University of Arizona in the News

Forty-seven of the 197 American Bar Association accredited law schools, including the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, have received approval to use the JD-Next program in admissions. The examination, developed at the University of Arizona in 2019, is an innovative and equitable alternative to the traditional LSAT.

A team led by Joana Voigt and Christopher Hamilton at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory combined spacecraft images and measurements from ground-penetrating radar to reconstruct in three-dimensional detail every individual lava flow in Elysium Planitia. The extensive survey revealed and documented more than 40 volcanic events, with one of the largest flows infilling a valley named Athabasca Valles with almost 1,000 cubic miles of basalt.

Hospice workers have lessons to teach the rest of us about how to discuss death. In a new study, researchers led by University of Arizona associate professor of sociology Daniel Menchik spent eight months sitting in on team meetings at a hospice care facility that were also open to patients' families to learn how both groups talked to each other about the impending deaths of patients.

The University of Arizona-led GUSTO mission will send an aerostatic balloon the size of a football stadium into the stratosphere above the South Pole for 55 days to study the Interstellar Medium, the gas and dust between the stars.

Jaclyn Champagne, JASPER postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona, writes about how black holes form and what kinds of astrophysical neighborhoods they grow up in.

The University of Arizona marching band, "The Pride of Arizona," won the 2023 Sudler Trophy, awarded biennially by the Sousa Foundation to collegiate bands that demonstrate "the highest of musical standards and innovative marching routines and ideas, and which has made important contributions to the advancement of the performance standards of college marching bands over a number of years."

More than 3,600 international students from 127 different countries attend classes at the main University of Arizona campus in Tucson with more than 2,700 additional students earning degrees through the university's network of 16 microcampuses in 12 different countries. The microcampuses increase the university's visibility and influence abroad by serving as "a platform for publicity and support outreach activities across the country, strengthening the university's presence and impact," said Salil Gupta, chief advisor for South Asia at Arizona International.

Members of the Indigenous Women's Leadership Network, including University of Arizona professor of American Indian studies and arid lands resources sciences Karletta Chief, joined water managers from two countries, 30 tribes, seven states and countless other federal, state and local agencies last week to discuss how to address the Colorado River's structural deficit during the Colorado River Water Users Association meeting. "Many of our communities are matriarchal societies," Chief said.

Professor James Wyant, the founding dean and namesake of the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences, died Dec. 8. Wyant led groundbreaking research in a variety of fields including data storage, semiconductors, optical fabrication, and biomedicine. He also served as a professor, dean, business leader and philanthropist throughout his career, as well as president of two professional societies.

Sen. Mark Kelly has teamed up with former NFL and University of Arizona player Rob Gronkowski to promote legislation that tackles Valley fever, a type of fungal disease that has greatly affected Arizona.