2017 in review: The 10 most-read stories from Around the O

At its heart, the University of Oregon is in the business of inspiration. And in 2017, business was good.

The UO rolled out jaw-dropping designs for the first buildings on its new Knight Campus. It hired a Nobel Prize-winning physicist. It celebrated a student who hopes to be the first Duck on Mars, a retired professor who was a wartime undercover man, and the first five students to earn its most generous scholarship.

Among the almost 900 stories published in Around the O over the past year, inspiration was a recurring theme. And the list of stories that showed that runs far longer than the one below. It includes amazing students and alumni, exciting new discoveries and dedicated faculty and staff.

All in all, 2017 was a good year to be a Duck. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. Impact and curiosity come to life

A year after stunning the state and nation with the announcement of a $500 million gift, the UO followed up with the release of design drawings of the first two buildings in the three-building Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact. Bolstered by an additional $500 million fundraising effort, the $1 billion campus will take interdisciplinary research to new heights and put the UO at the forefront of the effort to turn new discoveries into practical products.

Quote: “Penny and I are thrilled with the progress that is being made with this new campus. We have high hopes that these buildings and the people inside them will do great things for our university and the state.” –Phil Knight

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/knight-campus-renderings

George Wickes spent decades teaching English to young students at the UO, few of whom ever knew they were learning from a former military intelligence officer who once had a price on his head. Long before the U.S. became involved in what would become the Vietnam War, Wickes was in Southeast Asia gathering intelligence on a growing independence movement for the precursor of the CIA. It was classic cloak-and-dagger work that laid an unusual foundation for a life in academia.

Quote: “Well, yes, you could say I was a spy.” –George Wickes, retired UO professor

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/george-wickes

Physicist David Wineland won the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics for his research on quantum computers. In 2018, he will pack up his lab and settle at the UO. Wineland will be a Knight Research Professor in physics, working in the Oregon Center for Optical, Molecular and Quantum Science to further explorations aimed at creating a new kind of supercomputer using the smallest known bits of physical matter.

Quote: “I’ve seen firsthand the great work happening at the University of Oregon. The faculty at UO is pursuing a wide range of interesting projects, and that was a significant draw. My hope is that I will able to contribute to some of these projects in a collaborative and advisory role." –David Wineland, research professor in physics

In 2013, the UO enrolled the first five recipients of one of the most generous financial aid packages it offers: the Stamps Scholarship. Those five students not only receive tuition, room and board for undergraduate studies, they have access to enrichment funds for study abroad, unpaid internships, research and other academic experiences. Now, that first group of recipients is closing in on graduation.

Quote: The University of Oregon gives students the freedom to pursue any and all of their interests without being confined to a specific area of study. In addition, the university encourages students to pursue their passions both in and outside of the classroom.” –Hannah Steinkopf-Frank, journalism and international studies

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/stamps-scholars

Tinker Hatfield came up with the design for Nike’s wildly popular Air Jordan basketball shoe along with many other iconic products, including the university’s “O” logo. The 1977 UO graduate is one of eight world-class designers profiled in a Netflix documentary series, “Abstract: The Art of Design.” One of his latest projects was designing a new state license plate featuring the Oregon Duck.

Quote: “Oregon is not like every other school. And it is more about the future and less about the past.” –Tinker Hatfield, Nike designer

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/man-behind-o-featured-new-netflix-series

Greg Bell has fired up crowds across the nation with a story of perseverance, patience and inspiration. The author and motivational speaker, with political science and law degrees from the UO, builds his metaphor for success around the giant timber bamboo, which can lie seemingly dormant for years before bursting out of the ground and reaching for the sky. Also a former Duck basketball player, Bell returned to campus to inspire the Class of 2017.

Excerpt: Planted and watered for up to five years, bamboo shows no sign of life. But when it breaks through the soil, it can grow 90 feet high in 60 days. Bell has built upon this analogy to inspire an array of organizations, from Fortune 500 companies like Nike and Disney to the Portland Trail Blazers. –Greg Bell is author of “Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals”

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/inspirational-author-uo-alum-speak-2017-commencement

In 2017 the UO announced it would become the first public university on the West Coast to accept the Common Application, a form that makes it easier for students to apply for university admission. The Common Application will not only make it easier to apply at the UO, it could expand the pool of possible applicants.

Quote: “For several years, counselors and students around the country have let us know they would prefer having this more streamlined option. We are not only responding to this demand, but hoping that our many in-state applicants will find this a helpful resource in their college application and search process.” –Jim Rawlins, admissions director and vice president for enrollment management

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/content/uo-become-member-common-application

Campus jobs give students more than a paycheck. They offer experience, flexibility and a chance to explore career options. Almost 3,300 students worked in campus jobs last year, doing everything from leading tours to building theater sets to helping in labs. Here are a few of their stories.

Quote: “It’s a great opportunity to work in a university setting. They’re very understanding of the position of a student — it’s school first, then work. You get to have a connection not just with your professors within your major, but with someone that has seen you work and evolve. It’s affected my future in such a positive way.” –Daniela Cardenas-Riumallo, student and glass studio supervisor, EMU Craft Center

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/student-jobs

A once-in-a-lifetime shadow crossed Oregon during last summer’s total solar eclipse, an epic event that gave UO astronomers a chance to share their knowledge across the entire state and beyond. In a series of talks, they helped explain the science and history of eclipses and what makes them such spectacular events.

Quote: “It’s a life experience that you have to witness to understand why people are so hooked.” –Scott Fisher, UO astronomer

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/student-jobs

Manju Bangalore, an undergraduate physics major, has her eyes set not on the stars but on the planets. Mars, specifically, although a moon here or there might do. Hers is the story of a youngster who decided early on what she wants to be: an astronaut. But it’s no childhood infatuation. Bangalore is well on her way to fulfilling her dream of being the first Duck to plant webbed feet on another world.

Quote: “I spent my sophomore year on campus in a lab, and I’m proud to say I failed the entire year. I felt terrible because you’re supposed to make some progress in that time, but that is the very nature of science; you fail constantly, and you know as much as it sucks, you just have to be able to get back up.” –Manju Bangalore

URL: https://around.uoregon.edu/manju-bangalore