Alumni News
Wednesday, May 07, 2025
Dr. Shweta Kapur — a physical therapist, recent Ph.D. graduate, and graduate research and teaching assistant in the Department of Human Movement Science at Oakland University — had her study, “Incongruence between Self-report and Performance-based Measure of Balance in Community-Dwelling Adults,” published in the prestigious Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, a leading journal in the field of aging and health and flagship journal of the Gerontological Society of America.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Fifteen Oakland University vocalists were recognized on Nov. 2, 2024 at the National Associationof Teachers of Singing Michigan Chapter Student Auditions. The students, who excelled in the Classical Voice, Musical Theatre, and Contemporary Music categories, included: Aidan Laidlaw, Sarah Lawlis, Carys Rees-Baker, David Glazkov, Philip Lupas, Maximillian Ulrich, Mila Pitman, Andrea Valenzuela-Lazcano, Kaelyn Parker, Cayla Stus, Yeshua Hardy, Trinity Green-Conner, Ava Ward, Austin Klotz, and Markwon Blocker.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Oakland University’s School of Business Administration (SBA) will welcome Judy Hegelund, U.S. policy strategy and compliance leader and managing director at Deloitte, for an engaging talk on “Business Chemistry,” spotlighting how individual differences can drive – or derail – team success.
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has honored Red D. Douglas, a Ph.D. student in Educational Leadership at Oakland University, as one of the recipients of the 2025 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award. This prestigious accolade celebrates graduate students who exhibit outstanding promise as future leaders in higher education while demonstrating a strong commitment to academic innovation, equity, community engagement, and excellence in teaching and learning.
Tuesday, January 07, 2025
Ryan Gagnon, the chief of police in Auburn Hills, Mich., has built a career defined by dedication, innovation, and an unyielding commitment to community well-being.A graduate of Oakland University’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program, Gagnon is now leading the charge in transforming how law enforcement handles mental health crises. His groundbreaking work on co-response teams, which started as his graduate research project has not only shaped his career but has also created a ripple effect across Oakland County.
Friday, October 25, 2024
It is almost the most wonder-filled time of year! The Holidays at Meadow Brook will bring a dazzling array of events, activities and opportunities for merry-making.
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Alumni Reunion Weekend is a time for OU alumni to reconnect with old classmates and friends, to revisit old memories and to make new ones.
Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Professor Kerro Knox and Distinguished Professor Karen Sheridan teamed up to give a very informal "Last Lecture" on April 15. Both are retiring after decades of service and teaching in Oakland University's School of Music, Theatre and Dance. You can read more here.
Monday, July 01, 2024
“Is freedom of speech a necessity in order to have a healthy democracy?”
Thursday, June 13, 2024
Engineering and computer science students came from around the globe to compete at the 31st annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC), an event that immerses students in the burgeoning field of self-driving vehicles.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Oakland University Associate Professor of Theatre Jeremy Barnett and theatre alumnus Jason Maracani recently unveiled a new art installation in the East Garden of the Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph, Mich. that they hope will help people feel connected to and inspired by the gallery's outdoor space.
Thursday, June 06, 2024
Members of Oakland University’s Women & Philanthropy group recently gathered with President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz and other community members to celebrate the milestone of awarding over $100,000 in grant funding to support campus programs.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
Oakland University’s School of Music, Theatre and Dance presented Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” on Feb. 15-18 and Feb. 20-24 in the newly renovated Varner Studio Theatre on the campus of Oakland University. Featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, “Jesus Christ Superstar” is a rock opera loosely based on the final seven days in the life of Jesus Christ, as told through the eyes of Judas Iscariot.
Monday, March 25, 2024
Oakland Associate Professor of Biology and genomics expert Taras K. Oleksyk, Ph.D. is creating one of the largest genome-wide studies of Type 1 Diabetes in the world, and he’s hopeful his research will provide the data for other scientists to follow.
Friday, March 01, 2024
In his 2007 book “Masters of the Air,” Professor Donald L. Miller chronicles the riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II, and the story of the young men who flew the bombers that helped bring Nazi Germany to its knees.
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Oakland University alumni, students, faculty, staff and supporters are encouraged to “Shine a Light on OU” during Black and Gold Giving Day on Wednesday, March 6, 2024.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
OU theatre professors Karen Sheridan and Beth Guest were nominated for awards presented by Broadway World Michigan.
Thursday, November 09, 2023
OU alum Braeden Haggarty, who earned a bachelor of fine arts in musical theatre from Oakland University in 2022, is directing Chippewa Valley High School’s upcoming production of “The SpongeBob Musical,” which opens on Friday Nov. 10.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
A partnership between Oakland University and the Chaldean Community Foundation is providing OU alumni with unique opportunities to utilize the skills they’ve learned in the classroom in a real-world setting while supporting the organization’s community outreach efforts.
Thursday, October 19, 2023
This summer, Dr. Kenneth Kroesche celebrated teaching 20 years at Oakland University with alumni from the Oakland University Low Brass Studio.
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Tuesday, September 26, 2023
As Michigan's first poet laureate in more than 60 years, Nandi Comer has literally written herself into history. Oakland University will welcome the writer for a reading, Q&A and book signing on Thursday, Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. for the annual Maurice Brown Poetry Reading in the Oakland Center’s Ballroom A. Attendance is free and available via Zoom with registration. Refreshments will be served.
Thursday, September 21, 2023
Madison Lorincz has used her experiences in OU's Career and Life Design Center and COM 4970 capstone course to find purpose in her academic program and embark on a meaningful, productive career path.Oakland University’s newly established Career and Life Design Center incorporates design thinking, a philosophy of self-empowerment, to support students at each stage of their academic and professional lives.
Thursday, September 14, 2023
National Hispanic Heritage Month is a national recognition of the culture, contributions and heritage of Hispanic Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15.
Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Alice MooreIn honor of National Voter Registration Day, the Oakland University Center for Civic Engagement will welcome Alice Moore and Denise Holt who will share their experiences as voting rights advocates in the U.S.
Friday, August 25, 2023
Adopting the tagline “Explore. Discover. Connect.,” Oakland University’s new Career and Life Design Center is ushering in transformational change in preparing students to navigate their lives and careers before and after graduation.
Thursday, August 03, 2023
This week, Oakland University welcomed 14 high school students from Shizuoka Seiko Academy, an all-boys school in Shizuoka, Japan, to campus as part of the university’s Intensive American Culture and English (I-ACE) program.
Thursday, June 29, 2023
Julie (Jordan) Ali is on the cusp of earning her master’s degree in public administration from Oakland University. That wouldn’t have been possible without an internet connection and stellar time management skills, since much of Ali’s time is spent aboard a 1,093-foot aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia.
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Ann Marie Dennis wore many hats during her 20-year career in law enforcement.
Monday, May 08, 2023
The whale residing in Oakland University’s Kresge Library is the brain child of students in English Professor Jeffrey Insko’s Literature and the Environment class.
Friday, April 14, 2023
Oakland University Professor Anna Spagnuolo has been recognized as one of the state's three recipients of the 2023 Michigan Distinguished Professor of the Year award, which recognizes the outstanding contributions and dedication exhibited by the faculty from Michigan’s 15 public universities to the education of undergraduate students. The awards are presented annually by the Michigan Association of State Universities.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
The Region III Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), which took place Jan. 11-15 at the University of Michigan-Flint, featured the work of 48 students from the Department of Theatre in the School of Music, Theatre and Dance. You can read more about their accomplishments here.
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Oakland University will offer an insightful discussion about documenting war and its impact on individuals and communities during a virtual event on Wednesday, March 22 from noon-1 p.m. The Zoom link to attend the event is here.
Wednesday, February 01, 2023
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced the appointments of Colleen Ochoa Peters, of Bloomfield Hills, and Stefen J. Welch, of Detroit, to the Oakland University Board of Trustees. Both were appointed to eight-year terms that will run through August 2030. They replace Melissa Stolicker and W. David Tull whose terms have expired.
Friday, January 27, 2023
Oakland University Professor of Music Mark Stone recently traveled to South Africa for the South Africa/America Music Exchange (SAME) Festival, which featured 190 local and international musicians on a single stage.
Wednesday, November 09, 2022
Twenty-six Oakland University students and alumni recently immersed themselves in the world of global cinema at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the largest festival of its kind in North America.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
Elizabeth Parkinson, a doctoral student in Oakland University’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. The fellowship supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees with a focus on NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
Monday, August 15, 2022
Michaela Messing, a student in Oakland University’s Master of Accounting program, was recently selected to receive a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), a nonprofit corporation created by Congress to oversee audits of public companies.
Friday, August 12, 2022
The 2021-22 performance season concluded in the spring with a jazz and world music residency at the Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts in Pontiac March 30 - April 2, including four concerts and a community workshop with faculty, students and artist-in-residence Regina Carter; the Department of Theatre’s production of Pippin, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, from March 30 - April 3 in Varner Studio Theatre; a series of Young Choreographers Forum and Senior Dance Concert performances at Detroit Country Day School in April; an Oakland Symphony Orchestra and Oakland University Symphony Chorus performance on April 14 at Orchestra Hall in Detroit; and the Department of Music’s reimagined version of Handel’s opera, Acis and Galatea, from May 5 - 8 and May 12 – 15 in the Varner Studio Theatre.
Friday, August 12, 2022
Since earning his degree in musical theatre, Oakland University alum Mitchell Aiello (BFA ’16) has been busy performing as a professional singer and actor in regional theatres and on national tours across the U.S.
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Oakland University alumni Ellen Hargis and David Douglass, the husband-and-wife team who stepped down recently after many years of serving as the co-artistic directors of The Newberry Consort in Chicago, have been selected to receive the 2022 Howard Mayer Brown Award for lifetime achievement from Early Music America, the leading organization in their field, for their pioneering work in uncovering and performing rarely heard music.
Monday, July 11, 2022
After a highly competitive application process, Oakland University’s Project Upward Bound (PUB) College Prep Academy has secured a five-year, $3.5 million federal grant that will enable the program to continue its mission of helping participants graduate high school and successfully pursue postsecondary education.
Friday, May 27, 2022
Oakland University has named Chiaoning Su as director of its Barry M. Klein Center for Culture and Globalization.
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Tuesday, April 12, 2022
The Oakland University Student Life Lecture Board will present “An Evening with Laurie Hernandez” on Monday, April 18, at 7 p.m., in the Oakland Center Founders Ballrooms. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Oakland University’s School of Nursing and its Board of Visitors have announced the 2022 Nightingale Award winners and runners-up. This year’s top nurses in Michigan come from a variety of clinical positions and settings and are recognized as exceptional in their areas of nursing.
Thursday, March 10, 2022
SMTD Professors Mark Stone and Jeremy Barnett led a global arts study abroad trip to Ghana, West Africa during the recent winter break.
Friday, February 18, 2022
Researchers in Oakland University’s Department of Biological Sciences have published a study that employs statistical models to analyze host-parasite relationships – in this case between tadpoles (hosts) and flatworms (parasites). The study, published in The American Naturalist, one of the world’s leading peer-reviewed publications in ecology, evolution and behavior research, uses the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE) to describe the role temperature plays in that relationship.
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
A research study conducted by Oakland University and Beaumont Research Institute is providing new insights that could lead to more effective treatment in lung cancer patients.
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Oakland University’s Creative Writing Program will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a fiction reading by author Matt Bell, whose most recent book, “Appleseed” was recognized by The New York Times. The OU alumnus will share his work during a campus event at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 10 in Oakland Center Banquet Room A. In-person attendees will be required to complete OU’s Daily Health Screening Form. The reading will also be streamed via Zoom.
Thursday, January 06, 2022
Oakland University has introduced a new web tool that provides information on the career and educational pursuits of OU students following graduation.
