Expo set to celebrate research and creativity

By Frank Stephenson
FSU Office of Research

Time does have a way of changing things. Surely the five decades that have come and gone since Florida State officially became a co-ed university have wrought enormous changes on campus as any visiting alum can easily see.

Along with the dramatically expanded physical plant has come a profound rise in the university's stature in research and scholarship. Florida State's faculty now includes some of the world's leading scientists and scholars, a cadre of teaching and research talent that annually attracts upwards of $100 million in contracts and grants from off-campus sources. The sum places FSU among the elite of American research universities.

In 1994, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching classified FSU as a Research I institution, a distinction shared by less than three percent of the nation's universities.

The campus's 50th-anniversary celebration will include a weekend-long tribute to the coming-of-age of FSU academics, three days of showcasing-for the public and for prospective students around the state and region-the achievements of five decades of FSU research and scholarship.

Opening at noon April 4 will be the Florida State University Research & Creativity Expo at the all-new, $122-million University Center, flanking Doak Campbell Stadium. Co-sponsored by the university's offices of Research and Academic Affairs, this three-day extravaganza is being designed as the largest and most comprehensive academic outreach effort in campus history.

Centering the Expo will be exhibits and hands-on demonstrations representing more than 75 academic units. A new 5,000-sq.-ft room will house most of the exhibits, although some will be under tents on the courtyard outside.

The Expo will offer rare opportunities to see the latest in campus academic offerings, to meet key faculty, to see and touch cutting-edge technology, to learn about degree offerings, to win prizes and to enjoy free food and outstanding entertainment. High-school and community-college students throughout the region plan to converge on the Expo on Saturday, April 5, as part of a recruitment effort coordinated with the campus Office of Admissions.

Did we say entertainment? On Friday night, April 4, Expo visitors will be in for a special treat. Grammy-nominee, FSU-alum and internationally acclaimed jazz pianist Marcus Roberts will appear with the Marcus Roberts Trio on stage at the University Center. A tribute to FSU's traditions in the performing arts, called "Jazz Under the Stars," the concert will display faculty and student talents as well. It will be free and open to the public.

Saturday's Expo stage will jump to the sounds of world music. Featured will be such student- and faculty-led campus music groups as Samba Oba (the sounds of Brazil); Mas 'n Steel (Trinidad); Salsa Florida (Caribbean) and the African Drum Ensemble. The music will give a festive air to a day-long Expo, complete with bus tours of departmental open houses around campus. The Expo will conclude Sunday afternoon.

For more information, call (904) 644-8634 or 644-6150 or send e-mail to frankstp@res.fsu.edu.

Send a letter to the Editor: fstimes@unicomm.fsu.edu

Copyright @ 1997 Florida State Times

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