2025: A year in headlines

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Creswell Hall, one of UGA’s landmark residence halls, is on track for a comprehensive $115.7 million renovation. The project, scheduled for 2027-2028, will modernize the 1963 building and enhance the living experience for students while maintaining the building’s role as a cornerstone of campus housing. The renovation is expected to save an estimated $54 million compared to replacement costs that helps preserve University Housing reserve funds for future projects.

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Faculty in the UGA College of Pharmacy received an almost $1.2 million grant from the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust to combat the ongoing opioid epidemic in rural Georgia. The two-year project will equip pharmacists in smaller communities with the tools, training and support necessary to provide life-saving resources, reduce stigma surrounding addiction and establish essential support networks for individuals at risk for overdose.

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UGA’s School of Medicine earned candidate status from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accrediting body for medical education programs leading to a doctor of medicine degree. Candidate status is a major step in the accreditation process, showing that the medical education program at the School of Medicine has made substantial progress toward meeting standards set by the LCME. UGA is expected to gain preliminary accreditation in February 2026.

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UGA’s Hitesh Handa and Ron Orlando were selected as Regents’ Entrepreneurs by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. This honor acknowledges faculty members who have successfully transformed research into commercial applications. Handa’s and Orlando’s appointments bring the total number of UGA Regents’ Entrepreneurs to five.

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UGA broke a new institutional record with applications for the Class of 2029. More than 15,800 students were accepted for the fall 2025 semester out of nearly 48,000 total applications, an increase of almost 5,000 from 2024. With an overall, competitive acceptance rate of 33%, UGA accepted students from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C., and 154 of Georgia’s 159 counties.

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UGA welcomed a group of high school students in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta program — 27 high school juniors and seniors — to Athens to experience a day in the life of a college student. Alumnus Artis Stevens, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, also came back to campus to deliver the 2025 Holmes-Hunter Lecture.

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UGA senior Mercedes Bengs is one of 54 undergraduates from 49 colleges and universities across the nation to be selected as a 2025 Truman Scholar, a prestigious award given each year to students who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential and commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector. Additionally, juniors Oscar de la Torre, Anderson Smith and Sloka Sudhin were part of 441 undergraduates from across the nation to be recognized as Barry Goldwater Scholars. Through their studies of crop molecular genetics, estuarine mussels and computer science, they earned the highest undergraduate award of its type in the fields of mathematics, engineering and natural sciences.

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As artificial intelligence and its related technologies grew in prominence, UGA researchers worked to stay one step ahead. Studies from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication found that many communication organizations don’t have a plan when AI makes errors, and the humanization of chatbots could help improve attitudes toward mindful consumption.

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Benjamin C. Ayers, former dean of the Terry College of Business, was named UGA’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. Ayers had led the Terry College since 2014 and succeeded S. Jack Hu, who was appointed chancellor of the University of California, Riverside.

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UGA officially launched its chapter of the National Academy of Inventors with 31 founding members composed of faculty from a range of disciplines. With seven NAI Fellows, two of whom are lifetime members, and 13 NAI senior members, the chapter will continue to grow in celebrating and supporting the achievements of inventors at UGA.

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Orkin Distinguished Professor of Urban Entomology Dan Suiter led research and awareness efforts on the Asian needle ant. Although this type of ant has been around in the U.S. since the 1930s, it spread across the country this summer, leading to a heightened allergy risk for those who suffer from anaphylaxis.

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UGA celebrated the end of a standout academic year. The combined talent of UGA’s faculty, staff and students has placed the university among just nine public institutions nationwide with a six-year graduation rate of 90% or higher. UGA’s work delivered tangible results and helped chart a strong course for the future, with 95% of those who earn a UGA degree finding employment or continuing their education within six months of graduation.

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Soon after news of the Asian needle ant, UGA researchers sounded the alarm over the spotted lanternfly as the invasive species grew, risking economically important hardwood trees, roses, hops, grapevines and stone fruits. The lanternfly was spotted in Fulton County as well as 18 other states.

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More than 72,460 UGA donors contributed a record $300.4 million to the university during the fiscal year that ended June 30 (FY25). This marked the first time university fundraising surpassed $300 million. Gifts went toward key university initiatives, including student scholarships, faculty and graduate student support and the university’s new School of Medicine.

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UGA researchers helped classify a meteorite after it crash-landed in an Atlanta man’s home. The fragments retrieved of the McDonough Meteorite, housed in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ department of geology, were found to have formed 4.56 billion years ago in the presence of oxygen and are older than the Earth itself.

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Art was conserved in the Georgia Museum of Art galleries in full view of the public. Atlanta-based art conservator Larry Shutts stabilized and cleaned “Close” by Joan Mitchell, after aging led to cracking in darker areas. This was also done in recognition of the artist’s 100th birthday.

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For the 10th consecutive year, UGA placed in the top 20 among the nation’s best public universities, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 rankings. UGA shared the No. 19 rank with Purdue University and was only one of two Georgia institutions in the top 20. Among private and public universities, UGA placed No. 46 in the nation.

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On UGA’s Dawg Day of Service, the largest day of student community service in Athens, 488 students volunteered with 23 community partner organizations and campus sites including local gardens, food and clothing pantries, thrift stores and animal rescues. This year, students served at sites ranging from the Athens Community Council on Aging to the Barrow Elementary School.

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A UGA study published in Science found that the disease rebound that scientists feared following the COVID-19 lockdown never came to pass, and in fact, some diseases actually trended lower. Odum School of Ecology researchers found that fewer Americans got the flu during the pandemic and incidence of sexually transmitted diseases remained low, even long after pandemic-era behaviors changed.

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UGA College of Public Health researchers found that social support at home can be the difference between life and death for children struggling with adverse childhood experiences such as the death or absence of a parent, substance abuse in the household or community violence. They discovered ongoing encouragement throughout childhood from families and schools may cut down on the development of destructive behaviors.

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UGA has been named the 2025 recipient of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Innovation & Economic Prosperity Award in the “Place” category. These awards recognize exemplary and innovative case studies of economic engagement impact. UGA’s selection reflects more than a decade of strategic, community-centered work that has transformed towns, empowered local leaders and generated hundreds of millions in public and private investment.

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Students in the UGA Entrepreneurship Program became the first to participate in the NASA T2U initiative at UGA. The collaboration connects universities with NASA-developed technology, providing students the opportunity to explore NASA’s many patents and develop ideas to bring these technologies to market. 

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The final beam for the UGA School of Medicine’s medical education and research building was set into place — a milestone that marks the completion of the structural phase of the building. The next building phase will be to complete the exterior walls and finalize decisions on interior finishes, furniture and equipment. Completion of the building is scheduled for December 2026.

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UGA senior Finn Walsh was named one of 43 Marshall Scholars. The scholarship is among the most selective graduate awards for Americans. Funded principally by the British government, the scholarship allows up to three years of fully funded graduate study at any university in the United Kingdom. UGA was the only institution in Georgia to have a recipient.