The general commencement ceremony is set for Thursday, April 30, 2020, at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The award is the highest honor given by the university.

“Our honorary degree recipient exemplified courage, compassion and service during her professional career,” said Joe Sargetakis, chair of the Board of Trustees’ honors committee. “Through her affiliation with the University of Utah, Dr. Ries helped the university succeed in its duty to serve the state.”

Honorary degrees are awarded to individuals who have achieved distinction in academic pursuits, the arts, professions, business, government, civic affairs or in service to the university. The Honorary Degree Committee, which includes representatives from the faculty, student body and Board of Trustees, reviews nominations and then consults with an advisory group of faculty, staff and administrators for additional input. Finalists are presented to the university president, who selects recipients.

Here is a brief overview of this year’s honoree:

Kristen Ries will receive an honorary degree at The University of Utah’s 2020 Commencement.

Kristen Ries is a professor emerita of Internal Medicine and retired infectious diseases physician who was at the forefront of treating patients in Utah at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Ries fearlessly provided loving, compassionate care at a time when the disease was highly stigmatized.

Ries received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Pennsylvania State University and a Doctor of Medicine with honors from Drexel University, where she also completed her residency, fellowship and spent two years as a faculty member in Infectious Diseases. She left Drexel University to join the Indian Health Services at Rosebud, South Dakota, where she cared for Lakota Sioux. She then went to Vermillion, South Dakota, to serve in the National Health Service Corps.

Ries moved to Utah in 1981 with the goal of treating more patients with infectious diseases—arriving the same day the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report about a new infectious disease affecting gay men. Ries initially worked for FHP as the head of adult medicine, and then as a physician at Holy Cross Hospital, where she created Utah’s first comprehensive HIV/AIDS program.

For many years, Ries and Maggie Snyder, her physician assistant, were the only medical professionals willing to treat AIDS patients in Utah.

They found creative ways to serve patients and provide them with the expensive drugs then used to treat HIV/AIDS. Working with the nuns at Holy Cross, Ries and Snyder set up an end-of-life care network because nursing homes refused to take dying patients. In the early 1980s, patients diagnosed with AIDS had a life expectancy of about six months.

The refusal of health care professionals to work with AIDS patients was a national problem at the time, an issue that led the U.S. Surgeon General to publicly chastise doctors who wouldn’t take patients with the disease.

In a lecture at the U in 2017, Ries paraphrased a comment by Mother Teresa that the greatest pain in life is caused by isolation, abandonment and feeling unloved. “I think that so describes how the patients felt with this disease back then and how they were treated by our own people,” Ries said.

When Holy Cross Hospital was sold in 1994 (becoming Salt Lake Regional Medical Center), Ries joined the University of Utah’s Division of Infectious Diseases and brought 500 patients with her; the HIV clinic she set up within Clinic 1A, the Infectious Diseases Clinic, is still operating. In 2000, Ries and Snyder led efforts to establish a treatment clinic in St. George, which also continues to serve patients today.

Ries was president of the medical staff for the University of Utah Hospital & Clinics and served as the clinical director of infectious diseases/HIV at U of U Health.

In 1988, Ries was named as one of Newsweek magazine’s “Unsung Heroes”; she has been recognized by the U’s School of Medicine, the Utah Department of Health & Human Services, People with AIDS Coalition of Utah, Salt Lake County Health Department and the Utah Medical Association. In honor of her work, the Marriott Library has established an archive that collects oral histories and archives documents and other memorabilia related to the history of treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Utah.

Warnock, who received three degrees from the U, used his vision, passion and intellect to launch a business that revolutionized graphics, desktop publishing and web and electronic document technologies. Today, Adobe is one of the largest, most recognized software brands in the world.

“We are very proud to count John Warnock among our most esteemed alumni,” said U President Ruth V. Watkins. “John epitomizes the values of our university and the entrepreneurial excellence we aim to inspire in our graduates.”

Warnock, a Salt Lake City native, received bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and philosophy (‘61), a master’s in mathematics (‘64) and a doctorate in electrical engineering/computer science (‘69) from the University of Utah.

John Warnock, co-founder of Abode.

In 1964, while Warnock was working on his master’s degree at the U, he became “swept up” in a complicated program in abstract algebra known as the Jacobson radical. The problem was first posed in 1956 and yet to be solved. It took a year and a half, but Warnock solved the problem—providing what may have been the first big sign of his extraordinary, innovative and visionary intellect.

There was more to come before Warnock left the U. While working on his doctorate, Warnock, collaborating with a colleague, wrote the first computer-based registration program used at the U.

“It was for registration at the beginning of January, so he spent long hours in the Merrill Engineering Building over winter break finishing up the program,” said Richard B. Brown, dean of the College of Engineering. “In fact, he worked for days almost around the clock. As he told me, the program had to work. The university was planning to do registration on the computer and there was no back up plan. It did work and the U was one of the first universities to do registration by computer.”

Upon graduation, Warnock worked at such technology companies as Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation, Computer Sciences Corporation and IBM. He joined Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center in 1978 as a principal scientist, working on device independent interactive graphics. There, he and colleague Charles Geschke developed a printer protocol called InterPress. When Xerox declined to pursue the idea, the two struck out on their own.

In 1982, Warnock and Geschke co-founded Adobe to explore a new approach to printing technology called PostScript; the duo’s innovations included scalable type, computer graphics and printing processes. In a short span of years, Adobe ignited a revolution with desktop publishing. Today, Adobe offers a suite of pioneering software publishing and digital image products that continue to push creative boundaries.

Warnock served as Adobe’s president for two years and then as CEO for 16 years. He served as Adobe’s board chairman from April 1989 to January 2017, sharing that position with Geschke from September 1997 onward. He continues to serve as a member of Adobe’s board of directors, as does Geschke.

“John Warnock is an inspiring example of what someone can achieve with a University of Utah degree,” said AnnaMarie Barnes, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah. “He demonstrates that with vision and determination our graduates can create success for themselves and simultaneously enrich their communities.”

Warnock, with Geschke, has received many awards, including the Marconi Prize, the Annual Medal of Achievement Award from the American Electronics Association and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation from former President Barack Obama, one of the nation’s highest honors for scientists, engineers and inventors.

He is a fellow of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Computer History Museum and the American Philosophical Society.

He and his wife, Marva, provided a foundational gift of nearly $6 million for the John and Marva Warnock Engineering Building at the U and also created three presidential endowed chairs in computer science, mathematics and fine arts. They also are major supporters of the Moran Eye Center.

“The impact of his contributions to desktop publishing are as revolutionary as Gutenberg’s printing press was in his day,” Brown said. “Dr. Warnock’s PDF standardized the representation of digital documents and is used daily by virtually everyone who has access to a computer. Adobe, the company he co-founded, has also given the world the premier software tools for creating digital graphics, so he has enabled others across the spectrum from engineering to art.”

“This study is showing a reduction in the contributions of wood burning by a factor of four or five,” says University of Utah chemical engineering assistant professor Kerry E. Kelly, who heads the study. “Of the strategies people are looking at to reduce air pollution, this is a pretty effective one.”

The study led by the U’s College of Engineering was conducted by Kelly, chemical engineering research associate Cristina Jaramillo, as well as researchers from the Utah Division of Air Quality and the Pacific Northwest office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

University of Utah chemical engineering assistant professor Kerry E. Kelly, who heads the study.

According to the EPA, smoke from burning wood creates tiny particulate matter known as PM 2.5 that can get trapped in the lungs and eyes and trigger asthma attacks, even heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure in people at risk for these conditions. The elderly and children with respiratory conditions are more susceptible to the dangers of bad air quality.

Beginning in 1999, restrictions on wood burning were placed in Salt Lake County and parts of Davis and Utah counties. Over time, limits were also placed in Cache County and parts of Weber, Box Elder and Tooele counties. In all of these areas, the main restriction involves banning wood burning during days of inversion, when atmospheric conditions trap air pollution in the valley. Between November 1 and March 1, residents in these counties are prohibited from using wood fireplaces and stoves, pellet stoves and coal-burning stoves on “no-burn” days, when fine particulate matter builds up to unhealthy levels during winter inversions.

The U study looked at air quality data from 2007 to 2017 at three air quality monitoring stations in Salt Lake City, Lindon and Bountiful. The research showed dramatic reductions at all three stations over the 10-year period, specifically from wood burning, as the restrictions were put in place and residents became more educated about the issue. (See figure below)

According to a new University of Utah College of Engineering study, the impact of wood burning on PM 2.5 (particulate matter that contributes to air pollution) has decreased significantly over the last 10 years thanks to restrictions placed on the activity. The measurements were made at three air quality monitoring stations in Salt Lake City, Lindon and Bountiful.

Researchers analyzed the combination of elements in the filters at these stations such as metals, nitrate, sulphate, and certain organic material. This data could reveal the origins of PM 2.5 and therefore when the air quality worsened due to wood burning. The analysis also considered the atmospheric conditions at the time the readings were taken, such as whether there was an inversion that day that made the air quality worse.

The results of the study are encouraging, Kelly says, proving that such restrictions can be an effective way of improving air quality, particularly in a valley similar to the Wasatch Front where surrounding mountains act like a bowl to trap bad air.

“More people are aware of these restrictions and are following them, and it’s reducing community-level exposure to air pollution,” she says. “It can benefit all of us because it’s a cost-effective way to reduce pollution. And it’s a nice example where research from the U helped influence policy in a positive way. It’s important to make data-driven decisions about air quality.”

Kelly wants to present the findings to various air quality boards and other policy makers to show their decisions are working. Consequently, other important steps can be considered to help clean the air along the Wasatch Front, such as building more natural-gas fireplaces in new homes and converting wood-burning fireplaces in older homes.

“There has been a lot more public attention on public health and air quality, and as a result people are following the bans,” she says. “So there may be more incremental opportunities out there that we can take. As the population continues to grow, we’re going to have to stay on top of the issue of air quality.”

The U is one of 119 colleges and universities in the U.S. to receive the endorsement from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2020. In all, 359 institutions now hold the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, an elective endorsement.

“This is wonderful validation of our efforts to serve as the University for Utah through service, partnerships and strong connections to our communities,” said University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins. “We are a better university because of our community engagement, which enables our students, faculty and partners to form reciprocal relationships that benefit us all.”

The classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution, which is assessed by a national review committee led by the Swearer Center for Public Engagement at Brown University. The Swearer Center is the administrative and research home for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.

“The institutions that we are recognizing today are doing extraordinary work in addressing their societal responsibilities in and through community engagement and service,” said Paul LeMahieu, senior vice president at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. “They inspire us, even as they instruct us how to be our best selves in service to our communities.”

Of the 119 institutions classified in the 2020 cycle, 44 are receiving the classification for the first time while 75—including the U—have had their classification renewed. The review committee looks at alignment among an institution’s mission, culture, leadership, resources and practices that support dynamic and noteworthy community engagement.

At the U, community engagement efforts include: the Driving Out Diabetes Initiative; work by the National Center for Veterans Studies to address veteran’s health and wellness; University Neighborhood Partners collaboration with west-side communities; the American Dream Ideas Challenge effort to boost middle-class households; sustainability practices facilitated by the Sustainability Office; the First Star Academy’s work to improve educational outcomes for youth in foster care; and the Bennion Center’s community engaged learning courses and student service activities. In the 2017-18 academic year, more than 3,000 students participated in 136 different community-engaged courses.

The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification has been the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education for the past 14 years.

The center noted that many higher education institutions are making significant strides in finding ways to engage with community partners, building on community assets and addressing a wide array of community challenges.

At the same time “many campuses are facing difficult times and finding it challenging to maintain and advance their community engagement in the current climate,” said Mathew Johnson, executive director of the Swearer Center. “It is our hope that by celebrating these classified campuses others might come to see community engagement as part of the strategy to address the current set of challenges in higher education.”

Adapted from a release by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Making it to the semifinalist round is a significant accomplishment in the Fulbright competition, and means that the applications have been forwarded by the Fulbright National Screening Committee to the Fulbright Commission or U.S. Embassy in the host country for final review. Finalists will be notified later this spring, with the timing of notifications varying by country.

University of Utah’s 2020 Fulbright semifinalists:

Ian Adams, Ph.D., political science, Fulbright Research Award to the United Kingdom

Adams will conduct dissertation research on the use of body-worm cameras and surveillance technology in the United Kingdom.

Rogelio Brambila, B.A., anthropology, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Mexico

Brendan Darraugh, B.A., German and political science, Fulbright Study Award to Germany

Darraugh will use his grant to apply to the master’s program in National and International Public Administration and Policy at the University of Potsdam.

Polly Llewellyn, B.A., English, Fulbright Study Award to the United Kingdom

Llewellyn is applying for a Fulbright grant to earn a master’s degree in creative writing from Aberystwyth University.

Kaylee Mortensen, B.A., English and international studies, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Luxembourg

Charlie Robinson, B.A., Russian, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Russia

Sebastian Romero, Ph.D., nursing, Fulbright Research Award to Guatemala

Romero will research stress, anxiety, depression and coping methods among Guatemalan fathers of children with disabilities.

Caitlin Silianoff, B.A., English and political science, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Taiwan

Alex Son, B.A., political science, Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Cambodia

Of the U’s nine Fulbright semifinalists last year, six went on to receive a Fulbright award: Sherry Liao, B.S., speech and hearing science, is studying pediatric deaf children in China before and after cochlear implantation to assess their progression in crystallized and fluid intelligence. Brock Mays, M.A., international affairs and global enterprise, is examining the effects of Russian misinformation and disinformation in Lithuania and how Russia’s campaign has negatively impacted trust in the national government. Danielle McLaughlin, B.A., political science and Middle East studies, is serving as an English Teaching Assistant in Malaysia. Chris Rigby, M.A., international affairs and global enterprise, is serving as an English teaching assistant in Kenya. Luciana Salmi, B.A., psychology, is conducting research in Italy as she analyzes the effects of stress and social support on a group of mothers with a high body mass index categorized as overweight or obese. Heather Tourgee, M.A., environmental humanities, is serving as an English teaching assistant in Germany.

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is the largest U.S. exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program awards approximately 1,900 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 140 countries worldwide.

The Fulbright Program at the U is sponsored by the Office for Global Engagement and the Graduate School. For more information, students can contact Howard Lehman, director of the Fulbright Program at lehman@poli-sci.utah.edu.

Allosaurus jimmadseni, a new species of dinosaur discovered in Utah, has a distinctive crests that run from the eyes to the nose.

The species belongs to the allosauroids, a group of small to large-bodied, two-legged carnivorous dinosaurs that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Allosaurus jimmadseni, possesses several unique features, among them a short narrow skull with low facial crests extending from the horns in front of the eyes forward to the nose and a relatively narrow back of the skull with a flat surface to the bottom of the skull under the eyes. The skull was weaker with less of an overlapping field of vision than its younger cousin Allosaurus fragilis. Allosaurus jimmadseni evolved at least 5 million years earlier than fragilis, and was the most common and the top predator in its ecosystem. It had relatively long legs and tail, and long arms with three sharp claws. The name Allosaurus translates as “different reptile,” and the second part, jimmadseni, honors Utah State Paleontologist James H. Madsen Jr.

Paleontologist James Madsen Jr assembles a composite skeleton of Allosaurus from the Clevland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry

Following an initial description by Othniel C. Marsh in 1877, Allosaurus quickly became the best known—indeed the quintessential—Jurassic theropod. The taxonomic composition of the genus has long been a debate over the past 130 years. Paleontologists argue that there are anywhere between one and 12 species of Allosaurus in the Morrison Formation of North America. This study recognizes only two species—A. fragilis and A. jimmadseni.

“Previously, paleontologists thought there was only one species of Allosaurus in Jurassic North America, but this study shows there were two species—the newly described Allosaurus jimmadseni evolved at least 5 million years earlier than its younger cousin, Allosaurus fragilis,” said co-lead author Mark Loewen, research associate at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and associate professor in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Utah led the study. “The skull of Allosaurus jimmadseni is more lightly built than its later relative Allosaurus fragilis, suggesting a different feeding behavior between the two.”

“Recognizing a new species of dinosaur in rocks that have been intensely investigated for over 150 years is an outstanding experience of discovery. Allosaurus jimmadseni is a great example of just how much more we have to learn about the world of dinosaurs. Many more exciting fossils await discovery in the Jurassic rocks of the American West,” said Daniel Chure, retired paleontologist at Dinosaur National Monument and co-lead author of the study.

A cast of the skeleton and skull of Allosaurus jimmadseni as it was discovered and now on exhibit at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. The original skeleton was molded and cast before it was taken apart and prepared for study and research.

George Engelmann of the University of Nebraska, Omaha initially discovered the initial skeleton of the new species within Dinosaur National Monument in 1990. In 1996, several years after the headless skeleton was collected, the radioactive skull belonging to the skeleton using a radiation detector by Ramal Jones of the University of Utah. Both skeleton and skull were excavated by teams from Dinosaur National Monument.

“Big Al,” another specimen belonging to the new species, was discovered in Wyoming on United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land in 1991 and is housed in the collections of the Museum of The Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. Previously thought to belong to Allosaurus fragilis, “Big Al” was featured in the BBC’s 2001 “Walking with Dinosaurs: Ballad of Big Al” video. Over the last 30 years, crews from various museums have collected and prepared materials of this new species. Other specimens include “Big Al Two” at the Saurier Museum Aathal in Switzerland and Allosaurus material from the Dry Mesa Quarry of Colorado at Brigham Young University.

“This exciting new study illustrates the importance of continued paleontological investigations on public lands in the West. Discovery of this new taxon of dinosaur will provide important information about the life and times of Jurassic dinosaurs and represents another unique component of America’s Heritage,” said Brent Breithaupt, BLM regional paleontologist.

Early Morrison Formation dinosaurs were replaced by some of the most iconic dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic

Allosaurus jimmadseni attack juvenile sauropod.

Allosaurus jimmadseni lived on the semi-arid Morrison Formation floodplains of the interior of western North America. The older rocks of the Morrison Formation preserve a fauna of dinosaurs distinct from the iconic younger Morrison Formation faunas that include Allosaurus fragilis, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus. Paleontologists have recently determined that specimens of this new species of dinosaur lived in several places throughout the western interior of North America (Utah, Colorado and Wyoming).

The study was funded by the Dinosaur National Monument, the U.S. National Parks Service, the Natural History Museum of Utah, the University of Utah, the Paleontological Society, the Jurassic Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management and the National Science Foundation.

Study summary

Dinosaurs were the dominant members of terrestrial ecosystems during the Mesozoic. However, the pattern of evolution and turnover of ecosystems during the middle Mesozoic remains poorly understood. The authors report the discovery of the earliest member of the group of large-bodied allosauroids in the Morrison Formation ecosystem that was replaced by Allosaurus fragilis and illustrate changes acquired in the genus over time. The study includes an in-depth description of every bone of the skull and comparisons with the cranial materials of other carnivorous dinosaurs. Finally, the study recognizes just two species of Allosaurus in North America with Allosaurus fragilis replacing its earlier relative Allosaurus jimmadseni.

Three species of Allosaurus

Fact sheet: Major points of the paper

• A remarkable new species of meat-eating dinosaur, Allosaurus jimmadseni, is described based on two spectacularly complete skeletons. The first specimen was unearthed in Dinosaur National Monument, in northeastern Utah.

• Allosaurus jimmadseni is distinguished by a number of unique features, including low crests running from above the eyes to the snout and a relatively narrow back of the skull with a flat surface to the bottom of the upper skull under the eyes. The skull was weaker with less of an overlapping field of vision than its younger cousin Allosaurus fragilis.
• At 155 million years old, Allosaurus jimmadseni is the geologically-oldest species of Allosaurus predating the more well-known State Fossil of Utah Allosaurus fragilis.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni was the most common and the top predator in its ecosystem. It had relatively long legs and tail, and long arms with three sharp claws.

Study design

• Comparison of the bones with all other known allosauroid dinosaurs indicate that the species possessed unique features of the upper jaw and cheeks (maxilla and jugal) and a decorative crest stretching from just in front of the eyes to the nose.
• Many of the comparisons were made with the thousands of bones of Allosaurus fragilis collected from the famous Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry administered by the Bureau of Land Management that are housed in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Utah.
• On the basis of these features, the scientific team named it a new genus and species of dinosaur, Allosaurus jimmadseni (translating to “Jim Madsen’s different reptile”).
• Allosaurus jimmadseni is particularly notable for its slender, narrow skull with short sharp nasal crests compared to its close relative and successor Allosaurus fragilis.
• The study was funded in part by the University of Utah, the National Park Service and the National Science Foundation.

New dinosaur name: Allosaurus jimmadseni

• The first part of the name, Allosaurus, (a·luh·SAWruhs) can be translated from Greek as the “other”, “strange” or “different” and “lizard” or “reptile” literally to “different reptile”. The second part of the name jimmadseni(gym-MAD-sehn-eye) honors the late Utah State Paleontologist James Madsen Jr. who excavated and studied tens of thousands of Allosaurus bones from the famous Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry in central Utah and contributed greatly to the knowledge of Allosaurus.

Size

• Allosaurus jimmadseni was approximately 26 to 29 feet (8-9 meters) long.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni weighed around 4000 lbs. (1.8 metric tonnes).

Relationships

• Allosaurus jimmadseni belongs to a group of carnivorous dinosaurs called “allosauroids,” the same group as the famous Allosaurus fragilis.
• Other dinosaurs found in rocks containing Allosaurus jimmadseni include the carnivorous theropods Torvosaurus and Ceratosaurus; the long-necked sauropods Haplocanthosaurus and Supersaurus; and the plate-backed stegosaur
• Allosaurus jimmadseni is closely related to the State Fossil of Utah, Allosaurus fragilis.

Anatomy

• Allosaurus jimmadseni was a two-legged carnivore, with long forelimbs and sharp, recurved claws that were likely used for grasping prey.
• Like other allosauroid dinosaurs, Allosaurus jimmadseni had a large head full of 80 sharp teeth. It was alsothe most common carnivore in its ecosystem.

Age and geography

• Allosaurus jimmadseni lived during the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic period, which spanned from approximately 157 million to 152 million years ago.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni lived in a semi-arid inland basin filled with floodplains, braided stream systems, lakes, and seasonal mudflats along the western interior of North America.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni represents the earliest species of Allosaurus in the world.

Discovery

• Allosaurus jimmadseni can be found in a geologic unit known as the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation and its equivalents exposed in Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah.
• The first specimen of Allosaurus jimmadseni was discovered in the National Park Service administered by Dinosaur National Monument in Uintah County, near Vernal, Utah.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni was first discovered by George Engelmann of the University of Nebraska, Omaha on July 15, 1990 during a contracted paleontological inventory of the Morrison Formation of Dinosaur National Monument.
• Another specimen of Allosaurus jimmadseni known as “Big Al,” was found on land administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming.
• Further specimens of Allosaurus jimmadseni have been subsequently recognized in the collections of various museums.
• Allosaurus jimmadseni specimens are permanently housed in the collections of Dinosaur National Monument, Utah; the Museum of the Rockies, Bozeman, Montana; the Saurier Museum of Aathal, Switzerland; the South Dakota School of Mines, Rapid City, South Dakota; Brigham Young University’s Museum of Paleontology, Provo, Utah; and the United States National Museum (Smithsonian) Washington D.C.
• These discoveries are the result of a continuing collaboration between the Natural History Museum of Utah, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

Excavation

• The first skeleton of Allosaurus jimmadseni was excavated during the summers of 1990 to 1994 by staff of the National Park Service’s Dinosaur National Monument. The skeleton block was so heavy it required the use of explosives to remove surrounding rock and a helicopter to fly out the 2700 kg block. The head of the skeleton was missing
• The first bones of Allosaurus jimmadseni discovered included toes and some tail vertebrae. Later excavation revealed most of an articulated skeleton missing the head and part of the tail.
• The radioactive skull of the first specimen of Allosaurus jimmadseni, which had previously eluded discovery, was found in 1996 by Ramal Jones of the University of Utah using a radiation detector.

Preparation

• It required seven years to fully prepare all of the bones of Allosaurus jimmadseni.
• Much of the preparation was done by then Dinosaur National Monument employees Scott Madsen and Ann Elder, with some assistance from Dinosaur National Monument volunteers and students at Brigham Young University.

Other

• The Natural History Museum of Utah houses the world’s largest collection of Allosaurus fossils, which are frequently studied by researchers from around the world.
• More than 270 National Park Service (NPS) areas preserve fossils even though only 16 of those were established wholly or in part for their fossils. Fossils in NPS areas can be found in the rocks or sediments of a park, in museum collections, and in cultural contexts (building stones, artifacts, historical legends, and documents).
• The United States Bureau of Land Management manages more land—247 million acres—than any other federal agency, and manages paleontological resources using scientific principles and expertise.

How you ask? The U has received approval to restructure a trust established by Marriner S. Eccles himself that will allow approximately six to eight students per year to receive fellowships worth about $30,000 per recipient. The fellowships are reserved for students studying political economy, and are open to students across many departments, including the David Eccles School of Business and the College of Social and Behavioral Science.

“Marriner was a visionary and thanks to this trust, the University of Utah has been able to award 377 graduate fellowships since 1977,” said David Kieda, Graduate School Dean at the U. “We are honored to continue his legacy and award even more fellowships to our brilliant U students.”

Additionally, the initiative will boost the prominence and national impact of the Marriner S. Eccles Fellowship and Library Collection on campus. Eccles was the first Chairman of the Federal Reserve after it was restructured in 1935—President Franklin D. Roosevelt handpicked Eccles to shepherd the nation through the Great Depression.

“Marriner was truly one of the great minds in political economy and we want to give students across the University the chance to benefit from his legacy,” said Taylor Randall, dean of the Eccles School. “We hope students will bring a diversity of thought that will lead to lively discussion and collaboration and formulate new research that will create meaningful contributions to the field.”

The Graduate School, the Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis housed at the David Eccles School of Business, and the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation plan to launch the initiative in early 2020, with five distinct goals:

1. Create a cohort class of Marriner S. Eccles Graduate Fellows who will engage in both individual and group research projects in political economy
2. Increase the number of Eccles Graduate Fellowships to a minimum of six per year
3. Digitize and curate the Marriner S. Eccles manuscript collection
4. Create an online portal for full research access to the Marriner S. Eccles manuscript collection
5. Incentivize scholarly research and publication in the field of political economy using the completed Marriner S. Eccles Library and manuscript collection.

Students at the University will not be the only ones to benefit from the initiative, as plans also include digitization of Marriner’s personal archives and an online portal to allow access around the world. Currently only about 10 percent of the collection has been digitized. Putting the entire collection online will allow economists from around the world a peek directly into one of the greatest economic minds of the 20th century.

“We are so excited that this project will preserve Marriner’s legacy, while simultaneously sharing his collection with the next generation of political economists,” said Hope Eccles of the Marriner S. Eccles Foundation.

Applicants are judged on personal and academic qualifications, strength and appropriateness of their proposals, and interested in participating in the cohort and library resources. Applications for the 2020 Marriner S. Eccles Fellowship in Political Economy are due Feb. 7. More information can be found here.

About the Graduate School

The Graduate School fosters excellence by providing administrative structure and leadership to maintain and enhance graduate and postdoctoral education at the University of Utah. The Graduate School’s programs offer financial assistance and fellowships, support innovative academic opportunities, and provide professional development to over 8,000 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars across campus. The Graduate School is guided by the principles of quality, diversity and integrity to build an innovative community of scholars and leaders.

About the David Eccles School of Business

The Eccles School is synonymous with ‘doing.’ The Eccles experience provides a world-class business education with a unique, entrepreneurial focus on real-world scenarios where students put what they learn into practice long before graduation. Founded in 1917 and educating more than 6,000 students annually, the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business offers nine undergraduate majors, four MBAs, nine other graduate programs, a Ph.D. in seven areas and executive education curricula. The Eccles School is also home to 12 institutes, centers and initiatives that deliver academic research and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. The Marriner S. Eccles Institute for Economics and Quantitative Analysis, where students and faculty study business economics and political economy, is also housed within the Eccles School. For more information, visit Eccles.Utah.edu or call 801-581-7676.

The three finalists were selected from five teams that presented their ideas on Jan. 16, 2020, to a community advisory board co-chaired by University of Utah President Ruth V. Watkins and Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. In addition, the board agreed to provide a fourth team—Dream Up—with seed funding to help it further advance its proposal to connect jobseekers and employers using technology, skills training and placement services.

“It was a wonderful experience to be part of the evaluating team as we were pitched brilliant ideas from Utahns who are seeking to change our state for the better,” Cox said. “The projects the American Dream Ideas Challenge national board will receive from Utah are compelling, technologically advanced and true models to quickly advance the income of middle-class Utahns 10% or more by 2022—and the sky is the limit from there.”

The three local finalists will pitch their ideas to the advisory board of Schmidt Futures, sponsor of the Alliance for the American Dream, on March 24, 2020. The teams will be competing with finalists from The Ohio State University, Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

During that meeting, which will take place at the University of Utah, the advisory board will select teams to move on to the final round of the competition this summer, with up to $1 million in funding from Schmidt Futures on the line.

Schmidt Futures selected the four public universities in April 2018 as anchor institutions in the Alliance for the American Dream and challenged them with developing ideas capable of boosting net income by 10% for 10,000 middle-class households in their respective communities.

In all, the U received 42 ideas in this year’s challenge.

“The innovation and creativity of the proposals was impressive,” Watkins said. “We appreciate the work that went into each idea, a clear signal of how much Utahns care about each other and about improving their communities. Our finalists offer approaches with potential to make a real difference and we look forward to working with them in coming months.”

This year’s top three local finalists, each of which will receive $30,000 to further refine their ideas, are:

• Connect to Collect: This team proposes to increase participation in the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit programs by offering free tax services in trusted health care settings, which are visited regularly by Utah families with children.

Connect to Collect: Building networks to enhance family financial wellbeing from increased use of tax credits.

Many eligible households do not participate in these tax programs due to barriers in completing federal income tax forms, leaving considerable resources unclaimed by eligible Utahns. Utah’s participation rate in the tax programs ranks among the lowest in the country; approximately 60,000 families in Utah are currently eligible for the programs but don’t participate, according to the team’s proposal.

The team will target a portion of that group—households with children—and estimates those who participate could have an average annual income increase of $3,000 to $5,000.

• SAGE: To address the growing problem of degree completion and subsequent low earnings for those without a degree, the team is building an intelligent higher education platform known as SAGE to provide both a timely resource and delivery of proactive nudges to influence struggling students’ behavior and outcomes.

The proposal aims to address the unrealized return on investment that occurs when people earn some college credits, but do not complete their degrees. That leaves these students in a disadvantaged economic situation, often with heavy debt coupled with lower earning potential.

SAGE: The intelligent guidance platform for student success.

In Utah, it is estimated that there are more than 450,000 individuals with some college, but no degree.

The team’s SAGE program will provide proactive nudges via a telephone app at key moments, delivering answers and help to students 24/7.

• Enhance: This initiative addresses the unmet need for mental health services that is taking a toll in emotional suffering, lost earnings and problems such as homelessness, suicide and mental illness.

The team will initially focus on college students using three approaches—an app, a website and targeted support groups—to provide preventative and scalable mental health promotion services.

Enhance: Improving mental health for Utah.

Research shows approximately 400,000 youth in Utah have mental health needs and more than 100,000 adults experience serious mental illness, making them susceptible to income loss and health care expenses. Of serious psychiatric illnesses, 75% begin before age 25; additionally, among college students, depression and anxiety are the most cited reasons for academic difficulties.

The goal of Enhance is to develop a preventative program among college students aimed at improving psychological well-being and healthy, successful functioning and supplementing, when needed, other mental health services.

“This American Dream challenge process has brought together amazing people and dynamic teams to develop solutions for our community,” said Courtney McBeth, project director and special assistant to the president. “We are thrilled to have three finalist teams with ideas focused on innovative approaches to mental health, college completion and expanded access to tax credits.”

Dream Up: An employer-driven workforce development program.

Last year’s top Utah finalist—the Utah Coal Country Strike Team—placed second in the national pitch competition and received $1.4 million in total funding from Schmidt Futures, the University of Utah and the Utah Legislature. The Coal Country team is working to boost the economy in Carbon and Emery counties, hard hit by the decline in reliance on coal, through workforce training, tourism infrastructure, housing revitalization and economic development.

About the American Dream Ideas Challenge: To learn more about the U’s American Dream Ideas Challenge and its top three local finalists, visit americandream.utah.edu.

About Schmidt Futures: Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative, founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, that finds exceptional people and helps them do more for others together. We knit talent into networks, bet on the most promising ideas through diverse forms of competition, and support and equip people to scale through partners and modern tools.

About the Alliance for the American Dream: The University of Utah is one of four anchor higher education institutions participating in the Alliance for the American Dream, founded by Schmidt Futures. The other institutions are Arizona State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“This is a landmark trial of male infertility supplements,” says James M. Hotaling, co-author of the study and a U of U Health urologist specializing in male infertility. “The take-home message for men is that, for the first time, there is high-quality data that zinc and folic acid do not improve live birth outcomes or semen function.”

The study, led by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), appears in JAMA.

Many fertility supplements contain zinc, a mineral essential for sperm development, and folate, the natural form of folic acid that helps form DNA in the sperm. These over-the-counter supplements, also known as nutraceuticals, are often promoted as a natural way to enhance sperm formation, sperm count and movement. However, previous studies of these products have produced inconclusive results.

For this study, the researchers recruited 2,370 couples planning to undergo infertility treatments in Salt Lake City, Chicago, Minneapolis and Iowa City, Iowa. Men were randomly assigned to either receive a placebo or a daily supplement consisting of 5 milligrams of folic acid and 30 milligrams of zinc for six months. Women were asked to complete questionnaires for up to 18 months following the beginning of the trial in order to track pregnancy outcomes.

Researchers found no significant differences in live births between the men who received the supplement (404 births, 34%) and the placebo group (416 births, 35%). Men in the two groups also had similar measures for total sperm count, mobility and shape. However, men who took the supplements had a higher proportion of broken DNA in sperm than in the placebo group.  Prior studies suggest that this phenomenon, known as DNA fragmentation, can contribute to male infertility.

Men in the supplement group also complained of more abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms than those in the placebo group.

“This large, well-controlled, randomized study shows us that nutraceuticals like zinc and folic acid really don’t improve the chances of a couple getting pregnant and actually can cause side effects that are not beneficial,” says C. Matthew Peterson, a U of U Health reproductive endocrinologist and one of the study’s principal investigators. “It’s important for men of all ages to eat a healthy diet to maintain fertility, but you don’t necessarily need to take something extra to help you achieve better sperm parameters.”

In addition to U of U Health and NICHD, the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine participated in the study.

The extreme contrast in temperature between the warm ocean and the cold air creates a flow of heat and moisture from the ocean to the atmosphere. This flow provides a lead with its own weather system which creates low-level clouds. The prevailing view has been that more leads are associated with more low-level clouds during winter. But University of Utah atmospheric scientists noticed something strange in their study of these leads: when lead occurrence was greater, there were fewer, not more clouds.

In a paper published in Nature Communications, they explain why: wintertime leads rapidly freeze after opening, so most leads have newly frozen ice that shuts off the moisture supply but only some of the heat flow from the ocean, thus causing any low-level clouds to dissipate and accelerating the freezing of sea ice compared to unfrozen leads. Understanding this dynamic, the authors say, will help more accurately represent the impact of winter-time leads on low-level clouds and on the surface energy budget in the Arctic – especially as the Arctic sea ice is declining.