Last term, Drexel University’s colleges, schools and departments received funding, created partnerships and otherwise contributed to the success of Drexel’s academic enterprise. This update offers a snapshot of activity, courtesy of the Office of the Provost.
Sponsored Opportunities
Campus Philly and the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for Neighborhood Development selected the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel’s proposal, “Exploring National Anniversaries Through the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel,” for funding through Campus250, Campus Philly’s regional initiative commemorating America’s 250th anniversary in 2026.
Drexel Libraries, Collections & Archives received $5,000 from Campus250, to “implement Exploring National Anniversaries Through the Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel” for Drexel’s Library Exhibit Initiative in 2026, with Toni Pitock, PhD, associate teaching professor of history in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The Steinbright Career Development Center received a new gift of $200,000 from the Freeman Foundation to support 20 students completing international co-op experiences in East and Southeast Asia.
The School of Education received a $1.4 million grant from the Wilson-O’Connor Foundation to create the Advocacy, Leadership, Learning, Implementation and Educational Policy at Drexel (ALLIED) Hub. The new hub will unite experts in structured literacy, implementation science and educational leadership to serve as a central resource for parents, educators and community partners.
In September 2025, the Resilience, Community, Advocacy, and Prevention (ReCAP) Lab, which is directed by Bertranna Muruthi, PhD, assistant professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health, was awarded a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Evidence for Action (E4A) grant to advance research on youth violence prevention. The ReCAP lab will partner with organizations to examine how structural and systemic factors shape the lives of youth and families, while building evidence for approaches that reduce violence and promote wellbeing.
Awards, Honors and Recognitions
Senior Vice Provost for Libraries, Collections & Archives and Founding Director of the Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships Rosalind Remer, PhD, was inducted into the Distinguished Daughters of Pennsylvania, which honors extraordinary women for their outstanding service and contributions to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Remer was inducted by Governor Josh Shapiro and First Lady Lori Shapiro at a luncheon at the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg on Oct. 15.
The Dana and David Dornsife School of Public Health’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Program was named a Center of Excellence in MCH Education, Science and Practice. The program was selected by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau as one of only 13 MCH Centers of Excellence in the U.S.
Senior Vice Provost of Career Development and Global Engagement Ian P. Sladen was elected to the Board of Campus Philly in September and the Board of International House Philadelphia in November. He was also reelected for a second term as board chair of the Philadelphia Academies, Inc. in October.
Partnerships and Projects
Staff from the Patrick Center for Environmental Research in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University completed the first draft of the State of the Watershed report for the Mahaica River basin in Guyana and are working in collaboration with Guyanese partners (Environmental Management Consultants and the Guyana Ministry of Agriculture) to produce the first ever comprehensive, scientific evaluation of the ecological characteristics of a river in Guyana. This report is intended as a key tool for future conservation planning as part of the country's Low Carbon Development Strategy.
The College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) Corporate Partners Program added eight new partners this year, including CSL and TEKsystems. CSL will also sponsor CCI’s annual hackathon, Philly Codefest. There are now 57 Corporate Partners participating in the program.
The 10th Start Talking Science event was held on Oct. 3. Start Talking Science, organized by Christina Love, PhD, assistant teaching professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a free public event that aims to increase public awareness of — and interest in — cutting-edge, local research. Start Talking Science is presented by the Science History Institute Museum & Library in partnership with Drexel University and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute.
The Steinbright Career Development Center held several Fall Career Fairs on Oct. 8, 15 and 16, which brought together 208 employers and 1,920 students and alumni through virtual and in-person events. The season also featured the Philly Law Fair — with 74 schools and 319 students — and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry Career Fair, which connected 83 optometry students with 41 employers across varied practice settings. Highlights included strong participation from Drexel alumni returning as employers representing organizations for which they had completed co-ops and now work as full-time employees.
The Bennett S. LeBow College of Business’s Center for Corporate and Executive Education launched a new partnership with Burlington for “X-Leap,” an extended leadership development program, during fall term 2025.
The LeBow College of Business’s Center for Applied AI and Business Analytics partnered with Aramark and the Philadelphia Phillies on two project-based capstone courses for MS in Business Analytics students during fall term 2025, culminating with students presenting their findings to leaders at Aramark’s Philadelphia headquarters at Citizens Bank Park.
Drexel Libraries is partnering with Drexel’s International Student Government Association on an interdisciplinary book project that will feature graduate student research from across disciplines (with peer-reviewed and professionally edited chapters). The publication will be hosted on Drexel Research Discovery, the University’s research repository.
Drexel Libraries, Collections & Archives, with the College of Computing & Informatics, is hosting a regular, generative cadence of workshops (incubator) to bring collections, archives and libraries together with faculty around enhancing access to collections, in the hopes of encouraging cross-disciplinary projects that might attract grant funding and lead to enhanced digital access to its unique content.
The Department of Film & Television in the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design has a new partnership with Boston Global Youth Philanthropy (GYP). As part of the partnership, faculty members from Drexel will host online seminars and workshops for GYP students around the world, introducing them to professional insights in storytelling, documentary production and ethical filmmaking. In addition, Drexel students may serve as judges for the annual GYP Youth Humanitarian Film Festival, helping to recognize outstanding youth voices advocating for humanitarian causes through film.
Briana Giasullo, cataloging and digital resources librarian in the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, successfully launched a crowdsourcing project on Zooniverse, a platform that allows volunteers from around the world to participate in scientific data collection. The Academy’s project invites volunteers to correct AI-generated transcriptions of digitized field journals from its Academy Library and Archives. After launching in August, the project is up to 1,194 volunteers as of October, and 10 field journals have completed transcripts available to the public on Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Giasullo and Paul Roberts, reference librarian in the Academy of Natural Sciences, undertook a comprehensive survey of the Academy’s satellite libraries (book and journal collections held outside of L&A in CSBE departments), focusing especially on potentially rare materials held outside of the Rare Book Collection.
Drexel’s English Language Center in the College of Arts and Sciences, is celebrating 45 years of training International Teaching Assistants (ITAs). Since 1980, the ELC has served more than 1,000 doctoral students who came from more than 20 countries to study at Drexel.
New Key Civic Engagements
The Academy of Natural Sciences’s Entomology Section blended science and outreach with outstanding success, conducting biodiversity surveys in regional preserves and leading a record-setting Bug Fest 2025, which drew more than 2,700 visitors and 19 partner organizations.
Ozlem Ogutveren-Gonul, PhD, associate teaching professor of entrepreneurship and associate dean of academic programs in the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship, is leading two Drexel students in teaching a new entrepreneurship curriculum they developed to 100 young women in Kenya through the Global Give Back Circle’s HERLab program. The program, which continues through February, aims to improve the social and economic status of marginalized and rural young women by offering mentorship, skill-building and entrepreneurship training.
College of Medicine students Thinna Svetanant, MD ’28; Stephanie Widjaja, MD ’28; Sami Abdelhamid, MD ’29; and Robert Kerner, MD ’29, worked with Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware and Susquehanna Valley to increase the number of referrals from low-resource communities, resulting in a five-fold increase in these referrals.
College of Medicine students Tan Chau, MD ’29; Nali Moon, MD ’29; Kaitlin Tan, MD ’29; and Carissa Van Veen, MD ’29, led sessions in special education classes on social skills, hygiene, dating and relationships for high school students at KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy.
On Oct. 19, students from the Maternal & Child Health Student Organization (MCHSO) at the Dornsife School of Public Health participated in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer awareness walk. The 3.4-mile walk around Cooper River Park in Camden County, New Jersey, brought together hundreds of survivors, thrivers and supporters in celebration of courage, community and hope.
The Atwater Kent Collection at Drexel is collaborating with Independence Visitor Center to explore the feasibility of a permanent Philadelphia History Gallery for the Collection at the Visitor Center in Old City.
Legacy Center Archives & Special Collections supported onsite researchers from Korea University’s Institute for Women’s History of Medicine visiting for research. The Legacy Center as model for this new Institute on the history of women’s medical education in Korea.
Darius Greene, director of recruitment and alumni engagement, and Emiliano Alquezada, recruitment and alumni engagement specialist, both in the College of Nursing and Health Professions, welcomed students from area high schools interested in health professions majors. The team led a session that included an overview of CNHP programs and tour of the Health Sciences Building. Their visit to Drexel was planned by Carrol Franklyn, Drexel Board of Governors member and founder of gigU, whose goal is to connect the classroom with career options for middle and high school students, in collaboration with Hope Partnership for Education. Earlier in the day, Danielle Boardley, assistant dean of student life in the School of Law, also provided a session.