Tag: Gifts in Action

Construction Begins on NSU’s Business Trading Floor

An artist rendering of the future trading floor in the Carl DeSantis Building on NSU’s Davie Campus

On Tuesday, May 30, 2023, construction began on an impressive business trading floor in the Carl DeSantis Building on Nova Southeastern University’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus.

The trading floor is made possible by a gift from The Jerry Taylor & Nancy Bryant Foundation, an organization that has a history of gift-giving to NSU.

The trading floor will be located on the second floor of the building that is home to the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Heavy construction will affect some offices in the DeSantis Building through the summer, and a Dec. 16, 2023, soft opening is planned, which will coincide with the 20th anniversary celebration of the DeSantis Building. The floor will have its official opening in March 2024.

The trading floor will give students hands-on experience in conducting research and managing a range of investments starting with a fund that considers Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risk factors. ESG refers to the three key factors when measuring the sustainability and ethical impact of an investment in a business or company. On the trading floor, students will meet to discuss their research and trade recommendations with an advisory board comprised of professionals with expertise in various roles in the investing space and corporate social responsibilities and sustainability.

“This space will provide an opportunity for teaching and research activities surrounding financial instrument trading,” said Dean Andrew Rosman, from the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship.

Posted 05/31/23

NSU Receives Funding to Address Nursing Shortage

Nova Southeastern University has been awarded more than $3.5 million in funding from the State of Florida ($1.75 million) as well as three healthcare partners ($1.75 million) – HCA/East Florida, Baptist Health/South Florida, and Memorial Healthcare System – to address our state’s critical nursing shortage. NSU will use this funding to provide dozens, if not hundreds, of student scholarships, mentorship opportunities, clinical faculty appointments and equipment upgrades that will continue to put NSU at the forefront of nursing education.

In 2022, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill 2524, creating the Linking Industry to Nursing Education (“LINE”) funding program. The LINE Fund was created to incentivize collaboration between nursing education programs and health care partners to combat the growing nursing shortage in the state. The Legislature allocated $19 million for LINE funding and of that amount, $4.6 million was earmarked for private colleges and universities, via a competitive grant process. Nursing programs seeking funding are required to partner with, and obtain funding from, a healthcare provider. The State – through the Florida Department of Education – then matches the healthcare partner funding on a dollar-to-dollar basis.

In October 2022, NSU’s Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing submitted its LINE Program application for $1,762,621. This amount was to match a commitment of funds from private donors:   $500,000 from HCA, $1,062,619 from Baptist, and $200,000 from Memorial Healthcare System. On December 16, 2022, the Department of Education issued Prioritized Funding List, scoring the 26 applications from private colleges and universities that applied for funding. NSU tied for the second-highest score among 26 private colleges and universities and received the third-highest award amount of $3,525,242 as a result of the match.

On February 9, 2023, the Department formally issued its award notification to NSU for the State’s matching funds. The College of Nursing is working diligently to implement its clinical adjunct faculty recruitment measures, purchase and integrate new equipment, and – most importantly – to identify and begin issuing scholarships to eligible NSU students in partnership with HCA, Baptist, and Memorial.

Posted 03/12/23

Transformational Gift Leads to NSU Renaming College of Pharmacy

Dr. Barry Silverman and his wife, Judy

Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is proud to announce that Board of Trustees Vice Chair, and Chair of the NSU Health Professions Division Board of Governors Dr. Barry Silverman and his wife, Judy, have made a transformational gift to the university as part of the Campaign to Preeminence.

This generous gift will provide for student scholarships and endowment support to enhance the financial sustainability of three preeminent NSU entities: its College of Pharmacy, the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine, and the NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale.

Dr. Barry and Judy Silverman are particularly interested in enhancing the growth and continued impact of NSU’s stellar pharmacy program, not only in Fort Lauderdale/Davie, but also at the university’s Palm Beach and San Juan, Puerto Rico campuses.

To honor this transformational gift, the college will now be known as NSU’s Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy.

“Education is something near and dear to our hearts, and to be able to provide a gift that will change the lives of students and the next generation of pharmacists and doctors was something we could not pass up,” said Dr. Silverman, who is an orthopedic surgeon. “NSU is a major part of our lives, and Judy and I are honored to be able to help enhance what these colleges and the NSU Art Museum are doing for our students and community as we all work together toward preeminence.”

Currently, NSU’s Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy has almost 1,000 students enrolled at its three locations, as well as more than 6,000 graduates who are researchers, innovators and advocates for their patients. The Pharm.D. program was recently granted another full eight-year re-accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE). Its Pharm.D. graduates are among the highest NAPLEX pass rates for Florida’s private colleges of pharmacy, and it’s the only program in the United States to operate a full-service campus-based community pharmacy and an institutional pharmacy. The college is known for its many research successes and its commitment to diversity, volunteerism and community service.

This gift is a major step in NSU reaching its goal of $500 million by 2025, with our giving total so far in 2023 now at $412 million. The Silvermans are the latest visionaries to join a list of NSU supporters and benefactors who are helping the university on its path to preeminence.

“What a month of achievement this has been for NSU, with two new national accreditations last week and now this naming gift for one of our world-class colleges,” said Dr. George Hanbury, NSU’s President and CEO. “It’s been a privilege to work with Barry and Judy over the past few months to secure this gift and accomplish the many impacts they wished to see and how they wanted their efforts to benefit the students most of all.”

For example, in addition to the scholarship and endowment support already mentioned, and in further recognition of this gift, each year during the commencement exercise of the Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy, the dean of the college will present to the graduating Pharm.D. student exhibiting the highest scholastic achievement in his or her class, and who best exemplifies the exemplary characteristics of a preeminent pharmacist, the Barry and Judy Silverman Award.

“This leadership gift from the Silvermans will help fuel the college’s continuing path to preeminence,” said Michelle A. Clark, Ph.D., dean of NSU’s Barry and Judy Silverman College of Pharmacy. “It will allow us to offer more students scholarships so they can become inclusive leaders in the science and practice of pharmacy who will improve health and well-being through discovery, innovation, advocacy and the delivery of optimal patient care.”

Please join NSU in celebrating this generous gift and in recognizing the Silvermans as champions in the university’s rise to preeminence as we work together to make yours a healthier world.

Rosemary Duffy Larson Trust Makes Gift to Honors College

The Rosemary Duffy Larson Trust has gifted the Farquhar Honors College funds to help honors students pursue graduate degrees at NSU. Named after the trust, the Rosemary Duffy Larson Honors Graduate Scholarship will prioritize students with a history of community service and financial need.

Honors students are among the highest undergraduate academic achievers at NSU. Many honors students aspire to pursue graduate degrees, with 59% of students already in the Dual Admission program. However, graduate school presents a financial challenge for students, as many must rely on personal funds and student loans to finance their graduate education. This scholarship will alleviate some of this financial stress and allow more honors students to further their education at NSU.

The scholarship’s namesake, Rosemary Duffy Larson, was a philanthropist committed to serving the South Florida community. She leaves a legacy of charity and service that will benefit honors students who share her dedication to the community.

Honors students are eligible for the scholarship if they complete an undergraduate degree at NSU, maintain good standing in the Honors College, and fulfill the requirements for either the Honors Transdisciplinary Studies minor, general citation, or research citation in honors. They must also plan to enroll in a full-time graduate program at NSU. The scholarship amount will vary.

Learn more about the Farquhar Honors College.

Posted 12/12/22

NSU, Patel Family Celebrate International Dental Program

Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) College of Dental Medicine on Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, thanks to the continued support of Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel, unveiled its expanded International Dental Program at its Tampa Bay Regional Campus.

“Nova Southeastern University’s relationship with Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel continues to grow, with our students and communities being the biggest beneficiaries,” said Dr. George Hanbury, NSU’s President and CEO. “Expanding and basing our International Dental Program to the Tampa Bay/Clearwater area is just the latest example of that thriving partnership.”

The Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel International Dental Program at NSU Tampa Bay Regional Campus means the university is the only one in Florida with a “stand-alone” program.

To celebrate, NSU held a special dedication celebration has been planned with about 200 attendees, including Drs. Kiran and Pallavi Patel, NSU President and CEO Dr. George Hanbury as well as special invited guests, including local and statewide elected officials and business and community leaders.

 We’ve all heard stories of people moving to the United States who have advanced degrees but cannot get a job in their chosen profession because they lack degrees/licensing/certifications needed in our country.

NSU’s Dr. Kiran and Pallavi Patel International Dental Program is designed to address that very issue – many of these students are working in the dental field, but just not as dentists (they are working as dental assistants, etc.) This program is specifically designed to help these students obtain the needed degrees and certifications so they can begin practicing dentistry in the U.S.

“Providing a second opportunity for international dental students is something I’ve wanted to do for many, many years” said Dr. Kiran Patel.

NSU’s International Dental Program began in 1997 at its Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus. In the past, NSU, like other colleges and universities, found a spot for international students in their dental program when space became available.

Now, thanks to the financial support from the Patels, this program will be based at NSU’s Tampa Bay Regional Campus and is expanding to provide space for even more students. When fully enrolled, the Drs. Kiran C. and Pallavi Patel International Dental Program will provide instruction for more than 100 students.

The Business Observer was on hand to cover the occasion. Read the full story!

Posted 11/06/22

Scholarship Is Game-Changer for Ukrainian Business Student

Maria Minenko sits with the statue of H. Wayne Huizenga.

As Russian forces assaulted her home country of Ukraine earlier this year, Maria Minenko’s dreams of an education at Nova Southeastern University were under fire as well.

With her father’s business struggling, Maria emailed the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship to alert administrators of her financial battle to stay enrolled.

“I was supposed to actually end my studies and take a gap year until further notice,” she said. “Because of the war and since my dad wasn’t able to pay for school now, I told the school that I was leaving.”

But the college would have other plans for the 20-year-old business management major.

A few weeks later, Maria would receive an email that would put her life back on course. She was notified that she had received the college’s Hall of Fame Scholarship and would no longer have to worry about her studies being interrupted.

“I was in shock,” she said. “I had to ask my mom, my sister, and my friends to read the email back to me because I couldn’t believe it was real. I felt like it was a dream or a joke of some sort. Everything turned around when I received the scholarship.”

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When Maria was a little girl, things were different in Ukraine. Quite different. She was born in Odessa, the third most populous city in the country – a city known as the “pearl of the Black Sea.” Before the war, Odessa was also known for its majesty, relaxing environment, and safety.

Maria and her father

Her family fared well in those times. Her mother, Illona, looked after Maria and her four sisters, while her father, Vitaliy, ran a family business in the hotel and shipping industry. Often Maria tagged along with her father, learning the ins and outs of various sectors of his operations. When not with her father, she turned her attention to the beach, spending time with family, school, studying languages, and acrobatics.

In the summer of 2015, Maria, her mother, and her sister Vilena moved to Miami. There she attended middle school and high school at NSU University School. Hooked on South Florida, Maria applied to college at NSU.

“The experience has been beautiful,” she said. “I love it – everyone is helpful, and I have learned a lot about multiculturalism and business as well as the world of writing.”

Maria and her mother

Maria credits her mother and father for what she sees as a foundation for her future success.

“I have been inspired by my mom to be strong, patient, and intelligent, and inspired by my dad to work hard in business and never give up no matter what obstacles come my way,” she said.

Overcoming obstacles is now a day-to-day mission for Maria’s father. His shipping and hotel businesses have ground to a halt, leaving him with saddled with high costs and no profits. Meanwhile, drones have been raining on the city around him.

Following in her father’s foot steps, Maria has focused her studies on management and entrepreneurship and says she feels that NSU is the right place to unlock her aspirations.

“I would like to focus on business,” she said. “I’m thinking of working in the hospitality industry and doing something similar to what my dad does with hotels and construction, but I’d also like to have a restaurant of my own. That’s the plan for now.”

While counting her blessings, Maria says the war continues to test her family. The last time she visited Ukraine was January, just before the invasion.

Maria and “Granny”

“It’s been a bit crazy because some of our family fled Ukraine when the war started, and thankfully we had some family in nearby countries that helped them escape like my siblings,” she said. “My dad and his business have been affected tremendously, since he’s basically using what money he has to maintain what he has left, and we don’t know what’s coming next.”

In addition to her father, Maria’s grandmother also has chosen to stay behind. Like many of the older Ukrainian residents, her grandmother has defiantly held her ground despite the unrest.

“She insists on staying, but I talk to her every day,” Maria said. “She’s my best friend.”

Despite her grandmother’s stubbornness, Maria says she still has one way to get her to South Florida.

“She’s promised to be my maid of honor at my wedding,” she said with a smile.

Posted 10/23/22

NSU Researchers Helping Save Coral Reefs

Amanda Zummo (NSU graduate research assistant) treats diseased corals in the Dry Tortugas as a grouper looks on. Photo: Karen Neely

Corals in Florida have been heavily impacted by a disease that has moved through the reef tract since originating near Miami in 2014. The disease, termed Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease (SCTLD) causes lesions that move quickly across affected coral colonies, often killing them within weeks. The disease reached Dry Tortugas National Park in summer of 2021, and response teams at the Park continue efforts to mitigate the impacts. They got assistance this fall from two research cruises focused specifically on helping diseased corals.

Scientific divers mix a medicinal paste used to treat diseased corals. Photo: Karen Neely

Led by Keys-based scientists with Nova Southeastern University (NSU), the missions included 17 scientific divers from NSU, Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, and the University of the Virgin Islands. Much of the funding was provided by a Coral Emergency Response Fund established by NOAA and the National Fish and Wildlife Federation; additional funds came from the National Park Service and donated staff time by the collaborating institutions.

Divers spent nearly 250 hours underwater carefully surveying an area larger than 20 football fields. Corals with SCTLD lesions were treated with a medical paste that is applied by hand onto the diseased tissue. The paste has been used on nearly 20,000 diseased corals in Florida and is also used on corals elsewhere in the Caribbean. Treated corals monitored for over three years in Florida show high survivorship after treatments.

The divers on the Dry Tortugas missions treated more than 6,000 corals. Most were located at a high-priority reef near Loggerhead Key, known for its high coral cover and diversity. But divers also focused efforts on areas around Fort Jefferson, which are popular with snorkelers and those walking the moat wall within the National Park. All of these efforts are expected to help preserve these corals, along with the fisheries habitat, aesthetic value, and reproductive capacity they provide for the future of Florida’s reefs.

Posted 10/23/22

Halmos College Graduate Student Awarded NSF Fellowship

Elizabeth Saraf

Elizabeth Saraf, a new graduate student in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center, has been recognized by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) as a Graduate Research Fellow. This highly selective, nationally competitive, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers.  The award provides three years of financial support, inclusive of an annual stipend.

Saraf graduated summa cum laude in May 2021 in the Marine Biology major from the University of Rhode Island. As an undergraduate, she received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding students studying in NOAA mission fields. During a gap year, she worked as a software engineer intern to build her computational programming and quantitative skills for application to her future research as a marine scientist.

Saraf has a keen interest in the sensory biology of apex marine predators, such as sharks. This passion brought her to the NSU HCAS Department of Biological Sciences and Professor Mahmood Shivji’s laboratory, where she will conduct research on how sharks use the Earth’s geomagnetic field and other environmental cues to navigate the open ocean. Saraf also has a strong interest in educational outreach and plans to disseminate her research discoveries to the general public to promote awareness of shark conservation.

Posted 9/11/22

Dietician Draws Educational Inspiration From Grandma

Nadine Mikati, Ph.D., RDN, LDN

Often immigration stories paint the picture of people who leave unrest in foreign lands, find sanctuary in the United States, and pursue the American dream. But for Nadine Mikati, Ph.D., RDN, LDN, an associate professor in nutrition at Nova Southeastern University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine, things went a bit in reverse at first.

Mikati’s family is from Beirut, Lebanon. As a civil war raged there in the mid-1970s to 1990, her grandmother emigrated to the Michigan – followed by her parents – before Mikati was born. When she was 7, her parents decided to return to Beirut with her and her two sisters.

“It was a tough transition since I was used to parks, my friends, my school, communicating in English and then I went to live in a city that, at that time, had no parks for children,” she said. “I did not have any friends and I could barely speak the language then.”

It was one of those early moments in Mikati’s life that reinforced the importance of family and education.

“Little by little, with the help of my family and my school, I was speaking Arabic very well and got used to the system there,” she said. “And we would always go to Michigan and visit my grandma.”

Although her older sister Mira moved back to the U.S. after high school to attend college, Mikati stayed behind and earn her bachelor’s degree at American University in Beirut. It was there that she got her first taste of a possible career in promoting, teaching, and researching health eating habits.

“When I started my education journey back in 2003 in Lebanon, barely anyone had heard of a dietitian,” she said. “I was doing a college tour when I was exposed to nutrition as a major and immediately it resonated with me.”

Mikati obtained her B.S. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from the American University of Beirut with distinction. She then left Lebanon and earned an M.S. degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Her passion for learning led her to complete a Ph.D. degree in Nutrition and Dietetics from Florida International University where her research primarily focused on obesity prevention.

Mikati designed and implemented an after-school intervention for children aged 6-11 to promote healthy eating habits and physical activity. As a Registered Dietitian, she has various experience in food service, clinical and community nutrition and was named Registered Young Dietitian of the Year in 2009 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Mikati has been teaching for more than a decade and September will mark three years with NSU. She says teaching has been something that has been ingrained in her since she was young.

“It all started as a kid,” she said. “I had a blackboard at home, and I would put all my stuffed toys as if they were sitting in a classroom and I would lecture them about the topic of the day. Flash forward to grad school, in 2007, I was offered the opportunity to become an instructor. It felt very natural to teach. Fifteen years later, here I am still teaching but now as a professor.”

On the research front, Mikati focuses on chronic disease prevention/management, food security and nutrition interventions for overall well-being. She says one of her shining moments has been a recent project she conducted at NSU.

“I received a quality-of-life grant from NSU,” she said. “We partnered up with two community organizations for this project and had students involved. The aim was to help individuals with chronic disease learn how to cook and eat better to lead a healthier lifestyle.”

Results of the project will be presented in a poster at a national conference in October.

“The satisfaction that I got from the participants at the end of the study, thanking us for this opportunity, reminded me of why I do what I do,” she said.

Nadine Mikati and her grandmother on Belle Isle in Detroit.

When Mikati reflects on her life, her career, and her educational ambitions, she fondly recalls her late grandmother’s inspiration and how grateful she is that her grandmother (who she calls “Teta”) decided to move to the U.S. many years ago.

“Teta was my role model. She learned English as an adult and became an unofficial translator for her neighbors in Michigan,” she said. “She also birthed nine children and so you can imagine how many cousins I have. I think all of us at some point lived with her. She would always push us all to get the best education.”

Posted 08/28/22

NSU Billfish Researchers Use First-of-Its-Kind Tracking Sensors

Courtesy NSU Guy Harvey Research Institute

FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – Blue marlin, which is one of the largest fish, and sailfish, which is one of the fastest fish, provide some of the most prized fights in the sportfishing world, making catching them with rod and reel one of those “once in a lifetime” experiences. Their distinctive elongated front-end bill gives them a built-in sword-like weapon for hunting, and thus the moniker “billfish.”

These high-performance fish are found in warm waters around the world, and because of their high-speed runs, strong fights, and aerial acrobatics when hooked, they are some of the most sought-after fish in offshore angling. They form the basis of multimillion-dollar, international sportfishing industries which continue to grow. Furthermore, these billfishes are also incidentally caught in large numbers in commercial fishing operations around the world.

Courtesy NSU Guy Harvey Research Institute

With concerns about overfishing of these majestic animals, especially blue marlin, efforts to try and prevent population declines have prompted mandated “catch and release” rules in the recreational fishing industry in many regions. And for the most part, after an angler catches and releases one of these sport fish after what can be a very long and strenuous fight, the thought is “well, the fish will be okay,” and the fishermen go about the rest of their day. What wasn’t known is what happens to the fish after you release them – do they survive, and if so, how long does it take them to recover.

Thanks to researchers at Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI), who designed novel electronic tag packages incorporating high-tech sensors, we now have, for the first time, a detailed view of exactly how these fish behave once they slip back below the surface and out of sight.

“For the angler, a billfish fight consists of a fast-paced, high-energy battle of wills that hopefully culminates with a fishing-line leader grab and a safe release of the fish, some high fives, rehydration, and re-setting the spread for the next one,” said Ryan Logan, a doctoral candidate and research associate at NSU’s GHRI. “For the fish, on the other hand, this is a fight for its life using a tremendous amount of energy, and it was those high-speed runs and aerial acrobatics that made me wonder: How long does it take them to physically recover from that fight after being released?”

Courtesy NSU Guy Harvey Research Institute

Using a high-resolution technology that had never before been applied to billfish, a new research study just published in ICES Journal of Marine Science set out to answer the question of post-release behavior and recovery time for blue marlin and sailfish caught offshore of one of the premier fishing locations in the world, Tropic Star Lodge, in southwest Panama.

“We used an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which integrates multiple sensors including multi-axes accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers to provide estimation of an object’s orientation and movement in space,” Logan said. “Sounds very technical, but most people are likely to have one of these units in their pocket or on their wrist right now. They are used in nearly all modern electronics for a variety of purposes, such as telling your cell phone screen to rotate when you turn the device sideways, or how your watch counts how many steps you take and how many calories you burn throughout the day.”

This research is part of an ongoing partnership between NSU, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, and Tropic Star Lodge in Panama. Learn more ONLINE (etps.ghriresearch.org).

Logan said that what they found was both amazing and, at the same time, common sense.

In general, sailfish, which are smaller in size and tend to put up shorter fights when hooked, took less time to recover than blue marlin, which can fight the angler for hours. Additionally, the sensors showed that both blue marlin and sailfish swim much harder and faster right after being released from the stress of the fight, compared to after they have recovered – because they must swim to breathe. Basically, the fish have to “catch their breath” by actually swimming harder to get enough water flowing over their gills to extract more oxygen. It’s quite opposite to what humans do after we exert ourselves on a treadmill or elliptical – we slow down to catch our breath until we’re ready to go again.

Logan said it is important to understand the stresses that being caught and released can put on these high-performance fish, especially given where and when it may be caught.

“It’s possible that if a lot of marlin are caught on a spawning aggregation but then don’t spawn after being released due to stress, for example, that could greatly reduce the reproductive output of that population” he said. “And that is not a good thing for species of conservation concern.”

Logan explained that having information on what the fish do after release, what temperatures and oxygen levels they need to recover, and accurate information on their recovery dynamics, may help in predicting how many fish will not survive after being caught, based on the environmental conditions of where they are caught. In other words, understanding how fish behave and how long it takes to recover after release adds an important component to the management and conservation of billfish fisheries around the world.

While this research took place off Panama, sport fishing is a huge business in Florida, where NSU’s GHRI is located. There’s a direct economic impact to this study: recent numbers show that fishing is an $11.5 billion dollar industry in Florida, supporting approximately 100,000 jobs. Getting as much scientific information as possible to help conserve sport fish populations is vital not only for the health of the oceans, but also for keeping sport fishing and its associated economy thriving.

That’s why the research being done by scientists at NSU’s GHRI involving billfish is so important; the more we learn, the more we know, the more information we have to help us protect the health of these sport fish for many years to come.

Posted 08/15/22

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