From the President’s Desk

Summer at Florida Tech is here. This should mean more time with friends and family, perhaps a change of scenery, and for some, continued work or teaching, but in a new environment. Some will be in exotic locales, like Mark Bush who will conduct research in the wilds of Brazil. The marine and environmental faculty and students will be immersed in their field projects, which they’ll exhibit in mid-summer and some of our students will be on study abroad adventures to Oxford and Madrid.

New opportunities for research and special study are in the offing for faculty. Bob Taylor and Heidi Hatfield Edwards in humanities, for example, will attend an institute at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, in July and August.

Several events are on my summer calendar. In May, I’ll head to Philadelphia for the Dad Vail events and look forward to meeting alumni and cultivating new donors. Also that month, I’ll attend the Urban Land Institute Spring Meeting in San Diego, then go to New York and Boston for alumni receptions.

In June, I’ll be at a SACS Leadership Team Orientation in Atlanta as well as the Florida Association of Colleges and Universities Meeting/Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida Retreat.

On campus, starting May 19 will be the Studio Art Quilt Associates’ newest fiber art show: Masters 2. The traveling exhibit will be at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts through Aug. 24 and I hope you’ll take a look.

The Creative Writing Institute is June 5-9 with all-new writer-presenters and the return of award-winning author Philip F. Deaver.
Also happening here, of course, are dozens of summer camp opportunities for younger family members in athletics, civil engineering, marine and environmental systems, computer science and more.

I always look forward to the change of pace in summer and hope the summer refreshes you, too.