ORAU in the News

Shan Li, assistant professor at the College of Health and in the College of Education, was selected as one of this year's recipients of the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from ORAU. Li's research focuses on designing intelligent learning and training applications, as well as investigating the mechanisms of learning and behavioral change.

George Mason University's James C. Witte, professor of sociology and director of the school's' Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), and Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen, assistant director of IIR, received grant funding from ORAU through its Innovation Partnerships Program for their participation in a conference focused on "Refugee Resettlement and STEM Education."

The conference will focus on how STEM-oriented educational opportunities through high schools, registered apprenticeships, community college, and four-year institutions can all play a significant role in addressing urgent humanitarian needs, while also expanding the nation’s STEM workforce. 

Ren Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology, has received a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) for his research using insights from the human adaptive immune system to make artificial intelligence systems more resilient. 

Daniel Becker, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Biology in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences, has received an Oak Ridge Associated Universities Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award for his continued research on bat migration in western Oklahoma.

Danielle Roderick at Catlettsburg Elementary School won several awards that came with over $27,000 in prize money for an extreme classroom makeover. On Friday, Oak Ridge Associated Universities selected the 4th-grade teacher as the 2023 Extreme Classroom Makeover grand prize winner of $25,000.

A Sevier County teacher has earned $27,500 to update her classroom technology through ORAU’s Extreme Classroom Makeover contest. Danielle Roderick, a fourth-grade teacher, was surprised with her win during a pep rally at Catlettsburg Elementary School on March 24. She won both the competition’s $25,000 grand prize and the $2,500 Viewers’ Choice Award for her video submission.

Catlettsburg Elementary School’s Danielle Roderick won $27,500 in the Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. Roderick, who had no clue her fourth grade class won the video contest, was surprised at a pep rally held to make the announcement on Friday. The award goes to teachers who are seeking to incorporate STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) into their classroom.

ORAU employees and executives play corn hole during an event celebrating the 30th birthday of ORAU's Diversity Council held at ORAU's main campus in Oak Ridge on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022. The event was the company's first in-person gathering since the start of pandemic and featured a cornhole tournament between executives and employees, other yard games, food trucks and more.

One size simply can’t fit all when it comes to patient care. And it shouldn’t. Yet underrepresented populations are often left out of the healthcare equation. MITRE and Oak Ridge Associated Universities-funded research aims to disrupt health disparities.

Kristin Hurst, an assistant professor of sustainability in the School of Earth Systems and Sustainability, and a team of researchers recently received a $150,000 grant from Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) to discover how to best combine effective climate change communication with best practices for teaching science to young learners. The goal is to identify when and how climate science can most effectively be introduced to middle school and high school curriculums.

A University of Louisville researcher has won a prestigious award for his work to better understand chemical reactions — work that could help produce more efficient, cleaner and safer energy.

Andrew Wilson, of the UofL chemistry department, was one of just 41 U.S. researchers selected to receive a 2022 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award. The award, presented by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, recognizes outstanding full-time assistant professors within two years of tenure track appointment.

Elaina Fields, a third-grade teacher at Claxton Elementary School in Anderson County, was named runnerup in Oak Ridge Associated Universities' Extreme Classroom Makeover and received a check for $5,000 on Thursday, March 24. She also received an additional $2,500 as winner of the competition’s Viewers’ Choice Award for her video submission.

When a Sevier County Schools teacher walked into her school's gym on Tuesday, she thought it was for a routine meeting. Instead, she and several educators gathered to hand her $25,000.

She was the winner of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities' "Extreme Classroom Makeover" program. Through the program, the ORAU selects teachers who teach third-grade through tenth-grade math or science, within a 50-mile radius of Oak Ridge, to get a big surprise.

Officials at Oak Ridge Associated Universities recently nnounced the election of two new board members, a new Council chair and vice-chair, and welcomed six new institutions to its 152-member university consortium.

The announcement was made during the ORAU Annual Meeting of the Council of Sponsoring Institutions on Tuesday, March 8, according to a news release.

Jennifer Tyrell brings passion to every single science, technology, engineering and math project she tackles. After spending time in the classroom, she knows how influential teachers are in children's lives. She organizes outreach programs that support teachers and works with organizations that serve young people so they can reach their full potential.

Kristy Kistner, ORAU director of performance excellence, is one of three quality management and quality assurance experts appointed to an international ad hoc group established to examine the feasibility of converting International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9004 into a quality assurance standard with stated requirements for organizations to achieve.

NASA has selected Oak Ridge Associated Universities to provide the agency with administrative support and coordination of research opportunities between NASA’s mission directorates and centers across the agency.

The NASA Postdoctoral Program 2 contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $129.7 million, according to a NASA news release. The one-year base performance period begins Sept. 9, and is followed by four one-year options, which would end Sept. 8, 2026.

NASA has selected Oak Ridge Associated Universities to provide the agency with administrative support and coordination of research opportunities between NASA’s mission directorates and centers across the agency.

The NASA Postdoctoral Program 2 (NPP-2) contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $129.7 million. The one-year base performance period begins September 9, 2021, and it is followed by four one-year options, which would end September 8, 2026, NASA said in a press release.