SPRING/SUMMER 2025 NEWSLETTER
SMU Corporate Engagement is your connection to
SMU for cutting-edge research partnerships, strategic philanthropy, talent acquisition,
and continuing and executive education. We connect companies, nonprofits and individuals
to SMU faculty, students and staff who are ready to collaborate with business.
Around campus:
SMU earns top tier of research universities nationally
The Carnegie Classification of
Institutions of Higher Education, the nation’s leading framework for
categorizing diverse U.S. higher education institutions, awarded SMU an R1 research
designation, recognizing the University among the highest level of research institutions
in the country. SMU now stands with 187 colleges and universities across the U.S. with R1
designation.
What does our R1 status mean for your company? Being an R1 university allows SMU to
attract more top-tier faculty, undergraduate, graduate, Ph.D. and postdoc students who can
collaborate with your team on applied research. The research resulting from that
collaboration can result in innovation, new products and/or operational savings for your
company. The University’s high-performance computing ecosystem,
including our NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD AI
component, provides current and new faculty and students a computational research
backbone, allowing them to partner with your company on cutting-edge technological
advancements. Additionally, our students working in a supercomputer environment become
familiar with advanced research, making them attractive to industry for recruitment.
New provost, deans at Cox School of Business and Perkins School of Theology
The past few months brought news of three new leaders arriving on campus June 1. Rachel Davis Mersey will become
the University’s executive vice president and provost. She will oversee SMU’s research and overall academic quality,
including faculty development, international programs, admissions, libraries, and eight degree-granting schools.
Mersey succeeds Elizabeth Loboa as provost; Loboa announced her decision to complete her service at the end of
the University’s fiscal year. Mersey previously served as executive vice president and provost at The University
of Texas at Austin, overseeing a portfolio that included enrollment management and the university’s billion-dollar
research enterprise. She is an expert in identity salience and media use, the influence of digital media on community
building, and understanding audiences and their information needs.
Todd Milbourn, currently a finance professor and deputy dean at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business
School, will become the 10th dean of SMU’s Cox School of Business. In his role as deputy dean of Washington
University’s business school, Milbourn helped in leading the school’s initiatives to sync with the university’s
strategic plan and to strengthen Washington University’s collaboration with St. Louis metro area’s business community.
Milbourn is an expert on valuation, corporate finance, credit ratings and corporate governance, including executive
compensation and its effects on long-term shareholder value, corporate decision-making and firm performance.
Joining Mersey and Milbourn on the Hilltop on June 1 will be Bryan Stone, the new dean of SMU’s Perkins School of
Theology. Stone joins SMU from Boston University’s School of Theology where he currently serves as associate dean for
academic affairs and the E. Stanley Jones Professor of Evangelism. Stone received his Ph.D. in religious studies from
Perkins School of Theology in 1992. Stone joined Boston University’ theology school in 1998, bringing his background
in new church development, urban pastoral ministry and faith-based nonprofit development. An innovator in theological
education, he worked with other administrators and faculty to help develop three online/hybrid degree programs at BU,
including an online Master of Arts in religion and public leadership and most recently a hybrid Master of Divinity to
be implemented in 2026.
Mersey, Stone and Milbourn will join SMU’s new president, Jay Hartzell, and Janarthanan “Janan” Jayawickramarajah,
the new dean of the University’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, on June 1. The University is excited to
welcome these new leaders to campus!
AT&T Data Science Scholars Program’s fourth cohort begins in May
In mid-May, nine undergraduate and graduate students will comprise the fourth cohort of the University’s AT&T Data
Science Scholars Program (DSSP). Thirty-one undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. students have completed the program
since 2022, receiving their certification in data science. Currently, eight DSSP graduates are working at AT&T, with
other graduates employed at IBM, Lockheed Martin, EY, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and other top employers. If
your company is considering constructing a talent pipeline in data science or another tech field, please reach out to
Tim Angell at tangell@smu.edu; he’ll connect you with SMU faculty and staff ready to develop a program similar to
DSSP.
Dallas Regional Chamber Higher Education Forum highlights Texoma Tech Hub
On June 24, the Dallas Regional Chamber is holding its annual Higher Education Forum in its offices in downtown
Dallas. This year, SMU Vice Provost for Research and Chief Innovation Officer Suku Nair will be joined on a panel by
Koushik Venkataraman, director of workforce development at Texas Instruments, to discuss industry/academic
collaboration in the Texoma Semiconductor Technology Hub (TSTH). TSTH covers a 29-county region in north Texas, south
central Oklahoma and southeastern Oklahoma; its mission is promoting semiconductor manufacturing workforce
development. Currently, 70 postsecondary educational institutions, companies, nonprofit workforce development
organizations, government entities and economic development agencies are TSTH members. Email Tim if your company would
like to learn more about TSTH.
Lyle School of Engineering’s new micro-internship program
This spring, SMU Lyle School of Engineering debuted its new student micro-internship program, available to companies
of every size and sector. The program offers Lyle students short-term, for-credit, paid assignments like traditional
internships, but they take place year-round, typically last a total of eight to 10 hours, and have deliverables due at
the end of the micro-internships. SMU Lyle pays for the micro-internship, not the participating company. Industry
partners provide “real-world” projects incorporating start-of-the-art analytic tools and apps to assist the students
in tackling each project. The micro-internship program is an excellent way for companies to begin a student talent
pipeline and to get to know Lyle’s student pool for future full-time positions. For more information, please contact
Tim.
2025 Mustang Football tickets and suites available
SMU’s football program begins its second season in the ACC this fall! The 2025 schedule promises to test the
Mustangs’ mettle, with home games against new and old rivals, including a September clash with Baylor University and
November conference games against the University of Miami and the University of Louisville. Get your season tickets
now and root for the Mustangs as they build upon a successful inaugural season in the ACC!
Coming soon:
We invite you to forward this newsletter to your colleagues. We’re happy to add
them to our mailing list. To learn more about research activities at SMU, please follow
SMU’s Research
News site and LinkedIn.
Let’s talk.
Best,
Rob Strauss
Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations
214-768-7505
rstrauss@smu.edu
Tim Angell
Director for Corporate Engagement
214-768-7727
tangell@smu.edu
SMU
Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations
P.O. Box 750402
Dallas, TX 75275-0402
www.smu.edu/CorporateEngagement
cfr@smu.edu
