Groundbreaking occasion: participating in the groundbreaking ceremony were, from left, Thad Dameris, managing partner of Hogan Lovells’ Houston office; Alfred C. Glassell, III; Rosenstiel School Dean Roni Avissar; Marta Weeks Wulf, University trustee, and former chair of the UM Board of Trustees; Lady Blanka Rosenstiel; Stella Fiotes, chief facilities management officer at NIST; Thomas J. LeBlanc, executive vice president and provost; Leonard Abess, chair of the UM Board of Trustees; and Sebastian the Ibis.

Sea spray whipped up by the violent, swirling winds of a hurricane has long been a thorn in the side of researchers trying to determine its effect on storm forecasting.

“No one can accurately model what happens when the ocean is just so churned up that there’s so much water in the air and so much air in the water,” says Brian Haus, a professor of applied marine physics at the University of Miami. “It’s been a real ongoing challenge. You can’t model it, and it’s really difficult to measure in the field.” Read the full story

University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala, second from right, one of the co-chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative, address the media during the press conference on June 5 in Washington, D.C.

A bipartisan group of former cabinet secretaries released a comprehensive and actionable plan to improve America’s physical and fiscal crises, driven by the alarming rates of obesity and chronic disease.

Former Secretaries of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala and Mike Leavitt and former Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Ann M. Veneman released the recommendations on June 5 at a press conference in Washington D.C., calling needed attention to the nation’s mounting health care spending, which is expected to reach $4.6 trillion dollars annually by 2020 and consume 19.8 percent of gross domestic product.

The report, titled “Lots to Lose: How America’s Health and Obesity Crisis Threatens our Economic Future,” from the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Initiative, calls on the public and private sectors to collaborate in creating healthy families, schools, workplaces, and communities, focusing on existing best practices that can be implemented on a large scale to broaden their impact and help scale back obesity in the U.S.

To read the full report, click here. To read the co-chairs’ op-ed piece, click here.

“Introspection and Awakening: Japanese Art of the Edo and Meiji Period, 1615-1912,” on view from June 23 through October 21 at the Lowe Art Museum, features 225 mixed media works drawn entirely from the museum’s permanent collection. A preview and lecture will be held August 30 from 7 to 10 p.m. For more information on the exhibition, click here.

Who doesn’t love summer? Summer vacations, summer reading lists. Everything’s lighter—from summer traffic around campus to long summer days.

Many of you are participating in the popular and newly extended Flexible Summer Workweek Program for our Coral Gables and Rosenstiel campuses. Your feedback shows that flexible scheduling provides employees with a valuable personal perk in maintaining work/life balance, while also providing a positive impact on work productivity.

Summer is a great time to be with your family, visit friends, discover new places, or just take a break from your normal routine, which is terrific for your mental health.

This is also a perfect time to take preventive measures to safeguard your and your family’s well-being. Remember to:

• Schedule those doctor appointments and health screenings you may have been putting off by calling UHealth Connect at 305-243-CARE (2273) today.

• Always use sunscreen and cover up when you’re out in the sun. Check out the Miller School of Medicine Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery’s important tips on sun protection here.

• Take advantage of longer summer days and exercise after work—join your nearly 300 coworkers who successfully completed the Walking ’Canes challenge by increasing their daily step count to 10,000 steps or more each day.

• Plan ahead and prepare for South Florida’s unpredictable hurricane season. For comprehensive lists of steps you need to take at work and home before the storm, click here.

Have fun, be safe, enjoy a well-deserved summer break, and take those extra steps—literally and figuratively—to a healthier, more stress-free you.

Vice President of Student Affairs Pat Whitely was formally recognized by NASPA at an Awards Luncheon on Monday, June 4, during the NASPA Region III Summer Symposium, which took place in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Whitely, second from left, accepted the John Jones Award for Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Officer from NASPA Region III. Pictured with her are, from left, NASPA board of directors chair Levester Johnson, NASPA Region III director Jeanine Ward-Roof, and NASPA president Kevin Kruger. NASPA is the leading association for the advancement, health, and sustainability of the student affairs profession. Whitely’s nomination is now among those under consideration by NASPA for the national Scott Goodnight Award, which is awarded at the annual spring conference, to be held next March. The John Jones Award for Outstanding Performance as a Senior Student Affairs Officer is awarded to senior student affairs officers who merit the respect and support of students, faculty, and fellow administrators on their campus; show an innovative response in meeting the needs of students; and exemplify leadership in both community and university affairs. The award is named for the first vice president of student affairs at the University of Alabama.