ASU's year in review 2018

New partnerships, breakthrough discoveries and student success made it a year to remember

biodesign c
December 14, 2018

Arizona State University took great strides forward in 2018, cementing partnerships to further student access and success, facilitating groundbreaking scientific research and earning prestigious awards and grant funding. The university snagged its fourth-straight "No. 1 in Innovation" title. It cut the ribbon on Biodesign C. It even renamed a college.

And above all, Sun Devil students, faculty and staff remained committed to serving their community. Here's a look back at the top stories of 2018.

Discoveries

ASU researchers and their teams pushed knowledge forward this year, publishing work in many fields, including microplastic pollution, nanomedicine, the gig economy and man's best friend.

  • Lisa Gunter with shelter dog Cera

    ASU goes to the dogs

    It was a year for canines: ASU researchers found the cute puppy formula, gathered data on shelter dog welfare and breeds and earned a grant to study a dog cancer vaccine.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • ASU student researchers Taija Hendrix and Emily Webb look at survey results

    Funny bone: Student survey finds majority appreciate humor

    ASU researchers found that science students appreciate when instructors tell jokes in class, but that female and male students differ in what topics they find funny or offensive.

    Photo by Tom Roberto

  • cartoon nanorobots destroying tumors

    Cancer-fighting nanorobots destroy tumors

    ASU scientists, in collaboration with researchers from the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully programmed nanorobots to shrink tumors by cutting off their blood supply.

    Cartoon graphic by Baoquan Ding and Hao Yan

  • clock

    Why Arizona opts out of daylight saving time

    Multiple theories abound as to why Arizona is independent from daylight saving time. To get to the truth, ASU Now asked Calvin Schermerhorn, a history professor in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies.

  • Don't throw those contact lenses down the drain

    Every year, about 45 million Americans rely on contact lenses to see the world more clearly. Every day, these plastic lenses are tossed away. ASU scientists are reporting the first nationwide study that shows consumers may be unknowingly contributing to plastic pollution.

    Photo courtesy of CDC

  • gym

    What's new in the updated Physical Activity Guidelines?

    Matt Buman, associate professor in ASU’s College of Health Solutions, served as one of nine special consultants for the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report.

    Photo by ASU Now

  • Women earn 18 percent less than men in online job market

    A team at ASU analyzed a huge data set from an online labor market and discovered that women earn less than men in technology work — primarily because of the women’s choices in seeking jobs.

  • stars

    Dusting for fingerprints of the first stars in the universe

    After 12 years of experimental effort, a team of scientists, led by ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration astronomer Judd Bowman, has detected the evidence of the earliest stars in the universe. 

    Image by N.R.Fuller/National Science Foundation

Arizona Impact

From the 100th anniversary of an infamous Arizona shootout to the groundbreaking of an innovative new concept in intergenerational living, ASU is embedded in both Arizona's past and future. This year saw the expansion of ASU Prep, an initiative for resilient cities and powerful steps forward in how we educate our young people. 

  • mirabella

    ASU breaks ground on Mirabella

    Mirabella at ASU is a 20-story senior living facility on the Tempe campus. The new concept in intergenerational living and lifelong learning will link the ASU community to the residents, who also will be able to take classes.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • power brothers

    Shots fired in 1918 Arizona still resonate 

    This is the story of the Power brothers. One of the West’s most amazing tales, it’s mostly unknown except by Arizonans of a certain age. And it began with a bloody shootout at dawn a hundred years ago.

    Photo courtesy of the Power Brothers Notebook housed at ASU's Special Collections

  • ASU Prep expands into South Phoenix in merger with Phoenix Collegiate Academy

    ASU Prep South Phoenix PCA opened with nearly 700 students in kindergarten through 12th grade on three campuses south of Broadway Road. The school was formerly Phoenix Collegiate Academy, which was launched in 2009 by three teachers, one of whom was an ASU graduate.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • ASU leading movement to change education system

    Calling the linear system of schooling archaic, ASU President Michael Crow said at the “Minding the Skills Gap: The Future of Education in the Future of Work" talk that people should be able to access education at any point in their lives so they can shift from career to career.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • aps canals

    5 growth areas for Phoenix and the engineers who are making it happen

    The Valley of the Sun is uniquely positioned to seize upon discoveries that are happening at ASU, especially at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering with more than 450 faculty and researchers in six multidisciplinary schools.

    Photo courtesy of SRP

  • ASU student selected as 2018 Truman Scholar

    ASU senior and Prescott City Council member Alexa Scholl was one of 59 college students from around the country to be named as a 2018 Truman Scholar. The scholarship comes with as much as $30,000 toward graduate study.

    Courtesy photo

  • Teacher leading yoga exercises

    ASU's teaching students learn their craft with an eye toward change from the inside out

    While the nation’s schools continue to struggle to retain teachers, many Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College alumni are finding reasons to stay, advancing their careers and finding joy in classrooms.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • New ASU initiative to focus on building resilience in Maricopa County communities

    With a grant from Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, ASU scientists have begun a new initiative that aims to make the people and communities of Maricopa County more resilient so that when a shock hits, they can get back to their normal lives as quickly as possible.

    Photo by Margaret Hinrichs/ASU Decision Theater

ASU News

It was a year of change for the university — though that No. 1 in innovation ranking stayed the same. ASU unveiled the newly renamed Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, introduced Sanjeev Khagram as the new dean and director-general of the Thunderbird School of Global Management and inked a partnership to extend student access to Uber's top drivers.

Sun Devil Life

Campus life at ASU saw a lot of exciting changes in 2018, among them a complex of brand-new living and working spaces for Greek Life members on the Tempe campus, a unified home for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the introduction of Dutch, ASU Police's new puppy who will grow to be a comfort animal for crime victims.

Solutions

How do online biology students get lab experience? Solved. How does a classic car enthusiast keep his Thunderbird from overheating? Solved. Finding answers to problems facing our community and the world remains a strong focus for ASU's scholars and students.

  • gsi

    Ethnographer describes navigating 'white spaces'

    Every day, black people have to dispel stereotypes and convince everyone that they’re worthy; it’s hard work, every day, according to Elijah Anderson, a Yale University sociology professor who spoke at ASU.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • thunderbird

    Making Thunderbirds cooler than ever

    Most people go to college to broaden their horizons. U.S. Air Force veteran Christopher Ames went back to Arizona State University with a laser focus to solve one particular problem: His 1956 Ford Thunderbird was overheating.

    Photo by Ken Fagan/ASU Now

  • For the last time, sitting is NOT the new smoking

    Catchy but inaccurate health headlines can find endless life on social media. College of Health Solutions Associate Professor Matt Buman collaborated on an investigation that debunks one insidious health myth: that sitting is the new smoking.

  • Former Mexico President Vicente Fox speaks at the ASU GSV Summit

    ASU + GSV Summit wraps up with focus on transformative powers of education

    Mexico has progressed rapidly over the past generation thanks to better education, according to Vicente Fox, a businessman and the former president of Mexico. Fox, who served from 2000 to 2006, delivered the final keynote address at the ASU + GSV Summit in San Diego.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • ASU Online biology course is first to offer virtual-reality lab

    An online class at ASU lets students draw blood and manipulate DNA — in virtual reality. Students in the general biology course are using VR headsets to complete their lab requirement as part of a new partnership among ASU Online, Google and Labster. 

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • drilling rig

    ASU on the forefront of a Great Transition

    There is a Great Transition underway, a colossal shift from fossil fuels to wind, plants, natural processes and our sun. ASU is tackling energy research with more than a hundred experts working on every aspect imaginable.

    Photo by Ron Wurzer/Courtesy of Shell

  • Michael crow

    Science in the spotlight at Biodesign C grand opening

    Biodesign C, a five-story, 191,000-plus-square-foot building, gives scientists even more space for groundbreaking research, with high-quality wet lab space arranged in an open layout that encourages collaboration. It will also be home to the world’s first compact X-ray free-electron laser.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

Global Engagement

Between a stacked lineup of Fulbright and Cambridge scholarship winners, the opening of the Ambassador Barbara Barrett & Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center at ASU and visits from world-renowned journalists and philosophers, it's no wonder ASU was also named the top choice among public universities for international students this year.

  • map

    ASU again a top producer of Fulbright student winners

    ASU had 14 students in the U.S. government’s flagship educational exchange program for 2017-18. Among public universities, ASU ranked seventh in student Fulbright awards, while among all research institutions, ASU was 23rd. 

  • Barrett and OConnor Washington Center

    Opening week at the Barrett & O’Connor Washington Center

    ASU Now live-blogged from the opening week at the Ambassador Barbara Barrett & Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center at ASU. Check out highlights, photos and video of the panels and events celebrating ASU's new home in Washington, D.C.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • international students

    ASU is the top public university of choice for international students

    ASU is ranked as the top public university of choice for international students according to the 2018 Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. This is the fourth consecutive year that ASU has topped all public universities on the list.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • wwii museum

    ASU, National WWII Museum launch new master's degree

    ASU and the National WWII Museum have announced the launch of a new online master’s degree program in World War II studies. The fully accredited online Master of Arts degree will provide 30 hours of coursework taught by the world’s top WWII scholars from both ASU and the museum.

    Photo courtesy of the National WWII Museum in New Orleans

  • charity bhebhe

    Barrett senior wins one of world's most prestigious scholarships

    Charity Bhebhe, a senior from Zimbabwe, found out she beat about 5,800 other applicants from around the world to earn a Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

    Photo by Nicole Greason/ASU

  • anderson cooper

    ASU honors CNN anchor Anderson Cooper with annual Cronkite Award

    Anderson Cooper, the anchor of CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” and a correspondent for “60 Minutes” on CBS, was the recipient of the 2018 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • medieval processional

    ASU scholars save priceless manuscripts from obscurity

    When news came that a monastery was to be permanently shuttered, a group of ASU-led researchers spent years fighting to preserve its treasure trove of previously unknown texts. 

    Photo by Volker Schier

  • Shocking announcement of world’s 1st gene-edited babies ushers in brave new world

    ASU science historian and bioethicist J. Benjamin Hurlbut offered a long-view societal perspective to address the safety, risks and ethics of the newly announced — and unregulated — gene-editing of infant Chinese twins.

    Photo by J. Benjamin Hurlbut/ASU

Creativity

Poetry. Art. Needlework? Sun Devils find creative expression in many forms. This year they found it in music therapy for a senior center, making customized T-shirts at Innovation Day and, for one professor and poet, in a MacArthur "genius" grant.

  • Natalie Diaz

    Poet Natalie Diaz wins MacArthur 'genius' grant

    ASU poet Natalie Diaz was named one of 25 winners of this year's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships, commonly known as MacArthur "genius" grants. She explores how language can exist in our bodies and shape identity.

    Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

  • ASU President Michael Crow onstage

    Learning across lifespan — anytime, anywhere, any age

    “You cannot derive the kind of change you want. You have to build a new model,” said ASU President Michael M. Crow in a March TED Talk-style discussion about the university’s vision of the future.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • ASU music-therapy students help bring joy

    Music-therapy students from ASU spent six weeks during spring semester working with clients at the Tempe Adult Day Health Services center sparking memories and encouraging movement and laughter.

    Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

  • New ASU Art Museum director wants to create an inclusive experience

    Miki Garcia wants to pull the curtain back on the formality of art exhibits by encouraging a more interactive experience. Also this year, ASU partnered with LACMA to increase diversity in museum professionals.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek at ASU

    Learning with a Nobel laureate

    Of the 18,891 classes offered at ASU, PHY 498: Workshop in Perception Technology stands out. It’s taught by theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek. It’s about color, and you have to know some stuff to take it (but not everything).

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • innovation day

    ASU to celebrate first Innovation Day

    The rankings proclaim it. The double-decker bus wraps brag about it. And the ASU community came together to celebrate Innovation Day on Nov. 16, in a university-wide celebration of the efforts of faculty, staff and students to try new things and take on grand challenges.

    Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

  • needlework

    The hidden history of needlework and rhetoric

    Professor Maureen Goggin of the Department of English explored early 20th-century needlework items made by feminists and suffragettes to pull together the strands of rhetoric, activism and delicate handiwork with not-so-delicate messages.

Entrepreneurship

The entrepreneurial spirit of ASU was off the charts this year: Startups crushed it at Demo Day and the Innovation Open, the university moved up in the global patent rankings and scores of students made full use of ASU resources to launch their products and businesses.

  • hoolest

    Hoolest wins top prize at ASU Innovation Open

    Hoolest Performance Technologies, made up of three ASU engineering students, won the grand prize at the entrepreneurial competition, beating out four other student-led ventures.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

  • hands assembling nanotech under light

    ASU nanotechnology facility provides springboard for startups

    Most nanotechnology startups don’t have the money to buy the kinds of processing and testing equipment they need. Enter the NanoFab user facility on ASU’s Tempe campus.

    Photo by Marco-Alexis Chaira/ASU

  • Man and woman smiling

    ASU patent clinic helps brother-sister duo launch new household item

    ASU graduate Justin Hillsten and W. P. Carey School of Business senior Holly Hillsten — his sister and startup co-founder — debuted the DrainFunnel on Kickstarter in August.

  • ASU SkySong courtyard canopy

    ASU ranked No. 17 globally in patents

    ASU ranked No. 17 of all universities worldwide for U.S. patents awarded, according to a  report by the U.S. National Academy of Inventors and the Intellectual Property Owners Association. ASU earned 100 patents in 2017, up from 62 the previous year.

    Photo by Andy DeLisle/ASU

  • misters

    Cool partnership solves hot problem

    Local business Mr. Misters is working to bring the cooling experience of misting systems to boaters. During academic year 2017-18, Mr. Misters partnered with students at the Polytechnic School to develop misters for small watercraft.

    Photo courtesy of Tanner Woodward

  • la gattara

    ASU program is the cat's meow for community businesses

    Arizona Microcredit Initiative, a nonprofit organization whose members are all ASU undergraduates, strives to help local, underserved entrepreneurs start and run their businesses through business development workshops, one-on-one consulting and microloans.

    Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

  • Personal journeys lead ASU entrepreneurs to success

    For many entrepreneurs in the ASU community, the journey to success is personal. Many such startups created by the ASU community won thousands in funding for technology, devices and social programs at this year's Demo Day.

    Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

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