News from the Chronicles - June 2025

photo of man holding plaque
Smith wins 2025 Transfer Advocate Award

The UGA Office of Transfer Services announced the winners of the 2025 Transfer Advocate Awards. Each year students nominate advisors, staff, and faculty who have made an incredible impact on the transfer student experience at UGA. The 2025 first place winner is Ryan Smith of the Franklin College Office of Student Academic Services. The winners were chosen based on student nominations that detailed how these individuals went above and beyond to…

graphic with white text on black, QR code, photo
New minor in Bioethics

In an advanced, new linkage between the arts and sciences, the UGA department of philosophy is now offering a minor in Bioethics to enhance students’ ability to think and argue in a manner that will benefit them in a variety of careers and areas of post-graduate study.  Bioethics is the interdisciplinary study of ethical and philosophical issues that arise in the context of medicine and bioresearch. The minor in Bioethics provides students…

photo of man, building in background day
Balancing code and computations: student’s trifecta journey in computer science, finance, and mathematics

Turner Clay Thompson is not your average college student. A fourth-year at the University of Georgia, Thompson is pursuing an ambitious academic trifecta: a B.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Mathematics with an emphasis in financial mathematics from Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and also a B.B.A. in Finance from Terry College of Business. Embodying the Franklin Spark—ambitious, curious, creative, and an innovative leader—Thompson…

photo of hand pointing at laptop computer
Franklin College offers three new online Master’s degrees in Applied Data Science, Environmental Geology, and Art Education  

Extending the reach of its talented faculty and curriculum, Franklin College is introducing three new online master's programs: Applied Data Science, Environmental Geology, and Art Education. Programs start August 2025 and will provide career advancement opportunities for busy, working individuals seeking to earn a master’s online in two years. These three new online master’s degrees join Franklin’s successful Online Master of Music Education…

photo of people sitting in grass, day, downtown in background
Social and behavioral sciences research notch top 10 ranking

Research production in psychology, sociology and communications continues to secure UGA's place among the nation’s top research institutions. According to the 2025 College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D Funding, released by the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA), UGA ranks 10th nationally, with $37.3 million in federal funding for research in these fields during fiscal year 2023. This…

photo of man standing on rock looking at mountain, day
Connecting earth sciences to policy and decision making

An emerging international leader in volcanology, Franklin College faculty member Mattia Pistone serves as a principal investigator on research projects underway in Sicily, Ecuador, the Arctic poles, and the Italian Alps.  For Pistone, assistant professor of petrology and volcanology in the Department of Geology, drilling into the Earth to understand the past and future of its processes is a mission he takes seriously – and passion he shares…

photo of bug on leaf
NIH funding supports ‘One Health’ model to fight Chagas disease

Funded by a $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the University of Georgia and Texas A&M are using improved detection and treatment methods to understand Chagas disease – a serious, often overlooked illness affecting both dogs and humans.  Rick Tarleton, UGA Athletic Association Distinguished Professor, will co-lead a new project focused on strategies to detect, treat and monitor treatment outcomes in…

side-by-side photos of man, left, and woman
Two UGA students selected for prestigious NOAA Hollings Scholarship

The NOAA Office of Education has selected two University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences students, Margaret Needham and Adam "Grayson" Smith as Ernest F. Hollings undergraduate scholars for the class of 2025. Needham and Smith join 130 winners out of 820 applicants this year. The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year…

photo of smoke plume in water, mechanical arm in foreground
Undersea plumes super-charge carbon cycling, offer potential biotech breakthroughs

The complex and dynamic microbial communities and microbially-mediated processes that occur in the ocean help stabilize the earth's climate.  Far below the ocean's surface, along the seafloor, hydrothermal vents release heat and chemicals into the deep water that fuel vibrant, breathtaking ecosystems. The microbial communities associated with hydrothermal vents are hot spots of biological production in the deep sea. In shallow waters and…

photo of water, reef, and marsh, day
Working to save Sapelo Island

One of the 15 barrier islands on the Georgia coast, Sapelo Island in McIntosh County is the home of the last known Gullah community as well as the University of Georgia Marine Institute. In partnership with Sapelo resident Maurice Bailey, researchers from the University of Georgia Cornelia Walker Bailey Program on Land, Sea and Agriculture are testing nature-based solutions — like restoring oyster reefs. The hope is that oyster reefs can shield…

Support Franklin College

We appreciate your financial support. Your gift is important to us and helps support critical opportunities for students and faculty alike, including lectures, travel support, and any number of educational events that augment the classroom experience.

 Click here to learn more about giving

Every dollar given has a direct impact upon our students and faculty.