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The company’s donation of $30,000 and 100 laptops provides SHINE students with access to DreamBox, a game-based software that delivers math and reading activities uniquely tailored to each student’s needs. By completing an average of five lessons each week, students can increase their proficiency by as much as one and a half grade levels.

The laptops will enhance connectivity for both SHINE students and their families. More students will be able to log on to DreamBox and The Achievery, AT&T’s online learning platform for grades K-12. Families can use the laptops to engage with their children’s education and access community resources and job training opportunities.

“We believe every student deserves access to a high-quality education,” said Deborah Zbegner, dean of the College of Health and Education at Wilkes. “The shortage of teachers poses a formidable challenge and Wilkes is committed to delivering this creative and transformative master of arts in teaching program.”

Designed for people who already have a bachelor’s degree but are not currently licensed to teach, the master of arts degree in teaching (MAT) offers a path for college students and recent graduates who have developed an interest in teaching, as well as working professionals who want to pursue a new career path.

The new South Main Street Early Learning Academy marks Building Blocks Learning Center’s 13th location in the region. The center can accommodate approximately 120 children from infants (six weeks old) to pre-kindergarten.

In an email to campus announcing the project, Wilkes President Greg Cant explained that the introduction of an early learning center in close proximity to campus realizes a long-held University goal.

“For many years, we have contemplated campus-based childcare for those in our community who are parents or caregivers. Under this new agreement with D&D, Building Blocks Learning Center will provide affordable, convenient and quality care to our employees and students, making a Wilkes education even more attainable,” said Cant.

“To be able to put an idea into a tangible form, really making something solid and not just imagining it, is great,” said Nickerson DeMelfi, a graduate bioengineering student from Newbury Park, California. Making ideas into reality is what graduate and undergraduate students do in BEGR 411 Integrated Product Development, taught by Jamal Ghorieshi, professor of mechanical engineering.

“It is simple, you learn by practicing. For instance, you learn how to drive a car by actually driving one,” said Ghorieshi. “I think product development is the type of course that provides an opportunity for students to learn by practicing.” The students agree.

“Thinking about something that felt impossible and making it possible feels amazing,” said Alexis Vélez, a graduate mechanical engineering student from Caguas, Puerto Rico.

One of the most unique parts of this course is how subject matter experts from a variety of disciplines are brought in to enrich the already hands-on experience, working with students to design plans for bringing a product to market. This innovative teaching approach helps Wilkes University’s College of Business and Engineering stand out.

“We have a nice mix of creatives and engineers in our group,” said Miquela Langan ’21, a bioengineering graduate student from Hanover Township, Pennsylvania. “The interdisciplinary aspects of this course have been awesome.”

Mailer’s creative work spanned novels, newsprint, magazine, stage and screen. He produced 39 books, including 11 novels, in addition to plays, screenplays and essays. Mailer was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for his 1968 work The Armies of the Night and earned a second Pulitzer Prize for The Executioner’s Song, published in 1979. Mailer passed away in 2007 at the age of 84.

The original Norman Mailer Room was dedicated in 2000, and the relocated room and full collection of artifacts were rededicated in 2019. Photographs of the renowned author and a large portrait donated by his daughter Danielle mark the entrance to these rooms on the second floor of the library.

According to Chu, he was motivated by a Chinese proverb that, paraphrased, says, “When you’re thirsty and someone gives you a drop of water, you pay it back with a bucket.” That bucket comes in the form of the Chu-Wiendl Scholarship, supported by a $1 million gift that will provide annual funding for native Chinese students to attend Wilkes.

As a young man in China, Chu wasn’t sure what his future held. Though he was selected to train as a fighter pilot, his grandfather determined that Air Force service was too dangerous. Chu passed the national entrance exam to go to college, but the Chinese government ended his academic career in retaliation for his withdrawal from the pilot program.

While the walls can’t talk, the 50-year history of the Sordoni Art Gallery speaks for itself. The gallery opened in 1973 in Stark Hall. The first exhibit, George Catlin: Painter of the Indians of the Americas, featured paintings by the self-taught artist who was born in Wilkes-Barre in 1796. Catlin’s paintings of Native Americans now hang in the Smithsonian.

Heather Sincavage, director of the gallery, still pays tribute to this moment in the gallery’s history. “When I think about programming, every year I want to represent a Pennsylvania-born artist,” said Sincavage. “It’s always been a touchstone and a way to show the professional growth of artists in our state.”

The grand reopening of the gallery in 2017 treated guests to more than 15 minutes with works by Pennsylvania native and pop culture icon Andy Warhol. Andrew J. Sordoni III shared pieces from his collection of American illustration and comic art. Two presidents came to town with Pete Souza, White House photographer for Reagan and Obama.

In just the past 10 years, the gallery has seen significant changes with a move to a larger, more prominent space in the Karambelas Media and Communication Center on South Main Street and the establishment of an endowment to host exhibits by artists of national and international renown.

The students in Fundamentals of Programming worked in cross-disciplinary teams to develop final projects using the Python programming language. Teams were required to create a graphical user interface with elements such as buttons, icons and other visuals to help users navigate through the on-screen experience. Twelve Indian students worked with 12 teams of Wilkes students to complete projects that included a computerized recipe book, a trivia game and a seat reservation system, among others.

Working with the Indian students had multiple benefits, said Nate Martes, a first-year computer science major. His team was paired with a student named Gauri.

“Working with Gauri has shown me that certain parts of a project may be difficult, but working as a team can make them easy,” Martes said. Also, since Gauri is across the world, time management and communication on both ends of the project were extremely important.

David Biever was named head coach of the men’s football team in January, succeeding Jonathan Drach, who is continuing his career at Union College in New York. Biever joined the football program in 2014. “I am very excited about the opportunity to lead the Wilkes University football program into the future,” said Biever. “Our players had a great spring and we are ready to add our new class to the football family for a successful fall season.”

Scott Musa, director of athletics, said of Biever’s new role, “With his hard work and dedication to the team and recruitment, we knew David earned his shot as head coach. And that’s proven to be the right decision because he’s done a phenomenal job already, and the team and the community really love him.” Musa added, “It’s been a very smooth transition.”

I am majoring in neuroscience and minoring in psychology. Graduating in the Spring of 2024, I am currently involved in the Honors Program, Tri Beta (biology honor society), and I am a Wilkes Adventure Education enthusiast. I am an honors peer mentor and e-mentor, while also being the treasurer for the neuroscience club. Previously, I had been an intern at the NeuroTraining Research center, I was the vice president for the junior class for the 2022-23 year and I have had two years of experience running on the Wilkes women’s cross country team.

I am an English/secondary education double major expecting to graduate in spring 2025. I’m involved with The Inkwell Quarterly, the English department’s literary magazine, and I work in the Writing Center.

Who is your Wilkes legacy family member(s)?

My family is truly a Wilkes family. My grandmother, Cecilia Rudolph Williams, graduated with degrees in English and secondary education, the same degrees I’m pursuing, in 1973. Two of my aunts, Carrie Williams Timko ’96 and Sarah Williams Leng ’05, graduated from Wilkes with degrees in biology and sociology, respectively. I also have two uncles who received degrees in English and pharmacology from the University.