How can a university help new members of their community feel like they are a true stakeholder with a deep sense of belonging?

Sports analytics as a tool to inspire the next generation of data and statistical science—that’s the idea behind a new project, led by Baylor and funded by the National Science Foundation.

Jason Carter came to Baylor at the start of the 2022-23 school year to serve as Dean of Baylor’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. In this Baylor Connections, he shares his journey to Baylor, examines Robbins College’s role in health research at Baylor and delves into his own research in sleep and performance.

“Safety by design” is a focus of Christie Sayes’ work at the intersection of toxicology and materials science. An associate professor of environmental science at Baylor, Sayes studies uncovers unintended consequences of new materials to promote safer design. In this Baylor Connections, she takes listeners inside products that utilize advanced materials, talks about her research with the U.S. Air Force and unpacks the “lung-on-a-chip” she developed to simulate the lung in real operational environments.

Baylor’s Faith and Character Study has yielded insights into student spiritual development that have led to greater understanding and tangible changes to better serve students. Kevin Dougherty, professor of sociology and co-director of the study, takes listeners inside the study on this Baylor Connections, sharing what factors really make a difference in helping students grow spiritually.

In the past year, Baylor has been named one of the nation’s 10 most trusted universities, was recognized among the country’s elite universities for teaching and research and has earned national honors for excellence in numerous areas. There’s plenty of exciting news to share at Baylor and Jason Cook, vice president for marketing and communications, talks about the momentum at Baylor, branding the Big 12 and more on this Baylor Connections.

Chet Garner, a 2006 Baylor Law alum, hosts the Emmy Award-winning Texas travel show, The Daytripper. As the face of Baylor’s Bears in the Wild alumni campaign, he encourages alumni around the country to connect with their fellow Bears. In this Baylor Connections, Garner takes listeners inside his Baylor experience, his love for Baylor University and the Lone Star State, and the joys of traveling Texas highways to share hidden gems with viewers.

Proximity, policy and research play significant roles in the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty’s fight to end food insecurity. In this Baylor Connections, Jeremy Everett, BCHP executive director, conveys the heart behind the call to feed the hungry, both close to home and around the world, and examines how relationships, high-level research and multi-sector partnerships boost the work they do.

As technology becomes a more prevalent part of health care communication, the role of compassionate communication remains important as mediums change. Ashley Barrett, associate professor in communication, recently earned a prestigious NSF CAREER Award to study how patients and providers adopt and adapt together. In this Baylor Connections, she takes listeners inside that study and examines communication’s role in health outcomes.

After 22 years teaching at LSU and UT-Dallas, Julia Chan returned to her alma mater last winter to serve as the inaugural holder of The Tim and Sharalynn Fenn Family Endowed Chair in Materials Science at Baylor. In this Baylor Connections, she takes listeners inside her renowned work in quantum materials, explains the goal to build materials with exotic properties and shares the motivation to grow materials science studies at Baylor.