Boise State One of 15 Consistent Providers of Top NFL Talent

Jamar Taylor was the 52nd Boise State player to be chosen in the NFL Draft and the fifth Bronco to be taken in the second round.  Boise State has had eight players chosen in the first three rounds since 2006 (an average of one per year) and has had a player taken in one of the first three rounds every year since 2012 except one (2009).

Boise State is one of 15 schools in the nation that has been a consistent provider of NFL talent in that time.  Those 15 schools have sent a player to the NFL in one of the first three rounds in seven of the last eight years.  

Here is that list:
Auburn (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
Boise State (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
California (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Clemson (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Florida (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
Florida State (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
Georgia (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Iowa (2006, 2007 ,2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012)
LSU (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Notre Dame (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Ohio State (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Oklahoma (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Penn State (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)
Texas (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013)
USC (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013)

Boise State's D.J. Harper Signs With San Francisco

D.J. Harper, one of the most talented running backs in Boise State history, signed a free agent contract to play for the San Francisco 49'ers of the National Football League.  

Harper ran for 1,137 yards and 15 touchdowns last season and 2,779 yards and 39 touchdowns in his career.  He accumulated his yards and scores against teams like Virginia, Georgia and Michigan State.

Boise State Now Has Over 85 National Science Foundation Active Awards

While the Boise, Idaho and national media have been sleeping, Boise State has accumulated more than 85 active National Science Foundation awards and subawards, and over 100 faculty members are principal and co-principal investigators.  

"Boise State faculty have been extraordinarily successful in the merit review process.  They have excellent ideas and also take great care in presenting their proposals," said Sue Kemnitzer, the NSF's Deputy Director of the Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems Division in the Directorate for Engineering.

"I think one of Boise State's strengths is that its proposals have a very healthy and genuine interdisciplinary character, which is very special.  It's actually quite rare.  It's excellent for students because that's how the world works."

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson Earns National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award

Boise State's Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, assistant professor of geosciences, studies volcano acoustics, or more specifically, how the extremely intense low-frequency sound vibrations that are produced by erupting volcanoes relate to the type of volcano they are and the eruptions that they produce.  This work has earned Dr. Johnson the National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award, arguably the nation's most prestigious award for junior university faculty members.

The five-year NSF grant, known as the CAREER Award, gives researchers such as Johnson an early-career boost of coveted and stable research funding over an extended period, an uncommon advantage for someone just starting out their research career.  Johnson, in fact, is one of four Boise State faculty members with active CAREER awards--the others are Dr. Megan Frary, materials sciences and engineering, Dr. Inanc Senocak, mechanical and biomedical engineering, and Dr. Wan Kuang, electrical and computer engineering.  

The award will allow Johnson to continue his volcano acoustic studies at erupting volcanoes in Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala and Hawai'i, as well as geothermal sites in Yellowstone National Park.  

Boise State Teams with the Universities of Utah and Cal-Davis and Florida Institute of Technology On National Science Foundation Grant

Dr. Grady Wright, associate professor of mathematics at Boise State, is the principal investigator on a collaborative National Science Foundation grant to study "Chemically-active Viscoelastic Mixture Models in Physiology".  Wright will be working with the University of Utah, University of Cal-Davis and the Florida Institute of Technology on the project, which was awarded a grant of $1.1 million.

Wright and his collaborators will utilize mathematical and computational models to provide researchers with a better understanding of certain biological processes in the human body where viscoelastic fluids such as mucus play a fundamental role.  

"Viscoelastic fluids found in the body are difficult to study experimentally," Wright said.  "Mathematical modeling and simulation of these processes provide a powerful, cheap and harmless way to understand the dynamics, mechanics and functions of these fluids."

Boise State's Cobourrn Studying Impact of Climate Change On Agriculture Sector

Dr. Kelly Cobourn, assistant Economics professor at Boise State, is examining how changes in climate and water have impacted the Snake River Basin in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon.  Her work will assess how producers have adapted to changing weather patterns over the last 30 years, taking into account how water rights institutions have played a role in the decision-making process.

Cobourn, who earned a grant from NASA for the project, will use NASA satellite images as part of her research.  Cobourn believes there is a disconnect between the climate signal the region receives and the amount of water a grower gets to apply to his field.  

Cobourn will be working with Dr. Alejandro in geosciences, Dr. Scott Lowe and Dr. Sian Mooney in economics, as well as two master's students from Boise State's geosciences field and a number of undergraduates in economics.

Wakild Earns National Science Foundation Award

Dr. Emily Wakild, assistant professor in the Boise State History Department, has been awarded a $196,000 National Science Foundation award, "Comparative Histories of Scientific Conservation:  Nature, Science and Society in Patagonian and Amazonian South America".

Wakild, whose interest in the topic grew out of her first book:  Revolutionary Parks:  Conservation, Social Justice and Mexico's National Parks 1910-1940 in 2011, will focus her study on protected landscapes in South America and their collective importance.  Wakild's project will advance the cause of conservation in South America into debates about land management and nature protection by re-focusing attention on how science is produced in the field.  

Wakild will work in archives in Chile and Brazil and add that information to work she has previously done in Argentina.

Boise State Launches Ido Teach Program

The Boise State College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Education have teamed to start the Ido teach program, an innovative secondary education teacher preparation program for science, technology, engineering and math.  The program will give a solid background to secondary teachers of science and math.  The program kicked off last year at Boise State.  Here are the facts about Ido Teach:

A priority program for Boise State with support from its senior leadership, deans and faculty
First UTeach replication effort in the Pacific Northwest and Northern Rocky Mountain region
Centrally located within this eight-state, Pacific Northwest/Northern Rocky Mountain region, which makes up 84% of the undergraduate students at Boise State
Growing capacity and engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM] education research and development
Cross-section of support from the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education and College of Engineering
Will be integrated with Boise State’s STEM Station as part of its charter to increase opportunities for STEM education in the K-12 community
Partnering with business and industry to support the program and assure we are meeting the region’s STEM education needs

Boise State College of Business Continues to Be One of the World's Leaders

When I was going to Boise State, the business program was already one of the tops in the world and it's good to see the progress continuing.  

Once again, the association to advance Collegiate Schools of Business (aaCSB) has given notice to Boise State that it has maintained business accreditation through 2016.  AACSB is the hallmark of excellence in business education, earned by less than 5% of the world's business programs.  Boise State has proudly earned that distinction for nearly 40 years now.

Boise State Doctoral Program in Biomolecular Sciences Off to Great Start

The interdisciplinary doctoral program in biomolecular sciences that Boise State launched last fall has begun preparing candidates to satisfy the needs of a growing biotechnology sector and the medical community in general.  The faculty from the colleges of biological sciences, chemistry, biochemistry and physics combine to teach students, who can also work with faculty in other fields including materials science and engineering, kinesiology, mathematics and computer science.

Boise State Adds Two More Doctorate Degrees

Most people are fully aware of Boise State's meteoric rise to national prominence in football and other sports.  Unfortunately, the media does a terrible job of writing about the school's advances in academics.  You know from this site that the Boise State Speech & Debate Team has become nearly a perennial National Champion.

And you now know that Boise State has added two doctorate programs, one in public policy and an online nursing doctorate program.  The program focuses on ensuring that the university continues to serve as a top resource for those at all levels of government, as well as for citizens who seek improved public policy knowledge, development and implementation.

Graduates will be prepared for senior-level positions in public, nonprofit and international organizations, research in natural resource policy, environmental policy, science policy, and positions in government, nonprofit and advocacy groups and consulting organizations, as well as in academic teaching and research positions.  

Full-time and part-time students may apply now for the program that begins this fall.  Learn more at:  sspa.boisestate.edu/phd-ppa.

A newly-approved doctoral program will prepare more nurses to assume leadership responsibilites in education and the clinical work force.  The Affordable Health Care Act will lead to tens of thousands of more jobs for both nurses and doctors in the years to come since millions of people be getting annual checkups for the first time and with nearly 100% of the public being covered by insurance, more doctor visits are a logical result. 

The online doctor of nursing practice program will begin in August of this year.  Entry requires a current registered nurse license (RN), a bachelor's degree in nursing with a master's degree in a related field, or a master's degree in nursing.


“Health care systems are growing and becoming more 
complex and nurses are pivotal in these systems,” says 
Dr. Pam Springer, associate dean of the College of Health 
Sciences and director of the School of Nursing.   “Nurses 
prepared with practice doctorates have the skills 
necessary to work within these complex systems to 
improve the health care experience and outcomes.”

Boise State has forged a memorandum of understanding 
(MOU) with Idaho State University that outlines how 
graduate education at the two schools can benefit Idaho.  The agreement includes a new doctorate in nursing at ISU 
that will focus on direct care advanced practice nursing .

Boise State’s new degree is part of a broader set of 
existing and newly approved graduate programs at Boise State that also include two existing master’s degrees 
in nursing and a new adult-Gerontology nurse 
practitioner program that includes a master’s degree in adult-gerontology nursing and two new graduate certificates: 
adult-gerontology nurse practitioner and acute care, adult-gerontology nurse practitioner.