In the News

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This Master’s in AI Program Is a Cross-University Collaboration. Here’s How Students Will Learn.

Elke Rundensteiner, the William Smith Dean's Professor of Computer Science and founding head of the WPI data science program, spoke with BestColleges about the university's new master's degree in artificial intelligence

Commonwealth Magazine

President Leshin was quoted in the Commonwealth article. Leshin served as the higher education representative on the Massachusetts reopening board headed by the lieutenant governor. Leshin told Commonwealth that Polito took the weight of the Massachusetts reopening decisions seriously, listening to various opinions, acknowledging that the group needed to act with imperfect information.

Vox Media

Vox noted the work of Jennifer Wilcox, James H. Manning Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering, and her team (scroll down to caption under Figure 4.5) in their article. 

Telegram.com

WPI was one of the many Worcester colleges noted in the Telegram & Gazette article defending international students’ rights to higher education in the United States. President Leshin spoke about the importance of educating all students, including those from around the world: “WPI has a proud history of welcoming and educating students and scholars from around the world,” she said. “These future STEM leaders are important members of our community, and this week’s action by ICE threatens their educational success.”

The Chronicle of Higher Education

Andrew B. Palumbo, dean of admissions and financial aid, was interviewed for The Chronicle of Higher Education article. “The playbook goes out the window,” he said. “It’s a scary thing on one hand, but it’s also somewhat refreshing. It opens us up to innovate.”

Boston Business Journal

President Leshin was interviewed for the Boston Business Journal. she describes the impact on college and university presidents of having to make decisions on how to approach the Fall semester/term.

IEEE Spectrum

IEEE Spectrum recapped President Leshin’s interview with a high school student as part of a series by MassRobotics “How to Be a Robotocist.” (scroll down to Robotics Debate subhead, 3:59 mark).

NECN

New England Cable News featured an interview with President Leshin. ”I think every campus across the commonwealth is making plans that will allow them to reopen and also plans in case they cannot,” she said.

AICUM Insight

President Leshin, President Laurie Leshin, who serves as the higher education representative on the advisory board Gov. Charlie Baker established to plan for the state's economic reopening, was interviewed on the podcast AICUM Insight (Association of Independent Colleges & Universities in Mass.). She spoke about, among other things, the difficult issues colleges and universities face during the pandemic. “I think our job in this moment is just to be as transparent as we can possibly be. If we’re going to have communities back together…it’s our job to continue to work to stop the spread of this virus,” she said.

Worcester Business Journal

The Worcester Business Journal included President Leshin’s thoughts in this article, (scroll up to 3rd article from bottom). “The protests of the past few days, ignited by the killing of George Floyd, but truly fueled by the continued targeting, demonization, and abuse of black people across our country, highlight legitimate anger, which I share,” Leshin wrote. “The uprising we’re now seeing points to the significant work we still have to do as a society to confront and eliminate racism. I stand with those who are outraged at the senseless loss of black lives.”

NBC Boston

“It’s a thrilling and exciting day, and I wish them Godspeed,” President Leshin told NBC Boston over the weekend as SpaceX launched astronauts into orbit. Leshin used to work at NASA where, 10 years ago, she was involved in overseeing the commercial program which gave the very first funding to SpaceX to create the rocket.​

Spectrum News 1

Provost Wole Soboyejo appeared on Spectrum News 1 discussing his research in identifying targeted drugs that reduced the sizes of hard-to-treat breast cancer tumors in mice without inducing the toxic side effects that are typically associated with conventional chemotherapy.

Shelter Island Reporter

The Shelter Island Reporter covered the work WPI students Carly Campbell, Anna Carriero, Alaa Hassan, Brandon Weyant and Georgianna Wood, all of the Class of 2020, did during their MQP at Sylvester Manor Educational Farm. The students designed a modern wind energy system to augment the farm's windmill and its future energy production potential.

Telegram.com

Angela Rodriguez, assistant professor in the Social Science and Policy Studies department, wrote an account for the Telegram & Gazette's "As I See It" section on how our culture can more positively reshape its portrayal of the working mom and work-life-balance – especially while in a pandemic. 

Boston Globe

President Leshin had an Op-ed published in The Boston Globe.

WCVB

President Laurie Leshin discusses a proposed framework for a safe reopening of colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Worcester Business Journal

President Leshin and Michelle Jones-Johnson, vice president for talent and inclusion and chief diversity officer, were among the Worcester Business Journal’s honorees in its compilation of The Power 50 for 2020. The annual Power 50 issue “gives us an opportunity to really examine who wields influence in the Central Massachusetts economy, understand who is making power moves and their reasoning for doing so,” the article stated.​

Telegram.com

President Leshin’s involvement in a virtual seminar on robotics was featured in The Telegram & Gazette’s College Town section (scroll down to third item). The four-part “Robot Stories” series was broadcast by the Innovation Institute at the Mass. Technology Collaborative and MassRobotics. ​

Associated Press

The Associated Press profiled the life of Joe Policelli, 71, who was an adjunct professor in arts and sciences at WPI for 25 years.  

Spectrum News 1

Spectrum News 1 Worcester aired a segment about President Laurie Leshin’s video to the Class of 2020. The University released the video on Saturday which would have been the Undergraduate Commencement day.

The Washington Post

The Washington Post included comments from Andrew Palumbo, dean of admissions and financial aid, regarding AP exams in this article (12th graph).