The Human Face of Immigration

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For those who risk their lives crossing the border from Mexico to the U.S., immigration reform isn’t just a political debate. It’s often a tragic personal story of separation, imprisonment and loss. In a video conversation with Dean Ben Vinson, Daniel E. Martínez looks at the staggering impact of border crossings on migrant families. View video.

Alumna Traces Founders’ Private Lives

From Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, men and women in the early American republic risked gossip and scandal when they forged close friendships. In her book Founding Friendships, American Studies alumna Cassandra Good, BA ’04, MA ’05, reveals how these secret relationships helped shape the nation’s values. Read more.

Stroke Recovery: Brain’s Right Hemisphere Takes Charge

A new study by postdoctoral researcher Summer Sheremata, from Columbian College’s Attention and Cognition Laboratory, deciphers the brain’s strategy for recovering from strokes. Her discovery that the right hemisphere comes to the aid of the damaged left could lead to therapies for restoring visual perception. Read more.

Love, Sex and Friendship: What Makes Relationships Tick?

Don’t expect to sit quietly in Laura Papish’s Dean’s Seminar on Love, Sex and Friendship. Her philosophy class is a raucous free-flowing discussion, with students debating topics that swing from Aristotle and sexual politics to The Bachelor and the ethics of lovers. As one freshman put it: “This is a wild ride.” Read more.

GW ‘Making History’ as Science and Engineering Hall Opens

Alumni, donors and guests celebrated a new era of scientific achievement at the grand opening of the Science and Engineering Hall, an event more than a decade-in-the-making. Flanked by a laser light show in the SEH lobby, attendees marveled at the 500,000-square-foot building, the new state-of-the-art home to GW research. Read more.

Maida Withers Debuts innovative ‘MindFluctuations’ at Lisner

Maida Withers will headline Lisner Auditorium's spring season with the premiere of “MindFluctuations,” a bold new show that marks the culmination of her career. In an innovative performance featuring GW professors, alumni and students, dancers will wear neuro-headsets as 3-D virtual artwork of their brain waves project onstage. Read more.

Chemistry Major, GW Colonial Named Academic All-American

GW basketball fans know senior John Kopriva for his work on the court. But some of his most impressive accomplishments have been in the classroom. The chemistry major, co-captain and aspiring surgeon scored the tenth Academic All-American honor in program history—while notching career hoop highlights. Read more.

Manheim-Sterling Research Prize Winners Take on Twitter

Twitter has transformed the communications world. But for better or worse? That’s the question SMPA students Bailey Mohr and Zinhle Essamuah asked as they examined the social media platform’s role in politics and activism. Their efforts were rewarded with the Manheim-Sterling Undergraduate Research Prize. Read more.

In the Spotlight

Christopher L. Cahill was selected as the American Institute of Physics State Department Science Fellow for 2015-2016, and was the GW student-athletes' choice for 2014 Professor of the Year.

Gustavo Hormiga was awarded a $487,536 grant from the National Science Foundation for research on the phylogeny and diversification of orb weaving spiders.

Oleg Kargaltsev received a $50,415 grant from the Smithsonian Institution for his snap-shot survey of unidentified sources from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope.