May 16, 2025

For someone who didn’t have a concrete career plan after graduation, Amiee (Larchar) Modic ’84 (B.S. Chemistry) has certainly found her element.

Between late-night walks home from swim practice and Winter Carnival fun, Modic graduated from Michigan Tech with fond memories, close friendships and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry — but no clear path forward. That changed when she took a chance on a teaching position left vacant by her favorite high school science teacher. The unexpected opportunity led her to discover that powerful reactions don’t just happen in test tubes.

"I had a student once tell me, after doing a little experiment, that she wanted to shrink herself down and fit into the container so she could watch the reaction up close," Modic said. "Comments like that make you realize that you are having a positive impact."

Forty years later, Modic is a nationally recognized educator and this year's recipient of the American Chemical Society's James Bryant Conant Award in High School Chemistry Teaching — one of the highest honors in her field.

Read more about Modic's award-winning formula at Alumni and Friends Stories.

Students, faculty, staff, distinguished alumni and industry advisors came together at the end of Michigan Tech's spring 2025 semester for the second annual College of Business Student Awards program.

Highlights included the induction of students into Tech's chapter of the international business honor society Beta Gamma Sigma, along with presenting the Outstanding Student in Business and Teacher of the Year awards.

Learn about the winners and hear what presenters had to say about their accomplishments in the latest College of Business Newsblog.

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Michigan Tech's Summer 2025 Finishing Fellows.

Gustavo Bejar-Lopez’s Ph.D. journey in geology began at Michigan Tech in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. During his first summer as a Husky, Bejar-Lopez worked under Rüdiger Escobar-Wolf on a project funded by the National Science Foundation focusing on lahars: volcanic hazards threatening communities near Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala. A few months later, Greg Waite joined the project as his co-supervisor, helping broaden the scope of the study.

Read more about Bejar-Lopez’s journey at Michigan Tech on the Graduate School Newsblog.

Please join the Graduate School in congratulating Michigan Tech's Summer 2025 Finishing Fellows.

Md Mutasim Billah’s doctoral journey at Michigan Tech began in 2019 when he entered the Ph.D. program in statistics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. Advised by Kui Zhang, he has specialized in bioinformatics and statistical genetics, with a particular focus on the integration of multi-omics data. His long-term aspiration is to continue advancing computational genomics in a research-focused academic setting. He will begin a two-year role as an assistant professor at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, starting in fall 2025. 

Read more about Billah’s journey at Michigan Tech on the Graduate School Newsblog.

Last week, the Rozsa Center closed our 2024/25 season with the final Class Acts events, welcoming nearly 1,500 students and educators to the Rozsa. This season, the Rozsa Center brought our community together for over 50 performances and events this season, in addition to dozens of community and campus events. It was a wonderful year that surpassed expectations in every way.

As we use these summer months to prepare for our next season, we would like to encourage the campus community to stay connected with the Rozsa. We also welcome feedback in order to help us serve your needs better. As we look to the future, we invite you to stay involved in the following ways:

• Become a donor
• Follow @rozsacenter on Instagram and Facebook
• Share your feedback in our season-end survey

Any of these options will help the Rozsa Center continue to grow and maintain our presence as a cultural hub in the Upper Peninsula.

Next Year is the Rozsa’s 25th Anniversary Celebration!
Keep an eye out for blasts from our past and peeks at what is to come. We cannot wait to announce what is in store for our 2025/26 season, so stay tuned. Until then, we hope your summer is filled with joy!

Job Posting for Friday, May 16, 2025

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available on the Human Resources website. For more information regarding staff positions, call 906-487-2280 or email humanresources@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.

Director of Financial Aid, Financial Aid Administration. Apply online.

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

Accommodations are available. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or other accommodations to apply for employment, or for an interview, at Michigan Technological University, please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or humanresources@mtu.edu.

Ana Dyreson (MAE) will co-moderate a virtual panel discussion on health determinants and indoor air quality today, May 16. This event is part of the Urban IDEAS Discussion Series organized by MultiSector Dynamics’ Urban Systems Working Group. This series of monthly panel discussions focuses on providing a venue for early-career researchers within the Urban Integrated Field Laboratories (IFL) program to share their research.

Today's discussion features panelists Elise Otto, Hyewon Yoon, Sam Lin and David Jarma, and moderator Lidia Mezei. Panelists will discuss key challenges in understanding health determinants and indoor air quality in urban settings.

The Detroit Free Press quoted Dennis Livesay (CC) in a story exploring a “culture clash” at Detroit’s largest automakers spurred by the increasingly critical role of software in modern vehicles.

*****

UPword mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ new customer service center in Newberry — the state’s first mass timber building built with Michigan wood. MTU’s research on producing mass timber materials using hardwoods and cross-laminated technology was mentioned in the story.

*****

Michigan Business Network mentioned Michigan Tech in a blog post about recent business announcements downstate in Bay County. The post named MTU as a talent recruitment partner of HL Mechatronics, which recruits Huskies for internships and entry-level jobs.

Upcoming Banner Maintenance on Sunday

A Banner production system maintenance window is scheduled for Sunday, May 18, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The following production services will be unavailable during that time:

• apps.mtu.edu
• Banner
• Banweb
• MyMichiganTech
• Aspire
• Course Tools
• mylogin.mtu.edu
• mtu.edu/tips
• OAP Rental System
• Oracle Reports
• Papercut Printing
• Perceptive Content (Imagenow)
• Pinnacle
• Sunapsis
• Timeclock Plus
• TechTracks
• Titanium
• Prism
• MSSQL servers
• UC4/Appworx
• Virtual Cashiering
• WebFocus

If you have any questions or concerns, we can help. Email IT at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

No events are scheduled for today. Visit the University Events Calendar.