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Five years after the Arab Spring uprisings rocked the Middle East, former Libyan Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril offered Â鶹ӰԺ students a front-row perspective on the protests’ genesis, their shortcomings and the lessons the world should absorb in the coming decades.

With a handful of awards recently bestowed upon CU Â鶹ӰԺ Assistant Professor Sabrina Spencer, this top-notch international biomedical researcher continues on the fast track to success.

CU Â鶹ӰԺ ranks No. 38 in the nation among public institutions, or No. 92 overall, in U.S. News & World Report’s undergraduate rankings for 2017. The data, in which both business and engineering programs went up compared with last year, represent long-standing marks of excellence from the publication, a showcase of CU Â鶹ӰԺ’s offerings.

Valerio Ferme, professor of Italian and associate dean for the arts and humanities, believes that a liberal arts education not only prepares students to adapt to a constantly shifting economic landscape, but also enriches their human experience. "People now change jobs often, requiring completely different skills in 10 years. (Humanities) students have the skills that allow them to move between jobs and not become obsolete."

The Â鶹ӰԺ recently celebrated excellence in teaching by recognizing five K-12 teachers, 48 graduate students and three faculty members — Professors Christopher Braider, Roseanna Neupauer and Susan Jurow — with the 2016 "Best Should Teach Awards."

Warren F. Motte Jr., professor of French and comparative literature at the Â鶹ӰԺ, has been named the 2016 Professor of Distinction by the College of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his exceptional service, teaching and research.

David J. Nesbitt has been awarded the American Chemical Society's 2017 E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy. The award recognizes outstanding accomplishments in fundamental or applied spectroscopy in chemistry.

The Hazel Barnes Prize is one of the most prestigious awards at the Â鶹ӰԺ and focuses on the enriching relationship that occurs between teaching and research. Nominees should be regionally and nationally recognized, tenured faculty members who are not only outstanding teachers but also have distinguished records in research and scholarship over a substantial period of time.

Registration for CU Mini Med II, a no-cost program offered by the CU School of Medicine and broadcast from the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, is currently open. A live stream of the program will be held in the Koelbel Building room 210. Attendees must register.

Among the state’s four winners of this year’s Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research are the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and the JILA physics institute, both at CU Â鶹ӰԺ. The award, administered by the CO-LABS consortium, celebrates the groundbreaking work of scientists and engineers from Colorado’s federal research labs.