NSU Horizons Fall 2017

41 NSU HORIZONS NSU RECOGNITIONS Bob Speth, Ph.D., has received the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s 2017 World Class Faculty award. Speth is a professor for NSU’s Depart- ment of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the College of Pharmacy. His research in areas such as hypertension (high blood pressure) has the ability to impact thousands of South Floridians and millions of people around the world who are battling this disorder, which can lead to heart attacks and other illnesses. Additionally, Speth is encouraging the next generation of researchers to main- tain STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) career pursuits, particularly among female and minority populations. He has mentored and trained undergraduate and professional students at NSU, as well as high school students from Cooper City High School, Northeast High School, Pinecrest Preparatory, NSU’s University School, and Somerset Academy High Schools as volunteers and research fellows. These students gain skills in bench research, literature reviews, critical thinking, and biomedical ethics under his guidance. Speth’s research team includes six NSU undergraduates, a recent NSU graduate, a College of Pharmacy student, a doctor of osteopathic medicine resident, a laboratory man- ager, and two high school students. His research projects have received more than $1 million in grant funding by organizations including the National Institutes of Health, American Heart Association, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He has published more than 200 scholarly works during his more than 40-year career in academia, including one study that could eventually reduce the incidence of heart disease. Speth was also named the recipient of the 2016 NSU Provost’s Research and Scholarship Award, which honors a faculty member who has demonstrated significant achieve- ment in support of the university’s mission to foster scholar- ship, intellectual inquiry, and academic excellence. To view the video on Speth from the Greater Fort Lauder- dale Alliance, visit the website at youtube.com/watch?v=ce O4tX80zo0&feature=youtu.be . n Professor Named World Class Faculty A new national study of U.S. colleges and universities found that NSU, already the largest private institution in the country meeting the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving institution, is now rated fifth for the overall number of minority graduate degree recipi- ents, according to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education . This publication provides news, commentary, and insight on the full range of issues concerning diversity in education. According to the Diverse study, NSU ranks first in doctorate degrees in education to African Americans, first in doctorate degrees in all disciplines combined to Hispanics, second in total minorities with doctoral degrees in the health professions, and third in M.B.A. and man- agement degrees to Hispanics. NSU also ranks first in professional doctorates to total minorities in all disciplines combined. In addition, NSU ranks second for total gradu- ate degrees to Hispanics and ninth to African Americans. The 2015–2016 data collected by Diverse is based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, a system of interrelated surveys conducted annually by the National Center for Education Statistics. For more information, visit diverseeducation.com/top100/pages/index.php . n NSU Rated Fifth for Minorities with Graduate Degrees