Higher ed faces big challenges, but Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences Chris Poulsen is ready to meet them with a forward-thinking plan to establish CAS as a leader and innovator. Read how Poulsen views the state of higher education and how a new strategy will work to make the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences a place where students can receive a high-quality liberal arts education while also preparing them for a 21st century work place.

PSYCHOLOGY - Michael Posner, professor emerit in psychology, has had a career filled with accomplishments. He's received numerous honorary degrees, awards, and the National Medal of Science presented by President Barack Obama in 2009. Now the Posner family is establishing The Dr. Michael Posner Psychology Professorship in Cognition and Neuroscience to support a tenured professor or associate professor in strengthening the college’s contributions to cognition and neuroscience.

NEUROSCIENCE - Graduate student Angelique Allen has long been fascinated by the octopus, which led her to be a researcher in Cris Neill's lab in the College of Arts and Sciences's Institute of Neuroscience. Allen and Neill are recipients of the Gilliam Fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a competitive award that recognizes student-adviser pairs for their top-notch research, as well as their commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in the sciences.

CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY - Vickie DeRose, professor and head of chemistry and biochemistry, has been awarded a creativity extension by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research into the structure and function of ribonucleic acid (RNA) through its interactions with metal ions. Fellow chemist Mike Pluth was awarded an NSF creativity extension in 2023 for his work on the role small sulfur-based molecules play in many biological processes. These molecules were likely key species involved in evolution, especially before there was oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere.

HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY - Differences in the way muscles respond to stress could help explain why certain sports injuries are more common in women compared to men, and vice versa, new research from Damien Callahan, an exercise physiologist at the University of Oregon and graduate student Grace Privett. The two published a study in the journal Experimental Physiology that details how the mechanical properties of muscles change in response to exercise in women.