Nearly half of the honorees on this year’s “Forty Under 40” list by the Des Moines Business Record have Drake University ties. Seventeen Drake alumni and one staff member were named to the list of local business leaders, under the age of 40, who have shown “impressive career achievements and unparalleled community involvement,” according to the publication. “This list is a testament to the meaningful impact Drake alumni, faculty,...
Author: Ashton Hockman (Ashton Hockman)
Drake University Theatre to perform ‘Songs for a New World’ virtually
Drake University will stream its long-awaited online musical Songs for a New World by Jason Robert Brown Feb. 25–March 11. The performance can be viewed for $2 plus a streaming fee. Watch video. Songs for a New World was originally scheduled to debut in Spring 2020, but due to COVID-19, rehearsals were delayed until this year. Due to the pandemic, Drake Theatre reimagined how students rehearse and perform Songs for a New World while maintaining students’ well-being. Although the cast will not be performing live to a large in-person audience, the production was recorded through a single camera for...
Black History Month events
Join Drake University in celebrating Black History Month Black History Month is a time to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements of Black Americans, Black culture, and renew our resilience and solidarity in the face of current challenges. Drake University is celebrating Black History Month by encouraging members of the campus community and beyond to take...
Drake University to celebrate 149th commencement virtually Saturday, Dec. 12
Drake University will hold a virtual commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 12, to celebrate the accomplishments of 262 students who are eligible to receive their undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. The Virtual Commencement website will serve as the hub for the virtual celebration, which will go live at 10 a.m. CST on Dec. 12. Content on the website will include the conferring...
Drake actuarial science student awarded prestigious scholarship
Asrielle Allen, a senior studying actuarial science and data analytics in Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration, is one of eight students across the United States and Canada to receive a Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) Trust Scholarship, an award designed to further students’ interest in the property and casualty actuarial profession. Allen was...
PR student “agencies” learn to collaborate remotely
Public relations students in Professor Kelly Bruhn’s PR capstone course work in teams of six to create strategic communications plans for a community partner. The 2019–2020 partner was Al Éxito, a not-for-profit that “builds the leadership potential” of Central Iowa Latino/a youth through “college preparation, career development, civic engagement, family support, and celebration of culture.” Each team in the...
Drake names Kevin Croft new Distinguished EMC Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Kelley Insurance Center
Drake University’s College of Business and Public Administration (CBPA) is pleased to welcome alumnus and long-time investment professional Kevin Croft to its leadership team. In June, the CBPA named Croft to the position of distinguished EMC Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Kelley Insurance Center. With impressive academic and professional achievements, Croft brings...
Connecting remotely with authors and thinkers
In Renée Cramer’s Reproductive Law and Politics course, students have the opportunity not only to read influential works but also to meet with the authors personally. Jennifer Block, an independent journalist who writes about health, gender, and conflict of interest in medicine, planned to visit the Drake campus in April. Students in Cramer’s class had...
Professor adapts to student feedback
To adapt his calculus class to remote teaching, the first thing Assistant Professor of Mathematics Enes Akbuga did was listen to his students. “I prepared an online survey to ask students their preferences on instruction type—whether instruction should be in a live session or prerecorded so students could watch it on their own time,” Akbuga...
Students continue interviews with top employers
Drake connects its students to working professionals; it’s an element of the Power of Community in the Drake Commitment. For example, every spring sophomore and transfer business students in the Business 002 class participate in mock interviews with working professionals from leading employers. Even with the pandemic, the interviews moved forward in spring 2020. Thirty-six...