Al Golden, UM's new head football coach, transformed Temple's football program into a contender, compiling 17 victories over the past 22 regular-season games.

Al Golden, who revived the Temple University football program and turned it into a contender in the Mid-American Conference, has been named head football coach at the University of Miami.

Golden is the 22nd head coach in UM’s storied football program’s history, leaving a resurrected Temple program to take the helm at Miami.

“From the beginning of this process, one candidate stood above the rest as the right fit for the University of Miami,” said UM Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt. “We are proud to welcome Al Golden to The U. His desire, leadership, communications skills, and preparedness stood above the rest, and he is the right man to meet the championship expectations of this program.”

Golden will be officially introduced to Miami Hurricane fans during a press conference on Monday. HurricaneSports.com will have free live video of his formal introduction, as well as UStream coverage and a live chat where fans can interact directly with Miami athletics staff.

Over five seasons at Temple, Golden took the Owls to unprecedented heights. Before his arrival, Temple had just two winning seasons since 1980 and had won only 22 percent of its games over the previous 30 years.

After taking over the Owls, who went 0-11 the season prior to his arrival, Golden has led his team to a 17-5 record over the last 22 regular-season games, including a 2010 defeat of Big East champion and Fiesta Bowl participant Connecticut.

The 41-year-old Golden compiled a 27-34 career record, which includes a 9-4 mark in 2009 and an 8-4 mark in 2010. He was able to lead the Owls to two winning seasons, which is exactly half of the program’s total over the 26 years prior.

Golden has not only infused life into the win column at Temple, but he has done wonders in the academic area. The Owls had an APR score of 858 four years ago, and that has skyrocketed to 926. He also has spiked the Graduation Success Rate from a low of 47 percent to the current high of 56 percent.

For an in-depth look at UM’s new head football coach, click here.

The Department of Art and Art History in the College of Arts and Sciences presents the work of Pedro Moses Rodriguez in his solo Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition. The Symbolism of Women will run through December 17 at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Gallery, located at the Wesley Foundation at 1210 Stanford Drive. In celebration of the exhibition’s opening, there will be a reception for the artist on Wednesday, December 15 from 5 to 9 p.m. Other viewing times can be arranged by appointment.

The BFA is a four-year program with 72 credits completed in the Department of Art and Art History, with the balance of the 120 credits being in general education courses, giving students an in-depth education in the arts combined with a solid University liberal arts education. Graduates often go directly into careers in graphics, photography, museum or gallery work, while some go on to graduate school or start their careers in the fine arts.

A full schedule of exhibitions can be viewed at www.as.miami.edu/art. The public is also invited to visit the University of Miami Wynwood Project Space every second Saturday at 2200-A NW 2nd Avenue, Miami, during the monthly gallery walk to view student, faculty, and alumni works.

For more information about the exhibition or Wynwood Project Space, call 305-284-2543 or e-mail [email protected].

Rafael Soriano

Rafael Soriano: Other Worlds Within, a Sixty-Year Retrospective will be on view at the University of Miami’s Lowe Art Museum from January 29 through March 27, 2011. A preview lecture and reception will be held on January 28, 2011 from 7 to 10 p.m. The lecture will be given by Alejandro Anreus.

Born in Cuba, Soriano is one of the major Latin American artists of his generation. Soriano broke with regional and folkloric themes that once dominated Cuban art in the mid-1920s. He first mastered geometric abstraction as a style in the 1950s, but by the late 1960s had defined his signature approach to painting. His work embodies a style best described as “Oneiric Luminism,” combining a purely abstract form of light, form space, and shadow with an interest in poetic and metaphysical impulses.

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Hermes Florez

Closing out the federal fiscal year with another major award, the Miller School of Medicine has received a total of 108 grants worth $58.8 million from the federal government’s infusion of research funds to stimulate the economy and accelerate promising medical breakthroughs.

The $2.9 million grant that Hermes Florez, associate professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health, received in FY 2009-10’s waning weeks to test novel strategies for managing and preventing diabetes is the second largest grant awarded to the Miller School under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that President Obama pushed through Congress in February 2009 to mend the economy.

“The Miller School of Medicine has expanded its research portfolio remarkably,’’ noted Miller School Dean Pascal J. Goldschmidt “With the creation of new technology platforms, the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, and Biomedical Nanoscience Institute, we have revved up collaborations across all laboratories and pillar centers, such as the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Batchelor Children’s Research Institute, the Diabetes Research Institute, the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, and the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, to name just a few. The result is awesome work such as that described in the funded award to Dr. Florez of the Geriatric Center—work that will benefit immensely our patients and fellow humans.’’

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The University’s eAppraisal process begins Wednesday, December 15. This performance evaluation process allows you to maximize the benefit of discussions around work quality, goals, and developmental plans. In addition, eAppraisal facilitates tracking goals, plans, and personal performance journal notes throughout the year.

Employees will receive information via e-mail to complete a self-appraisal and/or complete an appraisal for direct reports. For additional information regarding the appraisal process, visit www.miami.edu/eappraisal.