Welcome back to Season 5 of RadioEd with Chancellor Haefner

Transcription

Emma Atkinson (voice):

In the six years that Chancellor Jeremy Haefner has led the University of Denver, much has changed, and research at DU has truly flourished.

DU received R1 research status in 2021, making it the fourth university in Colorado and the only private institution in the Rocky Mountain region to achieve this classification. Since then, research by faculty and students across the university has become even more exciting.

As we enter the 2024 school year, where DU’s outstanding researchers have even more to offer, we sat down with Chancellor Haefner to talk about why research is such an integral part of DU’s identity.

Emma Atkinson:

Welcome to your sixth year as chancellor. What are you most excited about this year?

Jeremy Haefner:

Of course, I’m very excited to have students back. I have always said that du attracts some of the most phenomenal students. They’re articulate, they’re passionate about their area or what might be in their area, and they just, you know, generate excitement on campus. I’m very excited about the start of the semester.

Emma Atkinson:

Why is research so important to the structure of what makes DU, DU?

Jeremy Haefner:

R1 status is awarded to a university only once in its lifetime and is a reflection of the incredible work our faculty do. Look, the purpose of a university is to create and disseminate new knowledge. So research plays a vital role in this. It’s about creating new knowledge, and of course that requires open inquiry and free inquiry, and freedom of expression in pluralism is really integral to that. So they intertwine in a really interesting way. But it is a way for the university to tie together so many of its priorities. For example, when faculty members do really interesting research, they become very well known outside the university, and this builds our reputation. I like to say that our faculty are world-class in their research. At the same time, they care deeply about our students and are truly great examples of teacher-scientists.

Emma Atkinson (voice):

But it’s not just faculty who get involved in the research effort – students, graduate students, PhD students, and postdoctoral fellows help complement DU’s solid research teams.

Jeremy Haefner:

Undergraduate and graduate research opportunities are a hallmark of the university. Honestly, we do this a lot and we celebrate it, and for our students it is an important experience, returning to the four-dimensional experience, because then they can talk about their work with a lecturer in the laboratory or on a platform of some kind of project through which they really learned about themselves, about their values, about how they maintain their well-being at a time when it’s very difficult to work in depth on a research project, it’s of great importance to the US, but when we talk about, you know, our work to really make an impact, do public good , do the common good, right? Our faculty are deeply engaged in these spaces.

Emma Atkinson (voice):

DU is more than just depth of research – the university also boasts a wide range of research areas.

Jeremy Haefner:

I love our childhood work with Morgridge College of Education. An example that really sets new standards or new approaches to how children learn maths at an early stage and what it means to learn other things like reading and writing and so on. I think the work we do in mental health is vast and deep, and when it comes to mental health issues and challenges, there is no area in which we do not have expertise. So maybe treating depression in expectant mothers, for example, could actually lead to healthier outcomes, right? This is just an example.

Or prisoners and the mental health issues there – we have experts in this field. I could go on and on about the depth of our research department and mental health itself, but we are also doing amazing things in STEM biophysics and even quantum technologies, which, as you know, are big fields and expensive. but we have found ways in which we can really contribute to these spaces.

So the world needs research from the University of Denver. Our students need this and I am very proud of what we have achieved. And only great things lie ahead as we move forward.

Emma Atkinson (voice):

In season five of RadioEd, my new co-host, Jordyn Reiland, and I will talk to faculty doing this work. We’ll talk to everyone from business professors to international studies experts, and together we’ll learn about the best and most interesting new research the DU community has to offer.

Join us when our first episode of the new season drops on October 1, wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We can’t wait!

I’m Emma Atkinson and this is RadioEd.