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Fall ‘Utah Mag’ released

The latest issue of University of Utah Magazine is hot off the presses. Check out some of the highlights.

A 29-County Impact

As the state’s flagship university, the U has major reach—and major responsibility. Now, with a new president at the helm, the school has made a bold promise to improve the lives of all 3.3 million Utahns. Learn how we’re moving beyond the hill to partner with communities in every county.

College Matters

Higher education is about more than a degree. Some of the greatest value comes from exploration that expands horizons and serves as a bridge to a more fulfilling life. We asked readers about impactful classes at the U, and from culinary medicine to dinosaurs, we share some of your most potent experiences.

Nurses Needed

The United States is facing a critical nursing shortage. And as the demand for care continues to far outstrip the supply, an already stressed workforce is facing increased pressure on many fronts. See how the U is taking charge and expanding its nursing program to help meet health care needs.

On Another Level

You’d be forgiven if you mistook the new Ken Garff Red Zone at Rice-Eccles Stadium for an NFL facility. The locker room, sports medicine facilities, hospitality areas, and other spaces are truly exceptional. It also added nearly 5,000 new seats, including premium and box, bringing capacity at Rice-Eccles to 51,444. “This really put us on the next level for our fan and student-athlete experience,” says Associate Athletics Director Sean Farrell BA’07 MBA’12. Completed last year, it was possible thanks to a $21.5 million gift from the Garff family—the largest single gift in U Athletics history.

Funding a Brighter Future

At just 12 years old, Vicky Nguyen BS’20 found herself acting as a medical interpreter. Her sister had been experiencing seizures, and Nguyen’s parents, whose first language is Vietnamese, needed someone to translate as the pediatrician explained the MRI results.

In the Heights

For college students with lofty rock climbing dreams, fewer places are proving more ideal than the U. Besides an abundance of outdoor rock nearby and an impressive campus climbing gym known as The Summit, the U is home to one of the country’s most successful climbing teams. The student-run team formed in 2014 and for the past five years has placed either first, second, or third in individual categories at the USA Climbing Collegiate National Championships.

Art Trek

Josh Hanes HBS’16 has boldly sent paintings where no artworks have gone before. Hanes, the CEO and founder of Uplift Aerospace, commissioned Ghanaian artist Amoake Boafo to decorate the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket with three paintings to see how traveling into outer space would affect the pictures.

Once the rocket, launched in August 2021, left the Earth’s atmosphere, the three-foot-by-three-foot triangular paintings returned to Earth with the capsule. Later, researchers studying the cosmos’ effect on the paintings found—they were different!

Stage and Screen

Actors live at the intersection of luck, talent, and hard work. At least that’s been the experience for Claybourne Elder BA’06. And he ought to know. This summer, he finished playing a leading role in the five-time Tony Award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, and he has recently been busy filming season two of HBO’s Emmy-nominated The Gilded Age. “Studying at the U gave me the skills I needed as an actor, but it was up to me to go out there and put them to use,” notes Elder, who was the U’s 2019 Horizon Award recipient from the College of Fine Arts.