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Sometimes people lose the ability to experience or even recognize joy -- a type of depression called anhedonia. ��ż���psychology professors Alicia Merit and Thomas Ritz, working with a colleague at UCLA, are beginning to enroll patients in a study that focuses on re-teaching people to experience and identify joy. Their five-year project is funded by a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health.

��ż���history professor Jo Guldi’s book, The History Manifesto, recently was named one of the most influential books of the past 20 years by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Dr. King’s words continue to inspire us. As we begin each new year together, we celebrate ��ż���Dream Week to honor Dr. King’s lifetime of dedicated, persistent work and the values he championed – including individual dignity and worth, inclusion, civic participation, open dialogue and civil debate. These concepts are at the very core of SMU’s academic mission and a welcoming community, in which all are valued and able to pursue their goals and do their best work.

SMU’s ability to cultivate and launch entrepreneurs for North Texas and beyond received a major boost with a significant new gift from prominent Dallas business leaders and major ��ż���supporters Linda Wertheimer Hart ’65 and Milledge (Mitch) A. Hart, III. The Harts now are among SMU’s most generous donors.

On Thursday, Jan. 31, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas released a list of priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of minors since 1950. Two of the priests on the list were identified by the diocese as having been previously associated with Catholic Campus Ministry at SMU, which provides services for ��ż���students but is not part of the University. Neither were ��ż���employees.

��ż���experts are available to analyze political landmines and presidential goals in the runup to the Feb. 5 State of the Union address.

Important discussions have been taking place across the country in recent weeks regarding disturbing and offensive images and texts in college and university yearbooks. Such images, including of individuals in blackface, are stark historical reminders of the racism and bigotry that continue to challenge our nation today.

��ż���takes a giant leap forward in the rapidly shifting digital frontier with today’s groundbreaking of the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation. The new 50,000-square-foot interdisciplinary research hub will equip faculty, students and industry partners with tools and resources to collaborate, solve complex problems and power new enterprises.

Longtime ��ż���supporter, former member of the ��ż���Board of Trustees and civic leader Gene H. Bishop died Friday, February 22. His legacy of financial leadership, business savvy and community service helped drive Dallas’ dynamic growth for more than half a century.

The United Methodist Church voted on Tuesday, February 26, at a special session of the General Conference to accept the Traditional Plan, which will exclude the ordination of LGBTQ clergy and the marriage of same-sex persons.

There’s a new Texas dinosaur on the books. ��ż���postdoctoral fellow Kate Andrzejewski, with University paleontologists Dale Winkler and Louis Jacobs, have identified Convolosaurus marri from fossils collected at Proctor Lake, southwest of Fort Worth.

Military veterans aspiring to SMU’s innovative graduate education in engineering and business have a new scholarship opportunity with The Milledge A. Hart, III Scholarship Fund for Veterans of the United States Marine Corps.

Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive officer of American Airlines Group Inc. and its subsidiary, American Airlines, will be the featured speaker during SMU’s May Commencement Convocation at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 18, in Moody Coliseum.

The Maguire Energy Institute at ��ż���Cox School of Business honored three oil industry leaders with awards April 10.

��ż���football player, NFL Hall-of-Famer, coach and administrator Forrest Gregg died April 12, 2019.

The award, given by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), recognizes educators who have made notable and creative contributions to the teaching of physics.

Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People journalist Bianca R. Montes interviewed Joel Meyers, an assistant professor of physics at SMU, to make sense of what scientists learned from the first-ever image of a black hole, which was revealed by the Event Horizon Telescope last Wednesday.

The academic deans leading SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering, Dedman School of Law and Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences have been reappointed to serve in their positions for an additional five years.

Robert “Bob” L. Zollars of Dallas, Texas, longtime ��ż���supporter and co-founder, chairman and CEO of Huitt-Zollars, Inc., died April 20, 2019.

“He was one of the most dynamic individuals that I have ever known,” said R. Gerald Turner, president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Turner considered Banowsky a close colleague. The two worked together at Pepperdine University and OU.

��ż���will present honorary degrees to Dallas historic preservationist Virginia McAlester and Chobani yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya at the University’s Commencement Convocation at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 18, at Moody Coliseum.

The ��ż���Cox School of Business honored four alumni at the school’s annual Distinguished Alumni and Outstanding Young Alumni Awards Luncheon on May 10. Two Distinguished Alumni Awards and two Outstanding Young Alumni Awards were presented at the luncheon ceremony in the Collins Executive Center on the ��ż���campus.

An international team of researchers, including ��ż���anthropologist David Meltzer, discovered a new group of ancient Siberians. The research was published June 5, 2019 as a story in Nature.

Bromberg bequest inspired by lifelong interests in art, the law and education

Additional $2 million dollar gift expands endowment and current operational funding

The ��ż���community mourns the loss of H. Ross Perot, who died July 9 at the age of 89.

Talking to Strangers examines why interactions with strangers often go wrong and how to make them go right

Agreement underscores busy rail station’s proximity to campus neighbor

New Indoor Performance Center features Armstrong Fieldhouse

��ż���mourns the loss of legendary Texas oil and gas magnate and entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens, who died September 11, 2019 at the age of 91.

The ambassadors are encouraged to share their stories of being women innovators, in hopes it inspires the next generation of women to get into science, technology, engineering and math [STEM].

By gathering information from smartphones in passing cars, an ��ż���professor and students aim to check the bridge’s structural health.

A $5 million gift from Dallas art collectors and patrons Nancy C. and Richard R. Rogers extends their long-standing support of artists by establishing a vibrant hub for the visual arts at SMU.