When Richard Schmeal received his doctorate in chemical engineering and materials sciences (CEMS) from the U, he was trained to work in hydrocarbons. That might be different if he were in school today. “Now, the faculty is training tomorrow’s generation to adapt to the world’s changing fuel needs,” he says.

It’s the foresight to meet tomorrow’s challenges today that has kept the U’s chemical engineering program among the nation’s best. The same determination is being applied across the U as it becomes a top-three public research institution.

Taking the U’s vision as his own, Schmeal is chair of and a major contributor to Campaign First, an effort by the chemical engineering department to maintain its stature. “To be one of the top universities, you have to build on your strengths. To preserve CEMS’ status requires vision and funding to make it a reality.”

The U’s vision is also to internationalize its campuses, something David Johnson, former chancellor of the Morris campus, knows well. “International studies became the focal point of my teaching career,” says Johnson, who makes it integral to the student experience today through his support of service learning abroad.

Several Morris students benefited from Johnson’s generosity during a recent trip to India. “I want junior faculty and undergraduates to have the same transformational experience that I had abroad,” Johnson says.

Take a slideshow tour of Morris students experiencing India.