Dan Anderson

For the third consecutive year, the Sierra Club has ranked Elon University one of the nation’s top 100 “greenest universities.” The ranking, published in Sierra’s September/October 2011 magazine recognizes schools in 10 categories that include academics, waste management, energy efficiency, food, purchasing, transportation, financial and other factors.

Tony Crider, associate professor of physics, is always searching for creative ways to engage students with course material. To help his astronomy students learn about planetary science and the classification of the former planet Pluto, he created a science game called “The Pluto Debate.”

When Elon’s economics department began requiring all seniors to complete a written thesis, Greg Lilly, associate professor of economics, noticed an interesting trend. “One of the things we noticed fairly early was that there seemed to be this spread in performances, and it seems to be a spread we can’t get rid of,” he said. Read more about Professor Lilly's research...

Glenda Crawford, education professor and director of the Elon teaching fellows program, was selected to be a 2011 Wye Fellow with the Aspen Institute and traveled to Maryland for the Institute’s annual faculty seminar, July 16-22.

Elon Phoenix athletics has launched a new campaign to encourage all community members to Live the Maroon Life.

Elon's New Student Orientation is Aug. 26-29. Members of the Class of 2015, as well as transfer students, should explore all the orientation resources online at a special website: www.elon.edu/orientation

Town & Country, the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States, picked Elon in an 11-page feature story on top colleges in the September 2011 issue. The top colleges were recommended to the magazine by counselors at dozens of private high schools across the country.

Elon's new master of science program in physician assistant (PA) studies will be located on the university's main campus. Elon's board of trustees made the decision in a special vote on Jan. 5, following more than two months of study and fundraising efforts.

Elon's new PA program, which enrolls its first class in January 2013, was featured in the July 25 edition of the Greensboro News & Record.

Elon University's board of trustees voted April 15 to establish a new School of Health Sciences, serving graduate students in the existing doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program along with students in the new physician assistant (PA) studies master's program, which will enroll its first class in January 2013.