5 Things You Should Know About UMSL This Week

It’s summertime in St. Louis, but students at the University of Missouri–St. Louis are hardly kicking back. Summer session is well under way at UMSL, the largest university in the St. Louis area.

Our faculty, students and alumni are doing some exciting things. Here are five highlights of their hard work in this weekly roundup blog posting.

• The prolonged gloomy economy has forced many Americans to cope with turned-off utilities, eviction notices and wondering where their next meal will come from. College students are not immune. Robin Kimberlin, a resident of Wildwood, Mo., who earned her master’s degree in social work from UMSL in May, is ready to assist students as the new UMSL social worker.  To learn more about how she’ll aid students in crisis CLICK HERE.
  
  

• UMSL biology student Nicole “Nikki” Benjamin's confidence to overcome a hearing impairment and her stellar academic record earned her a $1,000 scholarship from the Missouri Business Leadership Network. Benjamin lives in Florissant, Mo. To read more about her inspiring story CLICK HERE.
  
  

• In October, Margaret Barton-Burke will join an elite group of health-care professionals when she’s inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing. The academy is composed of more than 1,800 nurse leaders in education, management, practice, policy and research. Barton-Burke, a resident of St. Louis, is the Mary Ann Lee Endowed Professor of Oncology Nursing at UMSL, and has been a pioneer in breast cancer research, especially among black women. To read more about Barton-Burke CLICK HERE.
  
  

• UMSL faculty also write timely commentaries about educational issues. The most recent one “In defense of the F-word in K-16 education,” was written by UMSL political scientist J. Martin Rochester, of Clayton, Mo.
  
  

• UMSL is home to the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center which showcases all sorts of dance and musical performance. The venue recently made ALIVE magazine’s annual “Hot List” of the 100 things to love about St. Louis. It was designated the Best Performing Arts Organization in St. Louis. Later this month, it’ll be ground zero for many of the world’s best a cappella voices. The St. Charles-based Ambassadors of Harmony, a 160-voice chorus, will headline the “Voices in Harmony” concert. Tickets are $24-$31. Visit touhill.org or call 314-516-4949 to order tickets.

UMSL is the largest university in the region. More than 16,000 students from 48 states and 62 countries are enrolled with 50,000 additional students enrolled in non-credit continuing education programs. It employs more than 1,400 full-time and part-time teaching and research faculty members. While its graduates have taken leadership roles nationally and internationally, their influence remains centered in the St. Louis region. More than 75 percent of UMSL’s 80,000 graduates still live and work in the region.