Perspectives Inaugural Issue (Winter 2013)

PERSPECTIVES • WINTER/SPRING 2013 42 In September, NSU President George Hanbury II, Ph.D. , went diving with undergraduate and graduate student researchers to inspect and dis- cover ways to help threatened corals off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The threatened staghorn coral is grown by NSU researchers in depths of over 20 feet at a university-run nursery designed to repopulate damaged and dead corals. Florida currently contains 84 percent of the na- tion’s coral reefs, which are facing both natural and manmade threats. Dr. Hanbury’s dive took place on the morning of Sept. 27—the day of the grand opening of NSU’s new $50 million Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research, which is focused on researching coral reef ecosys- tems in South Florida, throughout the nation, and around the world. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, a noted environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke at the grand opening ceremony and toured the scientific laboratories of the 86,000-square-foot facility located in Hollywood, Florida. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a U.S. congresswoman and Demo- cratic National Committee chair who helped NSU secure a $15 million fed- eral grant to fund the center, also served as the ceremony’s keynote speaker. The Center of Excellence houses NSU’s National Coral Reef Institute, the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), and the Save Our Seas Shark Center. Artwork by renowned marine artist Guy Harvey, Ph.D., who also donated $200,000 to the GHRI, is prominently featured in the building’s interior. NSU President Goes Coral Reef Diving to SaveThreatened Corals NSU OVERVIEW CONTINUED... Dr. Hanbury (left) during his presidential dive. Bai-Chuan Jiang, Ph.D. , who serves as a professor in the College of Optometry, was the inaugural recipient of NSU’s President’s Distinguished Professor Award, which is presented annually to a full-time faculty member who has served NSU for at least 10 years, has earned a distinguished repu- tation for instruction, research, and schol- arship, and has achieved national and international notoriety for his or her work. Optometry Professor Receives Inaugural NSU Distinguished Professor Award On November 2, NSU brought current and future South Florida leaders together for the Seventh Annual Diversity Summit on expanding diversity and creating a more peaceful world. The event, coordinated by the South Florida Diversity Alliance (SFDA) and held at the Carl DeSantis Building on NSU’s main campus, allowed college and high school students, professors, business leaders, and community leaders to participate in over 20 work- shops and discuss hot-button social issues that impact every American. “The Diversity Summit is designed to connect young leaders with sea- soned leaders to learn from one another and hopefully build collaborative partnerships to make a positive impact in their schools, communities, and workplaces,” said Terry Morrow, Ph.D., conference organizer and assistant dean of student affairs at NSU’s College of Health Care Sciences. In 2009, a group of South Florida higher-education professionals came together to form the SFDA and expand the NSU Diversity Summit to be a coalition event hosted by the SFDA. In 2012, sponsoring organizations in- cluded NSU, Lynn University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, Barry University, and Broward County Schools. NSU Hosts South Florida Diversity Summit