![A graphic image with text overlay of title of the 14th annual Powell-Heller conference. The text "Jewish Life in Poland before, during and after the holocaust"](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/10/powell-heller-page-banner-2022-1-1024x384-1-725x384.jpeg)
Powell-Heller Conference explores before, during and after the Holocaust
The 14th Annual Powell-Heller Conference for Holocaust Education will occur on October 26-28, 2022 at Pacific Lutheran University. This year the conference theme is “Jewish Life in Poland: Before, During and After the Holocaust.” The keynote speaker is professor of history Jan Grabowski from the…
![Amy Siegesmund speaking with two students in a PLU biology lab. She is facing camera, the two students face down at the lab table. All three wear protective lab classes and white lab coats.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/09/amy-siegesmund-biology-featured-image-725x408.jpg)
PLU biology professor Amy Siegesmund receives national teaching award
Pacific Lutheran University Professor of Biology Amy Siegesmund is the recipient of the American Society for Microbiology’s 2023 Carski Award for Undergraduate Teaching. The award recognizes a university educator for outstanding teaching of microbiology to undergraduate students. What I love about teaching microbiology is that…
![Kathy Richardson instructs a class on suturing at PLU , Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. (Photo/John Froschauer)](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/08/kathy-richardson-web-725x408.png)
PLU School of Nursing professor to be inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing
Tacoma, Wash. — Pacific Lutheran University is pleased to announce that Kathleen Richardson, assistant professor of nursing, has been selected to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (Academy). Richardson also serves as associate dean of academic affairs at PLU. “Dr. Richardson has…
![Parker Simpson stands to the side of PLU signage on Campus on Park Avenue](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/07/parker-simpson-web-725x408.png)
Nursing major sees value in studying and investing in health services
Parker Simpson ’24 is spending his summer working at an assisted living facility in his hometown of Spokane, Washington. He comes from a family of healthcare professionals and has always wanted to help people. We sat down with him to discuss his experience taking classes…
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Faculty Innovators
Innovation in the classroom: “I do, and I understand” If you search for the CV of Assistant Professor of Computer Science Renzhi Cao, Ph.D. , you’ll find a list of published research papers longer than Foss Field. He says it’s a great feeling when a…
![Tamara headshot, she has a green are on campus behind her, is wearing a red shirt and necklace.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/tamara-banner-resolute-725x408.jpg)
Wang Center Executive Director: “Global issues are local issues.”
In 2021, PLU’s Wang Center for Global Education added a few more important words to its title. It is now the Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education . The name change is the result of a merger between the Wang Center and the…
![Karen McConnell smiling while standing in an empty PLU classroom.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/karen-banner-resolute-725x408.jpg)
Karen McConnell embraces innovation as PLU’s first chief institutional effectiveness officer
Associate Vice President Karen McConnell , Ph.D., recently stepped into a new role. It’s not only new for her, but also for PLU. She is the school’s first chief institutional effectiveness officer. McConnell explains that in this role she will help ensure that evidence-based decision-making…
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Renzhi Cao innovates in the classroom
If you search for the CV of Assistant Professor of Computer Science Renzhi Cao, Ph.D., you’ll find a list of published research papers longer than Foss Field. He says it’s a great feeling when a new piece of research is published. But what he finds…
![Nicole Query holds a book while standing in an isle of the PLU library surrounded by research books.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/library-banner-725x408.jpg)
Degree Designers: Students match passion with purpose through individualized majors
The 253 PLU Bound scholarship recipient from the Key Peninsula near Tacoma began his first year intending to major in music education. But best-laid plans often go awry. Lindhartsen soon realized that wasn’t the path for him. He knew he wanted to study music, but…
![Cassio smiles while playing the piano at a performance in ampitheatre outside the PLU music building.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/cassio-featured-banner-725x408.jpg)
A Universal Language: Cassio Vianna shares a passion he discovered in Brazil with students at PLU
Cassio Vianna has been a teacher since he was 8 years old. At that time, his mother was learning to play the organ and Vianna decided to go with her to her lessons rather than stay at home with his siblings. “To this day, my…
![Mike Halverson leans back against a table in an empty PLU classroom in Xavier Hall](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/halverson-resolute-banner-725x408.jpg)
The Key to Innovation
Michael Halvorson ’85 was a technologist before he was a historian. His PLU undergraduate degree is in computer science and he worked at Microsoft for the first 10 years of his career. He spent the next 15 years writing books about software and emerging technology.…
![Cameron Bennett smiles in a headshot. He's wearing a suit and tie and there is blurry greenery behind him.](https://www.plu.edu/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/573/2022/05/bennett-resolute-banner-725x408.jpg)
Cameron Bennett helps establish a culture of innovation at PLU
Cameron Bennett, DMA, is well-known as the Dean of PLU’s School of Arts and Communication , but from 2019-2021 he also had another title — Chief Innovation Officer and chair of the Presidential Commission on Innovation and Change . Established in fall 2019, the commission’s…