News

Baylor School of Education expert offers ideas to help make the start of the new school year less stressful for everyone.

The 2024 Summer Olympics will take place July 26 through Aug. 11 in Paris, so what can we expect to see from the world’s best athletes as they compete on the world’s biggest stage? Baylor experts weigh on Olympic topics from faith to fashion statements, brand moments to American unity, athletes' mental health to self-worth.

Baylor University has announced the appointment of Karen J. Foli, Ph.D., RN, ANEF, FAAN, as the inaugural Louise Herrington Endowed Chair in Mental Health Nursing, the first endowed chair position in the history of Baylor’s Louise Herrington School of Nursing (LHSON). 

For many athletes, sports provide a place to develop their values, express their identities and share their faith with others. The Olympics have long been an important platform for Christians to do this work, said sports historian and author Paul Putz, Ph.D., director of the Faith & Sports Institute at Baylor University and author of the forthcoming book, The Spirit of the Game: American Christianity and Big-Time Sports.

As the world eagerly anticipates the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the fashion scene is buzzing with excitement over the latest team fashion trends set to make a statement to the world.

Nearly 80 rising middle school students will attend Baylor University’s nationally recognized iEngage Summer Civics Institute, which focuses on the structure of government and what it means to be an active and engaged citizen making a difference in schools, neighborhoods and communities.

As students head back to class, they may feel challenged by the adjustment of waking up early to make it to class on time. This is especially true of adolescents, whose natural sleep pattern tends to be late to bed and late to wake, said Michael K. Scullin, Ph.D., director of Baylor University’s Sleep Neuroscience and Cognition Laboratory and associate professor of psychology and neuroscience. 

The pressures faced by Olympic athletes can take a significant toll on their psychological well-being. Can strategies involving Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) help elite athletes develop skills to reduce symptoms mental health struggles while also enhancing performance?

Elite athletes, including Olympic athletes at the top of their sport, often drop to their knees in prayer before competition and after, whether following the thrill of victory… or the agony of defeat. A Baylor study has found that an athlete’s relationship with God affect their mental well-being, as well as their self-worth based on others’ approval.

Americans are divided on a multitude of different issues, but could the Olympic Games unite the country – at least for the duration of an Olympiad? A Baylor University sports marketing and branding expert says yes, it can, in his latest Forbes SportsMoney column.

Religion and politics, the benefits of playing sports as a young person and social security tax issues were just some of the topics covered by Baylor University experts this week. 

Mission Waco Founders and 2024 Pro Ecclesia Medal of Service recipients Jimmy and Janet Dorrell join the weekly Baylor Connections podcast for a conversation about the heart behind their commitment to the poor and marginalized locally and around the world.

Researchers document groundbreaking insights into the reproductive behaviors of a mysterious apex predator.

Smiley faces, hearts, thumbs up and folded hands – those are just a few of the thousands of emojis that are available for internet users to communicate with. World Emoji Day is a day to consider how these symbols can perfectly emphasize ideas and convey emotions quickly and creatively when words alone often cannot.

Advertising expert Tyrha Lindsey-Warren gives a “sneak peek” into the commercial lineup for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Nathan Shelburne, Ph.D., and student leader like Kaleigh Wiffler join the Baylor Connections podcast to discuss Baylor’s New Student Programs, which are essential to helping new students feel at home and ready to embark on their Baylor journey.

As the Olympics begin, Baylor University sports marketing expert Kirk Wakefield, Ph.D., writes for Forbes about how the games can unite people, joining other faculty experts making news, from biologists observing the mating behaviors of leopard seals in Chile to the University joining the Baptist World Alliance. 

MLB’s All-Star game is considered one of best all-star contests among professional sports, but Baylor sports marketing expert Kirk Wakefield says the game faces continued headwinds.

Baylor University’s Mathematics for Early Learners Academy, sponsored by the Baylor School of Education, is underway now at the Mayborn Museum on the Baylor campus through July 25 for students ages 4 to 6.

After two successful decades in the corporate world, Gabe Madison, B.B.A. '00, answered a call two years ago to serve as president of Bonton Farms, an urban farm in south Dallas that not only addresses food insecurity but also focuses on meeting myriad community needs, including health, wellness, housing and so much more.

At its Annual Gathering this week in Lagos, Nigeria, the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) General Council unanimously approved 13 new members, including Baylor University as a full Member Partner. Baylor will join the BWA’s membership of 266 Baptist organizations across 134 countries and territories that represent more than 51 million Baptists worldwide.

July is Family Reunion Month, and as families prepare to gather with extended family, we often are regaled with tales about an older relative’s fascinating life story or firsthand experience as an eyewitness to history. So how do you capture and preserve those precious memories?

From the Associated Press to Voice of America to Christianity Today, media outlets across the country featured Baylor University faculty experts speaking about the role of religion/spirituality in elite athletes’ well-being, the upcoming presidential election and the Scottish sprinter from "Chariots of Fire" who showcased a bigger story about Christians in sports.

Many people receive massage therapy and for many reasons. But according to a new study by Baylor researchers, the prevalence of visits to massage therapists is higher than one might have imagined and the reasons may be surprising.

Baylor University faculty and staff made news across the country this week, providing their expertise on the health benefits of fish oil supplements in Men’s Health, whether private equity can help – or hurt – the Big 12 on Houston Public Media and human preaching in an AI age in Sight Magazine.

Baylor University's groundbreaking research in fuel-flexible combustion technology has garnered national attention, as Lulin Jiang, Ph.D., and her team have been accepted into the National Science Foundation's prestigious National I-Corps™ program. 

For the first time this summer, the Baylor University Talent Identification Program (TIP) in the School of Education hosted residential camps for high-ability gifted students in grades 8 through 12 in June on the Baylor campus. 

This week’s Baylor Connections guest – in honor of Independence Day – is Julie Anne Sweet, Ph.D., professor of history, director of military studies and an expert on colonial and revolutionary America and military history. 

As Independence Day approaches, a Baylor management professor - and longtime Ben Franklin scholar - shares his thoughts on a four aspects of the Founding Father's legacy.

Baylor University physical therapy researchers Shane Koppenhaver, PT, Ph.D., and Laurel E. Proulx, PT, DPT, Ph.D., have received a four-year $2.5 million grant award from the Department of Defense to test a novel intervention for women service members suffering from debilitating chronic pelvic pain that could provide better access to care and rapid, effective treatment.

Baylor University’s Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center is hard to miss as the campus’s spectacular front door right off Interstate 35 in Waco. Throughout July, the Hurd Welcome Center will serve an additional purpose for road-weary travelers: a convenient daytime Travel Stop offering a cool place indoors to take a break.

Baylor University will join City of Waco and McLennan County partners – in cooperation with the Waco/McLennan County Office of Emergency Management – to conduct a regular test of its Outdoor Warning System (tornado sirens) at 10 a.m. Friday, [Month, day]. The University’s testing period will be 10 to 11 a.m. 

A multidisciplinary team of Baylor researchers is working to advance technology that could drastically reduce the time and logistical footprints needed for the sustainable development and repair of products for the U.S. military, thank to a $15 million congressional appropriation.

The Department of Mathematics at Baylor University will host a workshop on Abstract Elementary Classes (AEC) July 25-27, in honor of the 70th birthday of renowned mathematician Rami Grossberg, Ph.D., of Carnegie Mellon University. 

Death and dying scholar Candi Cann, Ph.D., joins the Baylor Connections podcast to discuss her time in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar, Baylor Theater professors work with Waco’s Young Festival Stage, and Black gospel music expert Robert F. Darden lends his expertise to the Louisville Story Program, among other news from leading Baylor researchers and faculty. 

Baylor University’s Office of Investments, which is responsible for managing Baylor’s $2 billion endowment and other long-term investments of the University, has been named a finalist for Team of the Year by The Allocator Prizes, celebrating the best and brightest in institutional investing. 

Baylor University administrators and faculty researchers provided their expertise for news outlets spanning from NPR's All Things Considered to CNN on the success of the University’s Give Light comprehensive fundraising campaign, new leadership taking the helm at Baylor Law, a controversial vote on women pastors and the political virtue of former President Jimmy Carter.

Baylor University will join with the Greater Waco community in celebration of Juneteenth, a national holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

The connection between sleep and gratitude, the importance of faith-based higher education and Baylor’s McNair Scholars program were some of the topics discussed by Baylor University researchers and faculty experts in the news this week. 

Sungseek Moon, Ph.D., The Carl and Martha Lindner Endowed Chair for Global Studies and professor at Baylor’s Diana R. Garland School of Social Work, has been selected as a 2024-2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Kenya, joining an elite group of scholars who have received the prestigious and competitive fellowship from the U.S. government’s premier international educational exchange program.

Baylor University will join City of Waco and McLennan County partners – in cooperation with the Waco/McLennan County Office of Emergency Management – to conduct a regular test of its Outdoor Warning System (tornado sirens) at 10 a.m. Friday, June 7. The University’s testing period will be 10 to 11 a.m. 

Baylor University’s Give Light comprehensive philanthropic campaign has raised a historic $1.5 billion, an achievement that shattered its initial $1.1 billion goal and concluded Give Light as the most successful comprehensive fundraising campaign in Baylor’s 179-year history, the University announced today. 

More than 5,200 Baylor University students have been named to the Spring 2024 Dean’s Academic Honor List, which recognizes Baylor undergraduates for their outstanding academic work during each semester.

Baylor University is ranked No. 80 on the Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted Utility Patents in 2023, a list published by the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Published annually, this ranking serves to highlight and celebrate U.S. universities that play a large role in advancing innovation and invention in the United States.

Baylor University School of Education is hosting the second year of STEM+ Camp Launch, a week-long day camp focused on rocket science, for rising fifth graders from three Transformation Waco schools. Co-founded last year by Suzanne Nesmith, Ph.D., associate professor of STEM education, and Sandi Cooper, Ph.D., professor of mathematics education, the program is funded by a grant from Waco’s Cooper Foundation and held at Baylor’s Mayborn Museum.

With summer underway, Baylor University researchers and faculty experts shared insight on summer meals for children facing food insecurity, what’s new at the Mayborn Museums (including the installation of life-size bronze mammoths) and research on the potential water needs for a future moon base. 

Baylor University planetary geophysicist Peter B. James, Ph.D., assistant professor and founder of the Planetary Research Group at Baylor, has been recognized by NASA with the 2023 Planetary Science Early Career Award (ECA). 

This week Baylor University researchers and faculty experts weighed in on an ancient Chesapeake archeological site that challenges the timeline of humans in the Americas, the benefits and challenges of social media for socially anxious daters and what it means to offer dignity to everyone involved in the supply chain.

As the spring 2024 semester concludes, Baylor University is celebrating a phenomenal year for Baylor students and recent alumni earning prestigious and highly competitive fellowships and awards, including a record-extending 18th Fulbright Scholarship.

On Thursday, May 23, 2024, the Baylor University Department of Public Safety and its branches, including the Baylor University Police Department, along with 16 other local and federal law enforcement partners and emergency responders, will conduct an annual joint active threat training exercise on the Baylor campus in and around the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation.

EXPIRED AT 7:53PM CT - The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado WATCH for Central Texas, including Waco and McLennan County, Texas, effective until 8p.m. CDT tonight (Wednesday, May 22, 2024). A Tornado WATCH means that tornadoes – along with damaging winds and hail – are possible in and near the watch area.

Garritt J. Tucker, Ph.D., The Eula Mae and John Baugh Chair in Physics, is part of a multi-institution, interdisciplinary effort to discover new materials and create innovative pathways for advancing materials performance under extreme conditions. The $12.5 million research team was funded through the Department of Energy (DOE) for the next five years.

Marking 20 years of sparking curiosity and inspiring lifelong learning, the Mayborn Museum at Baylor University celebrated its milestone anniversary by officially unveiling and dedicating a life-size landmark for the community – stunning bronze Mammoth sculptures that stand as timeless symbols of the Mayborn Museum’s commitment to inspire and educate generations.

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about the unique potency of young people in promoting social change, a new survey that explores women’s and young adult leadership in Asian American congregations and Baylor’s rise to become a Fulbright Top Producing Institution.

During its regular May meeting, the Baylor University Board of Regents approved the University’s 2024-2025 operating budget, voted on Board and committee leadership and elected new at-large Regents – including a former Waco mayor and a top Texas healthcare executive who also has ties to the city.

Stephen Newby among ranks of faculty recruited to Baylor through Give Light philanthropic campaign

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about a life-size bronze Columbian mammoth family arriving at the Mayborn Museum, the mental benefits of walking a labyrinth and the extreme solar storm that is providing a rare glimpse of the northern lights in Texas.

EXPIRED AT 8:06 PM: The  National Weather Service has issued a Tornado WATCH for Central Texas, including Waco and McLennan County, Texas, effective until 9 p.m. CDT tonight (Thursday, May 9, 2024). A Tornado WATCH means that tornadoes – along with damaging winds and hail – are possible in and near the watch area.

EXPIRED AT 8:39PM CDT: The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado WATCH for Central Texas, including Waco and McLennan County, effective until 10:00 p.m. CDT , Wednesday, May 8, 2024. A Tornado WATCH means that tornadoes – along with damaging winds and hail – are possible in and near the watch area.

The 2024 graduating class of Baylor University's McNair Scholars Program is set to soar as students continue on to prestigious graduate programs and national and international fellowships. 

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories looking at the impact of schools moving to a four-day week in Texas, the repatriation of migrant workers who died in the Baltimore bridge collapse and the tangible signs of growth in the Baylor Graduate School, including a record number of Ph.D. graduates this spring.

Baylor University students continue to earn highly competitive major fellowships and awards during a record-setting year in which they have earned the Fulbright, Goldwater, Critical Language and Churchill scholarships. Now students can add a Boren Scholarship, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF GRF) and the GEM Fellowship to the list.

Baylor University faculty members Julie Hoggarth, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology, and Jeffrey C. Petersen, Ph.D., professor of sport management, have been selected to receive the 2024 Centennial Professor Awards for summer research projects on the impact of drought on the Mayan collapse and the expansion of administrative staff within collegiate sports, respectively. 

POSTPONED TO JUNE 7: Baylor University will join City of Waco and McLennan County partners – in cooperation with the Waco/McLennan County Office of Emergency Management – to conduct a regular test of its Outdoor Warning System (tornado sirens) at 10 a.m. Friday, May 3. The University’s testing period will be from 10 to 11 a.m.

Baylor University has been selected by the Institute of International Education (IIE) to receive an IIE American Passport Project grant that will enable up to 25 Baylor students to obtain their first U.S. passport and open the pathway to study abroad.

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about how Christian student-athletes might be well prepared for the NIL market, a conversation about disability and the church, and challenging previous assumptions about the marketplace and its role in mental health.

Continuing Baylor University’s year-long focus on civil discourse, 31 Baylor students – newly commissioned as the inaugural cohort of “Bridgebuilding Fellows” – joined together April 23 at the Hurd Welcome Center for a university-wide demonstration of a model for bridging these divides by cultivating curiosity, deep listening and story sharing. 

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado WATCH for Central Texas, including Waco and McLennan County, Texas, effective until 6 p.m. CT tonight (Friday, April 26, 2024).

Baylor University’s Dunn Center for Christian Music Studies in the Baylor School of Music has been awarded a four-year $1 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. as part of its Strengthening Ministries with Youth Initiative. 

A record 16 Baylor University students and recent alumni have been selected for Fulbright U.S. Student Grants from the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program that offers students grants to pursue graduate study, conduct research or teach English abroad.

Following a national search, Toby J. Brooks, Ph.D., assistant dean of faculty success, program director of athletic training and professor at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) in Lubbock, has been selected to serve as director of Baylor University’s Academy for Teaching and Learning (ATL), effective July 15, 2024. 

After a three-year hiatus after the pandemic, the Baylor Community Garden is back and thriving through the collaborative efforts of more than 700 students, faculty and staff, the garden has blossomed into a “site of transdisciplinary environmental discovery, creativity and community health."

Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced today the appointment of Elisabeth R. Kincaid, J.D., Ph.D., as director of the Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL), effective Aug. 1.  She also will serve as associate professor of ethics, faith and culture in Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and affiliate faculty member in the Department of Management in the Hankamer School of Business.

Stephen Sloan, Ph.D., professor of history and the director of the Institute for Oral History at Baylor University, was honored as the 2024 Cornelia Marschall Smith Professor of the Year at the annual Academic Honors Convocation on April 19. 

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about the mental health benefits of active religious practice, creating a belonging environment in schools for students with disabilities and the intersection of faith and leadership in the workplace.

Alagu Subramanian, B.A. ’23, a University Scholar with concentrations in biology, medical humanities and business administration, is Baylor University's fourth consecutive Churchill Scholar, an unprecedented achievement for the prestigious and highly selective scholarship in science, mathematics and engineering.

Baylor University mourns the death of beloved alumna and unofficial Independence historian Lanella Spinks Gray, B.A. ’54, of Houston on April 6. Gray, who was known as ‘Miss Baylor,’ became well known among Baylor’s students while serving as host to Baylor Line Camp groups visiting the University’s original campus site in Independence, Texas.

Sarah Kienle, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology at Baylor University, has received the prestigious Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.

Twelve Baylor University professors have been honored with Outstanding Faculty Awards for teaching, scholarship and contributions to the academic community for the 2023-2024 academic year.

WACO, Texas (April 16, 2024) – Isaiah Odajima, M.M. ’99, D.M.A., associate professor of ensembles and associate director of bands in the Baylor University School of Music, was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association at the organization’s national convention in Washington, D.C., and served as a guest conductor for "The President's Own" United States Marine Band. 

Spring in Central Texas can be a beautiful season with abundant wildflowers, outdoor sporting events and bright blue skies – but it also can bring an increase in severe weather, including thunderstorms with lightning, hail, strong winds, heavy rains and heightened tornado risks.

Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about the total solar eclipse with Waco and Baylor in the path of totality, how Russia's disinformation campaign seeps into U.S. public opinion and discovering the importance of silence for cultivating spiritual discipline.

The Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) has recognized Lesley McAllister, D.M.A., professor of piano, director of piano pedagogy and director of the keyboard studies division in Baylor University’s School of Music, with the honor of American Music Teacher Article of the Year for her article, “The Language of Awareness: How Cueing and Breath Work Impact the Music Lesson.” 

Baylor University today announced a $1.5 million gift from the family of George Heilmeier through the Heilmeier-Jarvie Family Foundation, of Plano, Texas, establishing The George Heilmeier Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering to attract, retain and support innovative research and teaching within the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Baylor University is the host site of the 2024 National Bioethics Bowl, an intercollegiate academic competition on April 12-13 in which students from U.S. colleges and universities debate a wide variety of bioethics topics.

Baylor University and the Waco community will have the opportunity to hear from Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar and author Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. during this year’s Beall-Russell Lecture in the Humanities at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, at Waco Hall, 624 Speight Ave. 

Highlighted by Top 20 graduate programs across disciplines ranging from physical therapy and nursing to entrepreneurship and trial advocacy, Baylor University graduate and professional programs were among those nationally ranked in the 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings, released today by U.S. News& World Report.

A three-day Baylor University symposium on “Migration and Food Needs: Latin American and U.S. Perspectives” will bring together scholars, practitioners, policymakers and students April 16-18 in an exploration of the crucial intersections between food, migration, religion, economic opportunity and human flourishing, including the culinary contributions of migrants to U.S. communities.

CANCELED at 4:25 pm CT: The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado WATCH for Central Texas, including Waco and McLennan County, Texas, effective until 5 p.m. CDT tonight (Tuesday, April 9, 2024).

WACO, Texas (April 7, 2024) – Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about the importance of family recipes in the grieving process, camera safety during the total solar eclipse and sustaining strong sibling relationships. 

Guided by their faculty mentors and supported by the Office of Engaged Learning, Baylor University undergraduates are off to a record-breaking pace for attaining some of the most prestigious and highly competitive fellowships and awards at the national and international level.

With Waco, Texas in the path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse, Baylor University researchers have a first-hand opportunity to study the effects that people might feel as they witness this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

Baylor University will join City of Waco and McLennan County partners – in cooperation with the Waco/McLennan County Office of Emergency Management – to conduct a regular test of its Outdoor Warning System (tornado sirens) at 10 a.m. Friday, April 5. The University’s testing period will be from 10 to 11 a.m.

More than 1,450 students will volunteer at over 50 sites around Waco during Baylor University’s biannual Steppin’ Out community service event from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 6. A beloved Baylor tradition, Steppin’ Out is a student-led day of community service specifically dedicated to helping Waco residents. 

The award-winning Baylor University Symphony Orchestra will make its Bass Performance Hall debut at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 23, in Fort Worth, Texas. The Baylor Symphony Orchestra will perform a varied and interesting program of music with renowned Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

WACO, Texas (March 31, 2024) – Baylor University researchers and faculty experts were featured in national and local media stories about research on the romantic relationships known as “situationships,” studying the phenomena of emotional responses to the April 8 total eclipse and delving into the first results of the Global Flourishing Study, which found links between religiosity and people’s satisfaction with their lives.

Baylor University will host the 30th annual Beall Poetry Festival April 3-5, a distinguished American literary event featuring contemporary poetry with readings, a panel discussion and the Virginia Beall Ball Lecture on Contemporary Poetry.

Rebecca Jones-Antwi, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Public Health in Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, has received a three-year Career Development Award from the American Heart Association for her project, “Stuck in the Middle: The Intersectionality of Multiracial Adults and Cardiovascular Health.” 

This April, Baylor University is joining universities and communities around the country to increase public awareness and prevention education about sexual assault and interpersonal violence during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM).