• The Corporation for National and Community Service has named the University of Idaho to the 2007 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts. The Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement. Some 2,213 University of Idaho students engaged in community service during the 2006-07 academic year, logging in an estimated 50,000 total service hours.

• Family members and friends of Warren and Pauli Owens provided funds for the University Library to acquire an 1810 French language version of a journal by Lewis and Clark expedition member Patrick Gass. Gass' account was first published in Pittsburgh in 1807 – seven years before official authorized expedition accounts were available. The edition acquired by the university is one of only 58 known to exist in public research libraries around the world – and the only one in Idaho –and is unique because it includes the first published map to accompany the narrative. Warren served as dean of the University of Idaho Library from 1968 to 1987 and passed away in November 2006.

• Jacob Leachman earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Idaho in spring 2007, and his thesis won the Western Association of Graduate Schools’ Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award. It was titled “Fundamental Equations of State for Parahydrogen, Normal Hydrogen and Orthohydrogen.”

• John Clayton, artistic director of the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho, is a 2008 Grammy Award winner. Clayton was given the award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for his work as arranger on the song "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die" from Queen Latifah's "Trav'lin' Light" recording.

• Of the four national awards given by the Association for Fire Ecology, three went to University of Idaho students and emeriti. Leon Neuenschwander, professor emeritus of forest resources, received the Association for Fire Ecology Harold Biswell Lifetime Achievement Award in Fire Ecology and Management. Josh Switzer of Pocatello received the annual Outstanding Undergraduate Student Nationwide award and Chris Powell from Ellensburg, Wash., received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award Nationwide.

• A $52 million project is underway to renovate and expand the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center - the Kibbie Dome. Fundings will come from two sources: $17 million from university funds designated for life safety issues and $35 million from private gifts. The Kibbie Dome is one of only two NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision indoor, on-campus stadiums in the nation.

• Brandon R. Schrand, coordinator of the Creative Writing program, is the winner of the 2007 River Teeth Prize for Literary Nonfiction for his memoir, “The Enders Hotel.” In addition, the book has been awarded the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers distinction, and will be the featured selection in Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide this summer.

• University of Idaho special purpose computers are hurtling toward the edge of the solar system at speeds in excess of 43,000 mph aboard NASA’s New Horizons probe. The probe carrying the university’s Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research’s (CAMBR) EDAC5 chip was more than 882 million miles from Earth on Jan. 19, 2008; it was launched Jan.19, 2006. The chip provides error correction of the data New Horizons is gathering on its groundbreaking mission. The ultimate objective of the mission is to gather information on the dwarf planet Pluto and the unexplored Kuiper Belt region beyond it. The probe is expected to arrive at Pluto in 2015.

• The University of Idaho is included in the 2008 list of Kiplinger's 100 Best Values in Public Colleges. Idaho ranked 98th out of more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities. The rankings reflect academic strength and affordability.

• The University of Idaho's Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival was awared the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush. It is the highest national honor an individual or arts organization can receive. The University of Idaho is the first public university to be named a recipient of the award since it was created by Congress in 1984.

• Over the past 26 years, University of Idaho nematologist Saad Hafez has been the first to detect the presence of 31 species of nematodes in Idaho. Now, CABI--a British-based intergovernmental scientific organization--told Hafez that a nematode he had sent them for identification in 2006 hadn't been reported anywhere else in the world. To honor that discovery, the agency named the newcomer Longidorella saadi after Hafez. Other University of Idaho entomologists who have become namesakes for insects include: Arthur Gittins -- the sawfly Blennogeneris gittins Smith; William Barr -- the click beetle Ctenicera barri Lane and the wasp Mimesa barri Gittins; Frank Merickel -- the pill beetle Exomella merickeli Johnson; and Ding Johnson -- the beetle Pedilus johnsoni Young and the green lacewing Chrysoperla johnsoni Henry, Wells and Pupedis.

• School of Journalism and Mass Media professor Rebecca Tallent has been named a Diversity Leadership Fellow by the Society of Professional Journalists. Tallent is of Cherokee heritage, a descendant of “teachers, preachers and herbalists,” which she said is a natural fit to the fields of education and journalism. “It isn’t just that you want to see someone that looks like you working in the field. It is that you want to know someone is there who understands your culture,” Tallent said. “I have walked down that path, as my students might say. I can help them navigate. My door is always open.”

• Sharon Stoll, College of Education faculty and director of the Center for Ethical Theory and Honor In Competition and Sport (ETHICS) at the University of Idaho, has been chosen one of the top 100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America by the Institute for International Sport. Stoll is honored along with high-profile people like Andre Agassi, William Bowen, Bob Costas, Tiger Woods and Mike Krzyzewski. The list is meant to praise sports educators for the admirable impact they have on society through sport.

• The National Science Foundation Division of Science Resources Statistics ranked the University of Idaho in the top 10 percent for research and development expenditures in Fiscal Year 2005 at U.S. universities and colleges without a medical school. Idaho ranked 45th out of 507 institutions.

• The University of Idaho Department of Athletics was recognized for its commitment to gender equity in the inaugural Glass Ceiling Report Card developed by a Penn State University political science instructor. Idaho was awarded an A grade in the report that reviewed gender equity among coaching staffs at the nation's Division I-A athletic programs. Idaho is one of 15 schools to receive an A grade and is sixth overall.

• It started simply enough in 1894 with two students who earned degrees from the University of Idaho. Those two degrees were followed by thousands more and the University marked a milestone at May 2007 Commencement by granting its 100,000th degree.

• The University of Idaho has stepped up to meet the growing demand for highly-trained fire professionals who can make sound decisions about fire prevention, suppression and management by creating the nation's first fire ecology and management bachelor’s degree.

• Students from the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences and Engineering zeroed in on the tiny moringa seed as one component of an innovative solution to address clean water and water availability in Africa. The student teams are refining a process to create clean, safe drinking water and catchment systems for the nomadic Maasai tribes. The continental impact of the research could yield one solution to Africa’s clean water crisis. Five students conducted a field visit to Kenya where they tested more than a year’s worth of research and design focused on water filtration and storage.

• The University of Idaho has taken another step in environmental leadership by joining the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding multi-sector market for reducing and trading greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As part of this commitment, the university has committed to reduce its own emissions of greenhouse gases by six percent below the average of its 1998-2001 baseline by 2010. The University of Idaho is one of only six higher-education institutions that have joined CCX. Learn more about the University of Idaho’s sustainability efforts at www.dfm.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=89946.

• The 12 members of the University of Idaho Clean Snowmobile Competition Team earned first place honors at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge. The engineering students competed against teams from across the country to re-engineer stock snowmobiles to reduce emissions and noise while maintaining or enhancing performance. The Idaho team brought home the International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association Award for first place; the Gage Products Award for Best Fuel Economy; the Polaris Industries Award for Best Handling; the Society of Automotive Engineers Award for Best Design; the Land and Sea Inc. Award for Best Performance; EMITEC Award for Best Value; and the DENSO Corporation Award for Best Ride. The team shared the Michigan Snowmobile Endurance Award with four other outstanding institutions completing the 100-mile Endurance Run.

• University of Idaho was named a “Publisher’s Picks 2006” by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education. The designation recognizes Idaho as a university that offers Hispanic students a solid chance of academic success.

• Idaho plant breeder Jack Brown and Gibraltar-based Eco-Energy Ltd. announced a research project to develop high-value oilseed crops worldwide for alternative fuel production. The agreement brings $2 million in research funding to the University during the next five years.Brown and his research team will develop new high oil yield varieties tailored to adapt to worldwide climatic and environmental conditions. The oil produced from these crops will have specific characteristics suitable for making the highest quality biofuel.

• Sarah Heath Palin ’87 has been elected governor of Alaska. She is the first woman to serve as Alaska’s governor. Palin earned a journalism degree from Idaho, and worked in media and the utilities industry before beginning her public service.

• The University's National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology is ranked among the top transportation research centers in the nation. It is one of 10 centers to receive honors from the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration for finding innovative solutions to immediate and long-range transportation challenges through research, education and technology transfer.

• Idaho ranked 65th in the Washington Monthly College Rankings -- the highest in the inland Northwest. The publication looked at indicators to see how much a school is benefiting the country. At Idaho, we undertake vital research that drives the economy. We shape the thoughts and ethics of young people who will soon lead the state and the country. We help Americans who are poor to become Americans who will prosper.

• Idaho Extension reaches out to more than 12,000 Idaho youth through the Junior Master Gardener program. The science-based gardening curriculum aims to ignite a passion for learning.

• The University is a participant in the national CyberCorps program, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Idaho will receive more than $800,000 through 2009 to support promising young scholars who intend to work on federal information assurance projects.

• The University of Idaho has been selected to join the prestigious Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection, a consortium of approximately two dozen leading national cyber security institutions. Idaho joins with researchers at Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon and MIT, to work toward identifying and addressing critical research problems in information infrastructure protection.

• The Operation Education Scholarship program is the first of its kind in the nation. The scholarship is available to veterans severely and permanently wounded as a result of service since Sept. 11, 2001. The spouses of wounded veterans also are eligible for the scholarship.

• The three mule clones born at Idaho are now three years old. Two of the mules, Idaho Gem and Idaho Star, are competing on the mule-racing circuit.

• An average of 1,900 people use the Student Recreation Center on any school day. In one year's time, the 11 treadmills tread 97,161 miles and the 44 stationary bikes cycle 224,187 miles. The seven stair steppers have climbed 662,326 floors.

• Idaho has been named 13th among medium-sized colleges and universities with 5,000-15,000 undergraduates in producing Peace Corps volunteers in 2005. Currently, 31 alumni serve people in developing countries of the world. Since the Peace Corps' inception, 447 Idaho alumni have volunteered.

• Idaho ranks second in the Northwest for enrolling new National Merit Scholars. Fall 2006 enrollment included 16 new National Merit Finalist Scholars -- the top 1 percent of the nation’s high-school graduates --in the freshman class. There are now 42 National Merit Scholars enrolled at Idaho.

• The University provides more than $80 million in scholarships, grants, low-interest loans, work-study and internship opportunities to students.

• Outside magazine listed UI 29th on its list of Top 40 colleges offering the best in outdoor adventure. The magazine rated UI’s Outdoor Program and the Student Recreation Center’s climbing wall as outstanding.