The University of Louisville Alumni Magazine: for alumni, faculty, staff, students and anyone that is a UofL Cardinal fan.
Issue link: https://louisville.epubxp.com/i/43017
F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T Inside the Oval Dear Friends and Family of UofL, Many of you probably haven't seen your alma mater's campus in a while. If that's true, you may not recognize it. The University of Louisville has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past ten years. For many years, Belknap Campus catered largely to commuter students; it is now a campus where 60 percent of the students are from outside Jefferson County and nearly 30 percent of full-time students are living on campus or in affi liated housing that's within easy walking distance. The change in housing and food services alone is something that's hard to imagine for those of us who attended UofL in the '70s, '80s or '90s. We are now home to a thriving, vibrant, residential campus with dozens of new restaurants on campus or a short walk away. And what Tom Jurich and Co. have done by turning parking lots and warehouses into one of the top athletics complexes in America is beyond amazing. For those of you who attended classes and did clinical work in downtown Louisville, our Health Sciences Center has undergone a stunning change, too. The School of Dentistry is wrapping up a $40 million renovation. There's also a spectacular new, $143 million, LEED-certifi ed Clinical and Translational Research building where our top researchers and graduate students are working on solving some of the world's toughest health problems. While the changing physical appearance of UofL is astonishing and easy to see, what's Remember when the 1980 Doctors of Dunk made "high fi ves" mainstream cool? In preparation for the 2011–12 athletic season, Dr. Ramsey recently schooled a few students on Belknap in the proper way to give the "L" sign. going on inside our classrooms and labs is even more impressive: Kentucky's brightest students and hundreds from across the country are attending UofL as their school of choice — and they're graduating! The ACT scores of our incoming freshmen students have been rising every year and are well above the state average. Our graduation rate has improved by 60 percent since 1999 and is one of the eight barometers of academic progress where we lead all Kentucky state institu- tions over the last decade. Some of our undergradu- " While the changing physical appearance of UofL is astonishing and easy to see, what's going on inside our classrooms and labs is even more impressive…" ates are getting the chance to work with the best minds in medical research: Dr. Roberto Bolli is using patients' own stem cells to re-grow healthy tissue in their hearts; Dr. Susie Harkema is doing groundbreaking research that could help people with spinal injuries walk again; and Dr. Kerri Remmel is using robots to take her stroke treatment to patients in rural hospitals. We're proud of what's going on at the University of Louisville and we want you to share in the phenomenal success we're experiencing. I hope you'll read the articles and updates in our newly redesigned magazine and let us know what you think. And connect with us via social media to stay in touch on a regular basis. I'd also like to invite you to come see the changes on our campuses. You don't need a football or basketball game as an invitation to drop by and check out the new UofL. We think you'll enjoy the experience as much as our students do! James R. Ramsey President FALL UOFL MAGAZINE|3