During the past year, the University of Miami has shared new research and student successes, showcased innovative initiatives, and celebrated philanthropic largesse and the appointment of a new University president.
Here are some of the highlights:
January
The University of Miami’s UOnline graduate degree program is named No. 14 in Newsweek’s list of “America’s Top Online Colleges” for 2024. The ranking makes UOnline the top-ranked online program among all colleges and universities in Florida.
Researchers report they have discovered for the first time a single-celled microbe that can help corals survive ocean-warming events like bleaching. The new study, led by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and the Institute of Evolutionary Biology in Barcelona, offers new information on the role microbes might play in helping corals withstand end-of-century warming projections.
February
A total of 6,702 attendees raised more than $12 million at this year’s Dolphins Challenge Cancer XIV event in support of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Two alumni from the Frost School of Music soar on music’s biggest night on Feb. 4, celebrating as part of Grammy-winning teams. Alex Brown, a jazz composer and pianist, was one of five winners for Best Classical Compendium for the album “Passion for Bach and Coltrane.” And Alex Robinson, a jazz vocalist and musician, is a member of the vocal group Tonality, featured on Carla Patullo’s “So She Howls,” which won Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album.
Two of the greatest Miami Hurricanes in football history are elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Return specialist Devin Hester and wide receiver Andre Johnson were among those to be enshrined as members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Health care executives representing every industry sector gather for the “2024 Business of Health Care Conference,” hosted by the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School on Feb. 16 on the Coral Gables Campus, to share their insights on the “tectonic shift” occurring in the industry.
The women’s 4x400m relay team, comprised of Kennedy Brace, Makenzy Pierre-Webster, Alyssa Robinson, and Gabriella Grissom, clocks 3:32.83 to claim the gold medal in the final event of the 2024 ACC Indoor Championships.
March
Business leader and philanthropist Ken Griffin makes a $50 million gift to the University of Miami. The generous contribution will accelerate research efforts at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and rename the Transformational Cancer Research Building as the Kenneth C. Griffin Cancer Research Building.
Hurricanes student-athlete Russell Robinson captures the men’s triple jump at the 2024 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, winning with a mark of 16.76m (55 feet) on his first attempt.
Katie Meier announces she is retiring as the University of Miami head women’s basketball coach. Meier, who led the Hurricanes for 19 seasons, is the school’s all-time winningest basketball coach (men’s or women’s) with 362 career victories. She led Miami to 11 20-win seasons, 10 NCAA Tournament berths, and the program’s first-ever trip to the Elite Eight in 2023.
April
University scientists and students displayed innovative technologies and research during eMerge Americas 2024 at the Miami Beach Convention Center on April 18-19.
Technology experts, government leaders, planners, industry visionaries, and the public gather for the 8th Annual Smart Cities Miami Conference, hosted by the School of Architecture and Frost Institute for Data Science and Computing, to explore the impact of AI in smart city practices and how individuals, societies, and cultures adopt and adapt to emerging AI-driven technology in smart cities.
Resilience leaders from academic institutions, nonprofits, business, and government came together to learn about the adaptations happening in urban areas across the world at the third Climate Resilience Symposium, hosted at the University of Miami.
Three Miami Hurricanes are selected in the 2024 National Football League Draft.
Paul A. Pavlou, recognized as one the “world’s most influential scientific minds,” a visionary, and an inspirational leader with a reputation for bridging academia and industry together, has been named the new dean of the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School.
May
From May 9 to May 11, seven commencement ceremonies on the Coral Gables Campus celebrate more than 4,300 new graduates from the University of Miami.
Hudson Santos, an internationally renowned nurse investigator and educator who studies the impact of the social determinants of health on mothers and their children, is named the new dean of the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies.
An active-shooter mock exercise helped prepare first responders and University staff members for a potential mass casualty incident.
Michael Berkowitz, executive director of the University’s Climate Resilience Institute, travels to Rome as part of a U.S. contingent that included governors from California, Massachusetts, and New York, together with mayors from a range of cities, as part of a three-day Vatican summit on climate change.
Alexa Noel wins the women’s singles at the NCAA 2024 Division I Women’s Tennis Championship, marking the third time in program history that a Miami Hurricane has earned the title.
At its annual meeting, the University of Miami Board of Trustees confirms Manuel “Manny” Kadre as its new chair, Wayne Chaplin and Bill Morrison as new vice chairs, and welcomes a slate of new trustees.
June
The University of Miami’s first Hispanic and native Spanish-speaking president, Julio Frenk, announces that he is departing the institution to become the next chancellor of UCLA.
July
For the 23rd time—and 21st consecutive year—U.S. News & World Report ranked Bascom Palmer Eye Institute as the top eye hospital in the country.
Five years after being awarded the prestigious National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center earns distinction again. In July, Sylvester, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, renewed its status as an NCI-designated cancer center, achieving an “Outstanding” score from the NCI.
August
The Miami Center for AIDS Research at the Miller School of Medicine receives $1 million in funding from Tallahassee, reaffirming the state’s decade-long commitment to advancing research in this area.
September
Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, delivers a stirring fireside chat that inspired hundreds of University of Miami School of Law students as well as other guests.
October
Joe Echevarria, a former University of Miami trustee and CEO of a major consulting firm who has served the University in a variety of roles, is named the seventh president of the University, becoming the first alumnus to lead the school he has described as “a powerful institution.”
Demonstrating its commitment to excellence as a member of the Association of American Universities and No. 1 in the state for National Institutes of Health funding, the University of Miami pledges to invest more than $30 million to bolster basic science research that will target neuroscience and aging, some of the most complex conditions confronting the United States population, including in South Florida.
November
Scientists at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science and partners are awarded a four-year $16 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation to lead an ambitious program to implement and scale-up new approaches to increase the climate resilience of Florida’s restored coral reefs.
Students, alumni, and faculty from the Frost School of Music join multiple Latin Grammy events as the awards returned to Miami, highlighted by students performing at the elite Person of the Year Gala honoring icon Carlos Vives.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a graduate of the University of Miami School of Law, is nominated for U.S. secretary of state. If confirmed, the 53-year-old Miami native would make history as the first alumnus of the School of Law and as the first first-generation Cuban American to take on the prestigious role.
UHealth – University of Miami Health System opens UHealth Doral Medical Center, a six-story, 160,000-square-foot facility in Downtown Doral, offering advanced medical care to more than 80,000 residents.
Seven University scholars are honored by the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida for their contributions to addressing key challenges in the Sunshine State and beyond.
December
More than 1,000 fall graduates of the Class of 2024 accept newly minted degrees during commencement ceremonies at the Watsco Center on Dec. 12.
