SLU Completes Memorable 2023
From construction projects wrapping up to student success in and out of the classroom, 2023 was a big year for Saint Louis University.
The year saw SLU grow to its largest total enrollment in history — more than 15,200 students — thanks in large part to a surge in international student enrollment. The driving force behind the dramatic increase in international enrollment is SLU’s innovative Global Graduate initiative, which launched three years ago and has grown increasingly successful each year, including welcoming more than 1,400 new international graduate students to campus in the fall.
Researchers at SLU continued their groundbreaking work. The University is one of the fastest-growing private research institutes in the United States.
Here are some highlights from a memorable 2023.
Completed Projects
The Department of Athletics celebrated the opening of the O’Loughlin Family Champions Center in October. The 25,000-square-foot center, which is adjacent to Chaifetz Arena, will provide support services for the University's 400-plus Billiken student-athletes under one roof.
In September, the third and final phase of Saint Louis University’s Academic Technology Commons in Pius XII Memorial Library opened. The lower level of the library, once a repository for some of the library’s collections, is now a space for connection and collaboration.
Saint Louis University’s Department of Chemistry showed off the newly renovated Monsanto Hall in early November. The building was transformed through an $11 million renovation and remodel, which was the final phase of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building project.
Events on Campus
For the first time ever, Saint Louis University hosted the regional Scripps Spelling Bee. The event, hosted and sponsored by the Saint Louis University School of Education, took place in the Center for Global Citizenship and featured 27 spellers vying to become the regional Spelling Bee Champion. Sonia Kulkarni won the event by correctly spelling the word “drumlin.”
Nationally renowned journalist and Race Card Project founder Michele Norris visited Saint Louis University in March to facilitate discourse around race, identity and culture. In 2010, Norris founded the Race Card Project to provide a safe space for people to explore and share commonly held beliefs and attitudes on race, diversity and bias in six succinct words. She addressed a large crowd in the St. Louis Room at SLU’s Busch Student Center, sharing a few personal narratives collected from more than 500,000 people worldwide.
Best-selling author Neil Gaiman paid a visit to the SLU campus in April. Gaiman, the 2023 St. Louis Literary Award honoree, spoke on finding inspiration around him and promoted libraries as safe spaces where anyone can access information. Gaiman accepted the award from the Saint Louis University Libraries at a sold-out event at the Sheldon Concert Hall.
The Spring 2023 Commencement took place in May. A packed crowd at Chaifetz Arena watched as the Class of 2023 was recognized. SLU alumnus John O’Leary (CSB ’99) delivered the commencement address.
O’Leary returned to SLU in November with a film crew to begin filming for the upcoming movie, On Fire. The film tells O’Leary’s story of surviving a fire as a young child. Members of the SLU community got to be extras in the production. Crews filmed outside around the Lipic Clock Tower plaza, the Center for Global Citizenship and the Chaifetz School of Business. Filming also took place inside the Salus Center and Chaifetz Arena.
Key Appointments
Nadine Alameh, Ph.D., was selected as the inaugural executive director of the Taylor Geospatial Institute, a consortium of eight research institutions led by Saint Louis University. A world-renowned geospatial expert, Alameh was previously the CEO and president of the Open Geospatial Consortium. She is also an appointed member of the U.S. Department of Interior’s National Geospatial Advisory Committee and a board member of the United Nations Geospatial Global Information Management Private Sector Network.
Saint Louis University appointed Gregory E. Triplett Jr., Ph.D., to be the inaugural dean of SLU’s School of Science and Engineering (SSE). The new academic unit launched last year. Triplett was the senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Engineering in Richmond, Virginia, where he oversaw undergraduate and graduate engineering programs. In December, a $2 million commitment created the Oliver L. Parks Endowed Deanship for SSE.
Donna LaVoie, Ph.D., was named the permanent dean of SLU’s College of Arts and Sciences in May. LaVoie has been a member of the SLU faculty for nearly 30 years. She most recently served as interim dean, overseeing the transition of the college as the University reorganized to create SLU’s new School of Science and Engineering.
In June, SLU announced it had appointed Leslie McClure, Ph.D., as the next permanent dean of SLU’s College for Public Health and Social Justice. McClure was the associate dean for faculty affairs at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University. She also served as the chair of the school's Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics since 2015 and previously served as the interim director of the Drexel Biostatistics Service Center.
Research
A group led by Jenna Gorlewicz, Ph.D., associate professor in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering and associate dean of research and innovation in the School of Science and Engineering, was awarded $5 million from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator Program to develop a solution to make information accessible and inclusive to all individuals, particularly those with blindness or low vision.
Saint Louis University's School of Education received a $5.96 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to address teacher shortages in underserved communities. Through an inventive pilot program, SLU will enroll up to 80 professionals with associate's degrees who are already working in school settings in a two-year program, where they will receive a full teaching degree upon completion.
In April, researchers at SLU’s Center for Vaccine Development began enrolling adolescents in mpox vaccine clinical trials. The trial aimed to evaluate the safety and immune response in adolescents compared to adults.
In a paper published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Daniel Hoft, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development, and colleagues reported a promising new approach to speed vaccine testing for TB.
In two recent papers, a team led by Elizabeth Hasenmueller, Ph.D., associate professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and associate director of the WATER Institute at SLU, reported finding high concentrations of microplastics present in a Missouri cave system that had been closed to human visitors for 30 years.
Michael Rozier, S.J., Ph.D., professor and department chair for Health Management and Policy at Saint Louis University, authored a paper examining ethical questions raised during the COVID-19 pandemic and explored how similar ethical questions can be addressed in the future.
Research led by Enbal Shacham, Ph.D., professor of Behavioral Science and Health Education in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, published in the journal Outlook on Agriculture showed that increased dryness and higher temperatures in Kenya are reducing productivity in agriculture and the increase in human population is limiting space for livestock productivity, posing a threat to that country’s economy and food security.
Oluwatoyosi Owoeye, Ph.D., assistant professor of Physical Therapy, led a study enrolling participants in a clinical trial to increase youth sport coaches’ knowledge of musculoskeletal injuries and how to prevent them.
Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing Professor Margaret Bultas, Ph.D., found that integrating a therapy dog into the classroom increases mental health support for nursing students.
Mission and Identity
SLU partnered with Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL) to offer a bachelor's degree to international students displaced by conflict, lack of opportunity and poverty. The first cohort of students started in October in refugee camps in Kenya and Malawi. JWL is a Jesuit-sponsored international higher education program founded in 2010 and designed to serve students at the margins. Those students are typically in war zones, refugee camps and impoverished countries. It operates more than 50 learning centers in 20 countries across Asia, Africa and South America.
In June, SLU was named one of the top five producers of volunteers for work with two Jesuit Volunteer organizations: the Jesuit Volunteer Corps and JVC Northwest. Seven members of the Class of 2023 began their placements in August. As full-time volunteers with the organizations, these graduates commit to the dignity and well-being of all people, particularly those on the margins of society. Living a life rooted in a faith that does justice, each young person lives and serves within a reflective community alongside other Jesuit Volunteers.
Saint Louis University also has established a new center to support research in global Catholicism. The Center for Research on Global Catholicism supports scholarship on how Catholicism migrated across time and space to become a global religion. World-class researchers and area archivists will study the nexus of Catholicism and culture. The Center seeks to capitalize on scholarly expertise at SLU and in St. Louis to advance knowledge and understanding of global Catholicism, facilitate connections between local archives and research scholars, and support scholars working in the field of global Catholicism by providing resources, community and opportunities for collaboration.
Saint Louis University’s Center for Ignatian Service announced it has received a one-year $1.3 million grant from the Thomas R. Schilli Foundation to build upon the work the center has done in its inaugural year. The center was established in 2022 by a $612,495 pilot grant from the Schilli Foundation.
Awards and Accomplishments
Gabby Chiodo was one of 62 Truman Scholars selected this year from a pool of 705 candidates nominated by 275 colleges and universities. She is the fifth Truman Scholar in SLU history. Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence.
In March, SLU was selected as an honoree in the Women’s Foundation of Greater St. Louis’ sixth annual “Women in the Workplace: Employment Scorecard." The Women’s Foundation has recognized 21 area employers that have “demonstrated a strong commitment to gender equity and highlight the best practices each employer employs to advance women in the workplace.”
A team of aviation science students from the School of Science and Engineering secured a spot in the 2024 National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition. The Flying Billikens from SLU’s Oliver L. Parks Department of Aviation Science hosted the Region VI SAFECON event in October. The Flying Billikens placed third overall and third in both ground and flight events.
2023 marked the 60th anniversary of SLU’s School for Professional Studies, which serves the unique needs of nontraditional students in today’s workforce.
Two Saint Louis University students and one alumnus were selected to participate in the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Adam Ryan, Sierra Zima and Krysta Couzi became the latest SLU graduates to take part in the program. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program is designed to expand perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue.
In chess, SLU’s squad won the Collegiate Chess League (CCL) in April. The season-long tournament culminated on April 16, with SLU defeating the University of Missouri. SLU is the first team in the CCL’s five-year history to win two championships. The Billiken squad also won the CCL fall season with a dominant run.
Saint Louis University’s endowment reached the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2014. A decade later, the value is stronger than ever at $1.7 billion.
Athletics
In March, the women’s basketball team made history. Under first-year Head Coach Rebecca Tillett, the third-seeded Billikens secured the first NCAA Tournament bid in program history with a 91-85 overtime victory over top-seeded Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 Championship final. The game was also the first time the Billikens had played in an A-10 Championship title game.
The softball team also picked up an Atlantic 10 title. The team won the A-10 regular season title with a 20-6 conference record. The 20 conference wins was a school record.
This fall, the women’s soccer team posted a 19-3-2 overall record and collected its fifth Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title in six years with a 9-0-1 league mark. The Billikens won the A-10 Championship tournament crown and played in the NCAA Championship for a sixth consecutive season, reaching the "Sweet 16" for the first time with victories over Indiana and Georgetown.