UT students and the public will have a chance to hear appellate arguments when the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals convenes Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the McQuade Courtroom, located in Health and Human Services Building Room 1419.

Oral arguments at the free, public session hosted by the Paralegal Studies Program will begin at 9 a.m.

Presiding over oral arguments will be a panel of three judges from the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals: Arlene Singer, a 1976, UT law alumna; Thomas J. Osowick, a 1981 UT law alumnus; and James Jensen.

Arguments set for the session include appeals from a murder conviction and personal injury decision.

“This will be a great chance for UT paralegal students to observe judges and lawyers in a real court session,” said John J. Schlageter III, senior lecturer and director of the Paralegal Studies Program. “The court’s willingness to hold arguments on campus is appreciated as it provides an unparalleled experience and instruction for our students, as well as area high school students.”

Approximately 100 students from Maumee and Whitmer high schools will be in Health and Human Services Building Room 1711 to watch a live stream of oral arguments from the courtroom.

After adjourning, the court will host a question-and-answer session with the audience.

The court’s docket is available here. http://lcapps.co.lucas.oh.us/Courts/Appeals/CalendarsPDF/1336.pdf.

For the first time, astronomers have mapped the surface of a massive hot star, proving a decades-long theory that hot spots on the star’s surface affect the behavior of stellar winds. A University of Toledo astronomer was a member of the international research team that made the groundbreaking discovery.

“We’re now better able to understand how massive stars send out material into space through their winds,” said Dr. Noel Richardson, postdoctoral research associate in the UT Department of Physics and Astronomy who was a member of the research team. “This research gives us a better understanding of how stars lose material, which then forms new stars and planets.”

The team’s research appears in a paper recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, one of the world’s leading astronomy journals.

For decades, astronomers have theorized that there were hot spots on the surface of massive stars that affected stellar winds, but they didn’t know how those spots behaved or how they impacted the winds.

To test that theory, the research team chose as its test subject a supergiant called Zeta Puppis, a massive star 60 times larger than the sun and seven times hotter at the surface. Massive stars are rare and usually travel in pairs. But Zeta Puppis flies solo—and it flies fast. The star hurtles through space at 37 miles per second, 60 times faster than a speeding bullet.

Using a network of nanosatellites from the “BRIght Target Explorer” (BRITE) space mission, researchers monitored the surface brightness of Zeta Puppis every 100 minutes for six months in 2014. They simultaneously monitored the behavior of its stellar winds over time from several ground-based observatories.

After correlating the two sets of data, the team found that Zeta Puppis rotates at tremendous speed — once every 1.78 days. In comparison, our sun, which is 60 times smaller, takes almost a month to rotate once.

Astronomers in the past had never had enough data to verify their claims about hot spots and their effects on stellar winds. The new data allowed them to map the surface of Zeta Puppis. It proved what the astronomers suspected: the structures on the star’s surface were indeed there, and these hot spots did affect the star’s winds.

Astronomers have mapped the surfaces of cooler stars, Richardson said, but this is the first time they’ve mapped a hot star. They learned that a brighter, hotter spot creates huge spiral structures in stellar winds that scatter more material into space.

A team of more than 40 astronomers participated in the research. The group included six amateur astronomers in Australia, New Zealand and Brazil, who spent three to four hours every night for six months peering into their telescopes and collecting data.

Read the research article here.

Download an artist’s impression of the supergiant Zeta Puppis here.

More than 600 women will participate in the 2017 Women in Leadership conference co-sponsored by Bowling Green State University and The University of Toledo to learn strategies for professional advancement.

The sold-out conference titled Step Up to Step Out: Strategies for Distinguishing Yourself to Advancement will take place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 at the Hilton Garden Inn at Levis Commons in Perrysburg.

BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey and UT President Sharon L. Gaber will participate in the conference that features talks from several business leaders, including:

• Abha Bhandair, director of equity administration and benefits accounting for Brown & Brown Insurance;
• Kelly Hyne, senior vice president of strategic partnerships for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA);
• Whitney Johnson, author of “Disrupt Yourself: Putting the Power of Disruptive Innovation to Work”;
• Debby Peters, founder and instructor for Connext Nation, a word of mouth marketing training program;
• Aly Sterling, founder and president of Aly Sterling Philanthropy, a national consulting firm based in the Midwest; and
• Maryrose T. Sylvester, president and CEO of Current, powered by GE, which blends advanced energy technologies such as LED and solar with networked sensors and software.

The annual conference is organized by the BGSU College of Business and UT College of Business and Innovation.

The UT and BGSU presidents and conference speakers will be available for interviews at a reception the evening before at a Meet the Speakers event 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 19 in the Niagara Room at the Hilton Garden Inn.

For more information, visit bgsu.edu/business/women-in-leadership.

The University of Toledo Police Department is looking to add new law enforcement officers and a police dispatcher to its force.

“We are looking to hire individuals with strong character, judgment and commitment to safety to fill vacancies resulting from upcoming retirements,” UT Police Chief Jeff Newton said. “University policing is a dynamic career, and we’re looking forward to finding the right individuals for these opportunities.”

Officer candidates must be at least 21 years old with a valid driver’s license and pass physical fitness, psychological, drug and polygraph exams, as well as written and oral testing and a thorough background investigation to be considered for the position.

Applicants also need to have completed 96 quarter hours or 64 semester hours of college credits, or have at least two years of continuous active full-time law enforcement experience.

For many years, candidates for UT officer positions were required to already have an Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certificate. That is no longer a pre-hire requirement in an effort to open the door for those who have not yet begun a career as a police officer, Newton said. UT will sponsor the employee in completing the training to become a certified peace officer.

Interested candidates are asked to submit an electronic application by 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16. A written police exam and physical fitness tests will be held Saturday, Nov. 4.

Candidates for the police dispatcher position must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. Additional requirements are four months of training or radio dispatcher experience in law enforcement and 20 hours of training in the operations of communication equipment. Candidates also will be required to compete rigorous field training.

Interested candidates for the dispatcher position need to apply by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20.

Apply online at jobs.utoledo.edu.

“History of Cancer Research: Why Patients Are Still Dying for a Cure” will be discussed Thursday, Oct. 12, at 5 p.m. in Health Education Building Room 110 on UT’s Health Science Campus.

Dr. Azra Raza, Chan Soon-Shiong Professor of Medicine and director of the Myelodysplastic Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, will deliver the ninth annual S. Amjad Hussain Lecture in the History of Medicine and Surgery.

Her research focuses on myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia. In 1984, she started a tissue repository that now contains 60,000 samples from thousands of patients.

“This repository has helped my colleagues and me define the molecular and genetic milestones that must be covered for pre-leukemia cells to cross over into leukemia cells,” Raza said during a 2016 TEDx talk in New York. “It will also help us define potential therapeutic targets that could be used to intercept the disease before it is too late. This work will likely apply to the evolution of other cancers as well.”

She was part of President Barack Obama’s the Cancer Moonshot Program.

“Cancer is slated to become the leading cause of death in the coming decade, with one in two men and one in three women suffering from the disease at some point in their lives,” she said during the Tedx talk. “Over the next 10 years, the number of new cancer cases in the United States will increase by 42 percent, and the number of cancer survivors will rise from 15.5 million to 20.3 million. During the same period, the number of oncologists will increase by only 28 percent.”

Raza’s research has appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, Blood, Cancer, Leukemia, and Cancer Research. In 2012, she was a Hope Funds for Cancer Research honoree. Two years later, Raza received the Distinguished Services in Field Research and Clinical Medicine Award from Dow Medical College.

This annual lecture was created in honor of Hussain, professor emeritus of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery, and humanities, and columnist for The Blade. The free, public event is designed to highlight Hussain’s interest in many diverse fields, including the history of medicine.

The University of Toledo is putting a unique spin on its traditional Career Fair by making it a tailgating event this year.

The Career Fair Tailgate will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 in parking area 6 on the east side of the Health Education Center on Main Campus.

“It’s going to be fun with traditional tailgate activities, music and snacks, but it’s serious business, too,” said Shelly Drouillard, director of the Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services. “The tailgate venue allows for a more relaxed, casual atmosphere, which we hope will encourage even the non-job-seeking younger students to participate in the event. It is never too soon to start building relationships with employers and expanding your professional network.” 

Students will be able to explore career and internship opportunities while networking with corporate recruiters. Representatives from more than 60 for-profit, government and nonprofit organizations will be available to meet with students regarding full-time and part-time employment, along with internship opportunities. Students of all majors and alumni are welcome to attend.

Registered organizations represent a wide range of fields; employers include Promedica; Cleveland Clinic; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Federal Bureau of Investigation; North American Science Associates Inc.; Sauder Woodworking Co.; Thomson Reuters; and Charles River Laboratories. The city of Toledo and Wright Patterson Air Force Base also will participate.

In case of extreme weather, the event will move indoors to the Thompson Student Union Auditorium.

The Center for Experiential Learning and Career Services works to connect students to meaningful learning experiences and assist them with determining a major and career exploration. Additional services include resumé reviews, mock interviews and job search strategies.

When the William S. Carlson Library opened at The University of Toledo more than four decades ago, it was a repository for more than one million volumes of printed reference materials with card catalogs to direct students to the resources they needed.

Today the space looks much different thanks to a recently completed $6 million upgrade that features more open spaces, additional group study rooms and a new veterans lounge. The east wall also has been replaced with a curtain of windows to let in more sunlight.

“Modern libraries are no longer just a vault of books and reference materials. They are environments where students want to come and are inspired to learn,” said Beau Case, dean of University Libraries. “Librarians continue to provide students with the resources they need to succeed, and we are excited to engage our students in discovery in our new facility.”

Carlson Library’s new glass wall on the east side of the building.

A ribbon-cutting to celebrate the renovation will take place 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12 on the library’s second floor with UT President Sharon L. Gaber, Student Government President Jimmy Russell, Case, and Jason Toth, associate vice president for facilities and construction.

The ceremony is part of the University’s celebration of Founder’s Day, which marks the 145th anniversary of when UT was established with Jesup W. Scott’s donation of 160 acres of land to found what was then the Toledo University of Arts and Trades.

UT is holding its first Day of Giving, Rocket Forward: You Launch Lives, on Oct. 12 to encourage alumni, students, faculty, staff, volunteers and members of the community who support the institution to follow in Scott’s footsteps and invest in the University’s future.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, tours will be provided to see the library’s new features.

In addition to the new glass wall spanning the entire height of the building, the renovations include an expanded and landscaped concourse that greets guests when they enter the library and an added mezzanine area on the second floor.

The renovated library also features a variety of seating and study space options to accommodate all learners, collaborative workspaces, conference rooms, an endowed technology classroom, and 47 group study rooms and 16 active learning areas.

The new LTC Thomas J. Orlowski ’65 Veterans Lounge on the second floor named for the UT alumnus and Army veteran provides a space for military veterans and current service members to relax, study and enjoy the camaraderie they experienced while serving their country.

The multiyear library renovation project was funded by state capital dollars. A gift from the estate of Dorothy MacKenzie Price, a UT alumna and patron of many University programs, also supported the new state-of-the-art model classroom in the building.

Toledo, Ohio – Oct. 5, 2017 – As the state of Ohio struggles with multiple critical health issues, Ohio University and The University of Toledo are coming together to find solutions. Today, Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis and University of Toledo President Sharon L. Gaber signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” to formalize the collaboration agreement between Ohio University’s College of Health Sciences and Professions and The University of Toledo’s College of Health and Human Services.

“The future of higher education is dependent upon collaboration across disciplines to develop innovative solutions to today’s problems,” says Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis. “This includes working in conjunction with experts at other institutions to enrich the experiences of our students, while working toward a better future for Ohio, our nation, and our world.”

“This agreement aligns well with UT’s strategic priorities of increasing academic success and strengthening our research efforts in areas that advance our mission – to improve the human condition,” states University of Toledo President Sharon L. Gaber. “This collaboration will draw from each institution’s unique strengths to help close the gap for Ohioans who lack access or adequate resources to obtain appropriate health care.”

The health colleges of the two universities will form the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, which will collaborate with The University of Toledo College of Law and Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, to help create community-specific ways to fix the state’s health problems, such as opioid addiction, health-care access, chronic disease and infant mortality.

Each partner contributes unique strengths and robust research capabilities to the alliance. The collaboration also features joint academic offerings for students.

“Our institutions represent two of the largest health-focused colleges in Ohio with well over 100 faculty researchers between the two colleges,” said Dr. Randy Leite, dean of the OHIO College of Health Sciences and Professions. “OUCHSP has vibrant applied health programming and The University of Toledo has a well-developed population health foundation. We are both strategically located in areas of the state with considerable disparity in health outcomes compared to the rest of the state and nation.”

“We’ve developed the alliance to enhance outreach and improve lives in Ohio, as well as increase our infrastructure to more strategically engage in relevant research that matters,” said Dr. Christopher Ingersoll, dean of the UT College of Health and Human Services. “By combining forces and assembling teams of experts, we will be able to compete for the resources necessary to solve the population health problems in our region and throughout the state.”

The Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health will research the often-ignored root causes of health issues and will incorporate partner organizations as sources of content expertise to build on networks of strong community relationships to develop and test solutions. The goal of this work is to establish best practices for addressing critical population health issues.

Rick Hodges, former director of the Ohio Department of Health and UT alumnus, was named director of the alliance to identify and collaborate with partner organizations across the state.

“I’m looking forward to working with the many excellent programs that are already in place across the state,” Hodges said. “The alliance will serve as a collaborator, not a competitor.”

One area of interest to Hodges is healthcare informatics, which is the study of resources and methods for the management of health information. According to Hodges, both the technology and the data currently exist to answer many public health questions, but they are not yet connected to each other. This type of information could lead to the creation of a variety of useful databases, such as a database showing space availability for drug treatment facilities in the state. While such a database exists to identify hospital bed availability, no comparable database exists for drug treatment facilities.

The alliance’s first initiative will revolve around opioid abuse and addiction in Perry and Lucas Counties and other locations.

Welltower Company Headquarters Will Remain In Toledo

TOLEDO, Ohio, September 20, 2017 — Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN) announces the donation of its state-of-the-art, LEED-certified office buildings and approximately 100 acres of land for the benefit of The University of Toledo. This transformational gift, at an estimated value of more than $30 million, is made possible through an innovative real estate agreement that transfers the company’s extensive Toledo property at 4500 Dorr Street to The University of Toledo Foundation. Welltower’s corporate headquarters will remain in Toledo, where it has been located since 1986. As part of the agreement, Welltower will continue to occupy the 4500 Dorr Street North Building. The University of Toledo and the UT Foundation will evaluate the optimal uses for the gifted real estate to advance the University’s mission.

“We are thrilled to make this transformational gift to The University of Toledo,” said Tom DeRosa, Welltower’s Chief Executive Officer. “As the global leader in health care real estate, we are positioning Welltower for growth and optimizing our own real estate footprint. We have more space than we need, and are focused on running the business more efficiently. This led us to consider more productive, community-minded uses of the campus. The University of Toledo is the ideal choice, and we are delighted to partner with them in such a meaningful and progressive way. It is a fitting tribute to our company’s founders, Fritz Wolfe and Bruce Thompson, to donate the building and grounds to an institution that so profoundly impacts the region and the community that the Wolfe and Thompson families loved dearly. We are honored to open the gates of this incredible campus to broader uses that will benefit The University and the Toledo community for generations to come.”

“We are grateful for this generous gift from Welltower, which affirms the important role of The University of Toledo to positively impact our community. This Toledo-based global company chose to invest in UT because of our capacity to contribute to the growth and development of our region, and we are thankful for their support,” said Sharon L. Gaber, president of The University of Toledo. “This is the largest gift in the University’s history and provides a unique opportunity to explore potential uses for this space that would best serve the University and the community, and contribute to our goal to be one of the top public, national, research universities.”

The donation by Welltower includes the 4500 Dorr Street Main Building’s 140,000 square feet of office space, which will be repurposed by the UT Foundation, and the approximately 31,000 square foot North Building to be leased by Welltower as its corporate headquarters and office space for its Toledo-based employees. As a result, Welltower will significantly reduce the cost associated with its corporate headquarters. Final transfer of the real estate and implementation of the lease-back structure are expected to occur by the middle of 2018. The company also plans to open an office in New York City in 2018. This adds an important local presence to support the company’s significant east coast portfolio, and will function similarly to other regional offices in London, Toronto, Jupiter and Beverly Hills. Additionally, the company has real estate management offices in Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis, St. Louis and Phoenix.

About Welltower
Welltower Inc. (NYSE: HCN), an S&P 500 company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, is driving the transformation of health care infrastructure. The company invests with leading seniors housing operators, post-acute providers and health systems to fund the real estate infrastructure needed to scale innovative care delivery models and improve people’s wellness and overall health care experience. Welltower™, a real estate investment trust (REIT), owns interests in properties concentrated in major, high-growth markets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, consisting of seniors housing and post-acute communities and outpatient medical properties. More information is available at http://welltower.com/.

About The University of Toledo
The University of Toledo, established in 1872, is a diverse, public metropolitan research university committed to the success of its students and the northwest Ohio community. The University is home to more than 20,000 students across 13 colleges offering a wide array of undergraduate majors and graduate and professional programs in business, education, engineering, law, medicine, nursing and pharmacy. The UT Rockets compete in Division I athletics with nearly 350 student athletes winning on the field and in the classroom breaking records for GPA achievement. The University has earned acclaim for its expertise in advanced renewable energy, environmental sciences, astronomical and biomedical research discoveries. For more information, visit utoledo.edu.

Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When Welltower uses words such as “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. In particular, these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those relating to Welltower’s investment opportunities and plans with The University of Toledo and its Foundation. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause Welltower’s actual results to differ materially from its expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. This may be a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the status of the economy; the status of capital markets, including availability and cost of capital; issues facing the health care industry; not closing the transaction with The University of Toledo and its Foundation; unanticipated difficulties and/or expenditures relating to future investments or acquisitions; Welltower’s ability to maintain its qualification as a REIT; and other risks described in Welltower’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission . Finally, Welltower undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether because of new information, future events or otherwise, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements.

Former University of Toledo head football coach Gary Pinkel will return to campus to sign his new book, “The 100-Yard Journey: A Life in Coaching and Battling for the Win,” Saturday, Sept. 16.

He will be at the Barnes & Noble University Bookstore at the Gateway from 2 to 4 p.m.

Pinkel also will be among the honorees of Toledo’s 100-year football anniversary celebration at halftime Saturday night when Toledo takes on Tulsa at 7 p.m. in the Glass Bowl.

He co-authored the memoir published by Triumph Books with Dave Matter, who covers the University of Missouri for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Few college football coaches earn the distinction of becoming their programs’ winningest, but Pinkel has done it twice.

From 1991 to 2000, he coached the Toledo Rockets, leading the team to 73 wins, the most in school history. Pinkel also has the highest winning percentage (.659) among UT coaches who were on the sidelines at least three seasons. In addition, he ranks fifth in the Mid-American Conference in wins, fourth in wins in MAC contests (53), and eighth in winning percentage.

He led Toledo to a MAC Championship in 1995, as the Rockets went 11-0-1, won the Las Vegas Bowl, and ended the season ranked No. 22 in the final coaches’ poll. He also led UT to MAC West Division titles in 1997 and 1998. In his final season at Toledo in 2000, Pinkel’s Rockets went 10-1, including a 24-6 win at Penn State. His teams ranked in the top 25 in three different seasons — 1995, 1997 and 2000. Pinkel was MAC Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1997.

He left Toledo after the 2000 season to accept the head coaching position at Missouri, leading the Tigers into the top 10 in 2007 and 2008, as well as to Southeastern Conference East titles in 2013 and 2014. Missouri received a No. 1 Associated Press ranking at the end of the 2007 season, and Pinkel took home SEC Coach of the Year honors in 2014. In 15 seasons, he and the Tigers won 118 games — the most by a Mizzou football coach — and reached 10 bowl games.

Pinkel’s success on the field was accompanied by personal and professional challenges, including a diagnosis of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which prompted him to step away from coaching in 2015.

In the 272-pages of “The 100-Yard Journey,” the football leader reflects on meeting and overcoming the unexpected.

The book follows the 1975 Kent State University graduate’s coaching career, including serving as an assistant at the University of Washington from 1979 to 1990. And it begins with his days on the gridiron. From 1971 to 1973, Pinkel played tight end for the Golden Flashes; his senior season, he earned All-MAC and honorable mention All-America honors.

In 2009, the Akron native was inducted into UT’s Varsity ‘T’ Hall of Fame, and six years later, into the MAC Hall of Fame.

Pinkel now is a special consultant to the University of Missouri and its Athletic Department.

Copies of “The 100-Yard Journey” will be for sale at the event for $26.95.