Last term, Drexel University’s colleges, schools and departments received funding, created partnerships and otherwise contributed to the success of Drexel’s academic enterprise. This update offers a snapshot of activity, courtesy of the Office of the Provost.
External and Internal Sponsored Opportunities
Three College of Nursing and Health Professions faculty, along with colleagues, received pilot research awards from the 2024–2025 HBCU-Drexel Health Science and STEM Partnership:
- Safiyyah Okoye, PhD, assistant professor, received $9,900 for a qualitative research study titled “Understanding Attitudes, Behaviors and Beliefs Related to Home Maintenance to Decrease Inequities in Functional Disability Among Low-Income Older Adults.”
- James Muruthi, PhD, assistant professor, received $7,200 for a project titled “Evaluating the Effectiveness and Cultural Relevance of the Older Adults’ Mental Health First Aid (OMHFA).”
- Laura Baehr, DPT, PhD, assistant professor, received $10,000 for a project entitled “Assessing Minoritized Student Campus Recreation Engagement and Belonging Cross Drexel and Lincoln Universities.”
The Drexel Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships and Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel, in partnership with the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, is conducting a Conservation Technician Training Pilot Initiative with two Drexel co-op students (partially funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services).
The Master of Fine Arts program in the College of Arts and Sciences received a $25,000 gift from Drexel alumnus Robert “Rob” Silverman, BS ’69, to support merit scholarships over the next five years.
Rolph Anderson, PhD, professor emeritus in the Bennett S. LeBow College of Business, donated $125,000 to LeBow’s marketing doctoral program to establish the Dr. Rolph E. Anderson PhD in Marketing Endowed Fund. This fund is designated to enhance the amount of stipend funds provided by the University to selected graduate students enrolled in the PhD program and to support academic research pursuits, including but not limited to expenses related to travel or conference registrations.
The LeBow College of Business’ Department of Accounting received a $3,000 grant from the Armanino Foundation. The grant was facilitated by Diane DeCesare, BS accounting ’85, partner at Armanino and a member of the department’s advisory council.
The David S. Rasner Endowed Fund for the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel was established with $125,000 seed money and a $750,000 bequest.
The Drexel Legacy Center Archives & Special Collections is offering a new research fellowship funded by a gift from a Medical College of Pennsylvania alumni family (also known as MCP, a legacy institution that grew into today’s College of Medicine); the fellowship supports use of the history of women in medicine collections and will be offered annually for the next three years.
Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Programs (UREP) in the Pennoni Honors College, with the Center for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning Excellence (CASTLE), have received a fourth round of funding from the Panaphil Foundation to support the Frances Velay Fellows Program, a subset of the STAR Scholars Program dedicated to promoting women in STEM. The Panaphil Foundation awarded UREP and CASTLE $125,400 over two years, which will fund a total of 20 students in the Velay Fellows Program.
Awards, Honors and Recognitions
Tariem Burroughs, PhD, executive director for external partnerships in the Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health, was inducted into the inaugural class as a Distinguished Fellow of Practice for the Public Health Academy of the National Academies of Practice.
Burroughs was also named a “Black Trailblazer” by City and State Pennsylvania. The publication celebrated Black Pennsylvanians for the progress they embody.
Drexel University Libraries was designated an Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) Express Library for the fourth year in a row for performing at the top 10 percent of libraries participating in the OCLC WorldShare interlibrary loan service. Members of the Express Library program commit to providing digital resources within 18 hours of receiving the interlibrary loan request.
The LeBow College of Business has been selected by the Philadelphia law firm Pond Lehocky to receive a donated membership to the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), an advocacy group for the advertising and marketing industry, through the ANA Educational Foundation. This membership grants faculty and staff access to ANA’s industry-leading resources, including conferences, webinars, training programs and networking opportunities, and will be integrated into undergraduate courses during spring and summer term.
Partnerships and Projects
The College of Medicine joined a new collaborative called The Community Health Consortium, which consists of health professionals, trainees, advocates and executives from academic heath institutions in the greater Philadelphia region who work in partnership with community-based organizations to provide health screenings, services, education and resources for individuals and communities.
Staff from the Patrick Center for Environmental Research (PCER) of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University spent a week in Guyana continuing work to produce a State of the Watershed report on the Mahaica River and build a productive relationship with partners at Environmental Management Consultants (EMC) as the two groups co-create the first comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of a river system in Guyana. In addition to supporting data collection and analysis, PCER has been invited to contract with EMC, separately from the main funder, to develop a new database, mapping and modeling system to support the production of the report.
The College of Computing & Informatics continues to expand its collaboration with Comcast by offering a new MS in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning (AI & ML) to an incoming cohort of current Comcast employees. The program will include three embedded certificates: Applied AI & ML, Computational AI & ML, and Big Data Analytics. The program will launch in fall 2025 and will enroll 35-40 Comcast employees.
The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences partnered with the Science History Institute to host a “First Friday: Diving into Ocean Science” event as part of Citizen Science Month.
The LeBow College of Business’ Dornsife Office for Experiential Learning partnered with Two Locals Brewing Company, the first Black-owned brewery in Philadelphia, on a business consulting course for undergraduate students.
The Drexel Founding Collection’s exhibition Kurt Vonnegut Jr. As a Visual Artist generated partnerships with the Free Library, Mural Arts, Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and ASPIRE Center, as well as internally with staff/departments including English, Psychology and the Center for Military and Veterans Affairs.
The Drexel Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships and Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel are partnering with the National Constitution Center, Independence Visitor Center and several local foundations on an exhibition on William Penn, and with additional partners on a series of community exhibits throughout the city in 2025–26.
The Environmental Collaboratory's Climate Pedagogy Incubator is working with its second cohort of faculty members, growing the network of educators who incorporate climate education and environmental justice into the curriculum.
The College of Medicine’s Office of Community Health and Inclusive Excellence and Health Outreach Project have begun supporting a Drexel interprofessional student health screening clinic at the Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships’ monthly Community Dinners. Students from the College of Medicine, College of Nursing and Health Professions, School of Public Health and various Drexel undergraduate programs have volunteered to provide services like blood pressure, glucose, eye and HIV screenings, as well as offering health information and counseling.
The Thomas R. Kline School of Law and College of Arts and Sciences launched the Drexel Justice Collaborative, a lab for Drexel students and faculty across disciplines to learn about and get involved in justice-related research and community engagement projects.
The LeBow College of Business’ Dornsife Office for Experiential Learning partnered with the Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation on a nonprofit business consulting course, offering project-based opportunities and practical experience to undergraduate students across the University.
Other Updates
The Department of Digital Media in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design installed a new LED Volume Wall, located in the Motion Capture Lab, opening a new realm of virtual production for students. This technology is on par with equipment used in major film and television franchises, and it is intended to encourage collaboration and innovation between disciplines.
The Department of Cinema & Television Media in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design has unveiled the new Content Creation Studio in University Crossings. This cutting-edge studio is designed to support a wide range of content production, from podcasting to vlogging and flexible shooting setups. The studio was made possible by a gift from Patricia Harron Imbesi.
After completing their anatomy course, College of Medicine students celebrated by organizing a scrubs and shoe donation to benefit local organizations. To date, about 200 sets of scrubs have been collected to benefit organizations including ScrubHaven, Animal Care and Control Team, Philadelphia Black Women’s Health Alliance and the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society. Shoes are being collected for the MORE Foundation Group.
The LeBow College of Business launched the Center for Global Policy Analysis, a hub for research on economic sanctions, international trade and other cross-boundary policies impacting nations and private businesses. The Center maintains and distributes the Global Sanctions Database, a comprehensive dataset developed and maintained by faculty from Drexel’s School of Economics, the University of Applied Sciences Konstanz and the Austrian Institute for Economic Research. Yoto V. Yotov, PhD, professor in the LeBow College of Business, will serve as inaugural director of the Center.