UNH Today

DURHAM, N.H.—Kenya’s representative to the United Nations, president of a nonprofit serving people with intellectual, developmental and personal challenges, and partner-in-charge of the seventh largest law firm in the U.S. will address University of New Hampshire graduates at commencement ceremonies across its three campuses this May. All speakers are awarded honorary degrees.

UNH-Martin Kimani ’96
Multiple ceremonies Friday, May 20-Sunday, May 22, Memorial Field, Durham

DURHAM, N.H.—The dramatic toll that COVID-19 has taken on the U.S. is apparent, but as caseloads come down and mandates are loosened it has become increasingly obvious how much of an impact the pandemic had on food service workers in industries like the fisheries. A study from the University of New Hampshire looked at the direct and indirect effects of the global pandemic on U.S. seafood workers by tracking cases and outbreaks and found seafood workers were twice as likely to contract COVID-19 as workers in other food industries.

DURHAM, N.H.—Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard historian and law professor, will speak as part of the Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American Presidency at the University of New Hampshire Thursday, April 7, 2022, at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Building’s Granite State Room. Her talk is titled “Thomas Jefferson: Revolutionary, President and Visionary.” The event is free and open to the public but registration is required.

DURHAM, N.H.—Men in executive leadership positions receive over $500,000 more in severance compensation than women, according to researchers from the University of New Hampshire and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Researchers say a gender pay gap exists in average severance compensation packages between male and female executives in large, publicly traded American companies.

DURHAM, N.H.—In a new study of the ecological impacts of tropical cyclones, an international research team including researchers from the University of New Hampshire addresses a question that people have asked for centuries: when confronted by a storm, is it better to be resistant like an oak or resilient like a willow? The findings could help guide coastal managers in decision making as they plan for climate change and a growing seacoast population threatened by more intense tropical storms.

DURHAM, N.H.— Researchers in the University New Hampshire’s Surface Enhanced Electrochemical Diagnostic Sensors (SEEDS) Lab have received an EPSCoR grant from the National Science Foundation for close to $6 million to lead a team in developing sensors to promote quality control in biomanufacturing—the production of important biomaterials used in medicine, food and even engineered human organs—a field that is becoming an important sector of the economy.

DURHAM, N.H.— In response to the state’s changing demographics, the NH Small Business Development Center (NH SBDC) has created a comprehensive plan to reach more people of color interested in starting a business or solidifying one they already own.

According to 2020 U.S. Census data, people of color who previously made up 10% of the state now represent 14% of the Granite State’s population.

DURHAM, N.H.—The University of New Hampshire’s franchising sector-focused RIFC 50 Index™ ended the year with a strong performance, adding 11.6% to its market value in the last quarter of 2021. This performance confirms the solid recovery of the franchise sector despite the fast spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Developed and published by UNH’s Rosenberg International Franchise Center (RIFC), the RIFC 50 Index is the first stock index to track the financial market performance of the U.S. franchising sector.

DURHAM, N.H.—Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have been selected for one of NASA’s MIDEX space missions, part of their Heliophysics Explorers Program. UNH’s Space Science Center will lead the mission which will have a budget of $250 million, the largest yet for the university, to oversee and coordinate all aspects including preparing the spacecraft, designing onboard instruments and managing the entire team of scientists, researchers and contractors.

DURHAM, N.H.—Molly Dorsey, associate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire and an expert on the 1918 flu pandemic who frequently speaks about the infectious disease, is available to discuss similarities between the pandemics of the 1918 influenza and the recent COVID-19 virus and if there are any lessons to be learned for the future.