with the official ceremony on Friday.

Peter Lichtenberg, director of Wayne State's Institute of Gerontology, is quoted extensively in a piece about caregiving for older adults. "Caregivers really do have to become educated about the conditions affecting their parent," Lichtenberg says. "By being involved, you can see changes like frailty or loss of weight before it becomes a crisis." Lichtenberg recommends that if you can't be there to support them, work with other family members, friends, or neighbors to keep an eye on them, or look into case management, which many nurses do, even managing and hiring additional caregivers if needed. Whether you help your parents stay in their own home, or make a decision that some kind of senior or assisted living would be more appropriate, they will still need your support. "You need to be involved across all placements," says Lichtenberg, who sees a lot of variability in the booming business of senior living options. "You need to check them out." The best ones, he says, may be expensive, but they can enhance longevity. The WSU Institute of Gerontology website is included in the story as a resource: www.iog.wayne.edu.

Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson was a guest on the Paul W. Smith show this morning talking with guest host Steve Courtney about this week's inauguration activities. Other topics included the collaborative relationship with the state's other research universities, Michigan State and the University of Michigan, and challenges facing Wayne State and higher education.

An episode of Detroit Public Television's series 'Discover the D' visits the Midtown Detroit campus of Wayne State University, presenting Detroit as a college town. Featured are students from the Department of Communication, WSU's Jazz Big Band, the Opera Workshop in the Schaver Music Recital Hall, the Dance Workshop Company in the Allesee Dance Theatre, members of the fencing team and students in the School of Medicine's Kado Family Clinical Skills Center.