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Campus news

Grilling on
game day

On the Friday before the historic second consecutive visit by ESPN GameDay, a producer looking for a local segment asked David Newman how he would describe his work with NDSU and his Barbecue Boot Camp program. Newman said, “North Dakota is all about agriculture and I want people to know that.”

Newman has taught barbecue techniques hundreds of times to thousands of people, so he was not unduly nervous to be live on national television. One hour and thirty eight minutes into the broadcast, ESPN anchor Chris Fowler calls out “Newman, what’s cookin’?” Several cuts of meat and several skewers of yellow and green vegetables, of course. Newman has been busy this fall. He’s also been named to an industry top 40 under 40 list, and been asked to bring his bootcamp program to a meeting of the national pork board in Austin, Texas, with a bunch of other “meat nerds.” It ain’t every day a North Dakotan teaches barbecue in Texas.

He says it’s nice to get recognized. But what he really wants to talk about is agriculture. “This thing about food knowledge is big. In my personal opinion, oil and energy and manufacturing have been major components in the U.S. over the last one hundred years. A hundred years from now it will be food and water that challenge our society. We have to bridge the gap between consumer and producers.”

New athletic
director, new
practice bubble

Matt Larsen became NDSU's 18th director of athletics in October, after spending 19 seasons at Stony Brook (N.Y.) University.

Larsen replaces Gene Taylor, who resigned after 13 seasons to become the deputy athletic director at the University of Iowa.

Larsen graduated from Stony Brook in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in biological sciences. He was a three-year starter at wide receiver for the football team. He earned a Master of Arts and Liberal Studies degree from Stony Brook in 1998 while serving as a graduate assistant coach for the football program and athletic facilities, and also has participated in the Sports Management Institute's Executive Program.

He’s pictured inside the new practice bubble during the football team’s first practice inside.

Renovated food production lab in place

A project that turned a portion of the third floor of the Katherine Kilbourne Burgum Family Life Center into a cutting-edge food production laboratory is complete.

The space is virtually unrecognizable from its previous version. The project included renovation of six individual learning stations, an added commercial food production laboratory and converting existing space to a food service area.

The project benefits approximately 200 students in NDSU’s dietetics and hospitality and tourism management programs; both are nationally accredited programs.

The $750,000 project was funded in part by the Challenge Fund, a matching grant program established during the 2013 North Dakota legislative session. The state awarded $1 in matching funds for every $2 raised for projects dedicated exclusively to the advancement of academics.

Strand named Ceramic Artist of the Year

Michael Strand, who leads North Dakota State University's visual arts department, has been named 2014 Ceramic Artist of the Year by Ceramics Monthly, the go-to publication in the ceramic arts field. The magazine noted his efforts to to use artwork to engage people with each other and the community for social change.

He started a project called the Misfit Cup Liberation Project, for example, in Fargo, in which he gave each participant a new, handmade cup in exchange for an old cup and a story. The unwanted cups and stories became an exhibit. The project has fanned out nationally and internationally, revealing themes about healing and moving on.

Strand lectures and leads workshops around the world, helping groups and organizations design and implement their own initiatives that use art as a catalyst for social change. He thinks of the projects as miniature ceramic start-up ventures.

Strand is featured in the Ceramic Arts 2015 Yearbook, which highlights newsmaker events and people in the ceramics field.

School of Music renamed

Longtime NDSU supporters
Robert and Sheila Challey
recently donated $2.1 million
to help the university’s School
of Music maintain long-term
sustainability. The school has
been renamed the Challey
School of Music as an
acknowledgement of their
generous gifts.

STEM building
update

Construction continues on a new state-funded classroom and lab building, set to open in the spring of 2016. The building will house classrooms, labs and study areas, with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related courses, known as STEM. Every day, 4,000-5,000 students in the nearly 120,000-square-foot facility will have the opportunity to take advantage of its classrooms, interactive laboratories, study space and group meeting areas.

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