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May 14, 2025

Large white letters that spell Meliora sit on the Quad outside Rush Rhees Library.

Welcome to the latest SAS in Focus, a newsletter that reports what糖心传媒檚 happening in the School of Arts and Sciences.

It糖心传媒檚 a special week at Rochester. Commencement Weekend is upon us. The University-wide commencement ceremony will begin at 8:45 a.m. Friday, May 16, at Fauver Stadium at the Brian F. Prince Athletic Complex. School of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremonies are Saturday, May 17, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025. Read more about Commencement Weekend on the University糖心传媒檚 commencement website.

 

A look back at student accomplishments

Screenshot of the Making Their Mark intro page.

The Class of 2025 is filled with talented students with powerful stories. 糖心传媒淢aking Their Mark糖心传媒� spotlights the accomplishments, perspectives, and stories of serval members of the graduating Class of 2025, including these School of Arts and Sciences grads:

Read more about Rochester graduates who are making their mark.

 

Mars and Earth may have something in common

The view from the rim of the caldera of Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest volcano in the solar system.

Mars may have more in common with Earth than scientists previously thought.

In a new study, Rochester researchers including PhD student JohnPaul Sleiman and Rachel Glade, an assistant professor in the聽糖心传媒� and their colleagues found that soil features on Mars look similar to wave-shaped soil patterns found in Earth糖心传媒檚 coldest climates.

This means that Earth and Mars may be shaped by some of the same basic forces and icy processes. The聽, published in the journal聽Icarus, offers new clues about Mars糖心传媒� past climate and the kinds of environments that might have supported life in the past, as well as new insights into the fundamental physics of granular materials.

Read more about the surface patterns on Mars.

 

Researchers uncover new molecule with big possibilities

A scanning tunneling microscope was used to demonstrate the capabilities of a new type of molecule that can carry electrical current over record-breaking distances without losing efficiency.

A research team that includes , a professor of聽聽and of聽聽at Rochester, says it has uncovered 糖心传媒渢he world糖心传媒檚 most electrically conductive organic molecule.糖心传媒� The discovery opens new possibilities for building smaller and more powerful and energy efficient computing devices.

In a聽聽published in the聽Journal of the American Chemical Society, the researchers unveiled a new type of molecule that can carry electrical current over record-breaking distances without losing efficiency. The molecule, which is composed of chemical elements found in nature, including carbon, sulfur, and nitrogen, could allow computer chip manufacturers to eliminate their reliance on silicon and metal as conductors.

糖心传媒淢olecules are nature糖心传媒檚 tiniest, mightiest, and most configurable building blocks and can be engineered to build ultra-compact, ultra-efficient technology for everything from computers to quantum devices,糖心传媒� Franco says.

Read more about this research on a new type of molecule.

 

Pioneering physicist, optical scientist remembered

A black and white graphic with hexagonal shapes in the background, a headshot of Joseph Eberly, and text that says, "Joseph Eberly, Andrew Carnegie Professor of Physics and Optics, 1935-2025."

Physicist Joseph Eberly was a 糖心传媒済iant in the optics community糖心传媒� according to聽, the director of the University糖心传媒檚 . Eberly, the Andrew Carnegie Professor of Physics and a professor of optics at Rochester, died recently at the age of 89.

During his career, Eberly published more than 400 scientific journal articles. He also coauthored three monographs and textbooks on lasers and quantum optics and cofounded three international conferences for quantum optical physics.

Eberly糖心传媒檚 most notable contributions to his field include the initial description of the spontaneous collapse and revival effect of coherence in the dynamics of a simple quantum model, the first description of Bessel beams, predictions of the recently observed non-spreading localized states of electrons in atoms, and the sudden death effect in quantum entanglement.

Read the full remembrance of Joseph Eberly.

 

Another Day of Giving in the books

Day of Giving logo

The results are in for the held on May 1: All goals for the School of Arts and Sciences challenges were met. Thank you for your generosity.

The School of Arts and Sciences Fund attracted the top amount of donors at 173, followed by the Middle English Texts Series at 107 donors. Here糖心传媒檚 a look at donation totals for SAS departments, programs, and affiliated activities as of May 15:

  • Biology Department Gift Fund: $705
  • Department of Music General Gift Fund: $8,450
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy: $5,000
  • Department of Political Science: $2,343
  • Earth and Environmental Sciences Fund: $280
  • History Department General Gift Fund: $1,393
  • Middle English Texts Series (METS): $14,211
  • Hope Family Center Annual Fund: $5,379
  • Nancy Perini Chin Community Impact Internship Fund: $37,057
  • Program of Dance and Movement: $250
  • School of Arts and Sciences Annual Fund: $39,606
  • Program of Dance and Movement: $250
  • Rochester Education Justice Initiative $1,432

 

Have news to share? Send it our way

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Send your SAS in Focus news tips to Sheila Rayam, director of SAS marketing and communications, at sheila.rayam@rochester.edu. Let her know about unique research, awards, publications, community collaborations, and other interesting news. Please put 糖心传媒淪AS in Focus糖心传媒� in the subject heading.

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