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On the surface, the posters lining the walls of Benson 410 at Wake Forest’s third annual Center for Functional Materials (CFM) Research Day looked like the typical trappings of an academic showcase: charts, microscopy images, material diagrams, lines of data. But a closer look revealed something deeper. These projects—ranging from nanomaterials for cancer detection to thin-film technologies for improved solar cells—represent the quiet engines of innovation that shape how we communicate, generate energy, heal, and live.

For nearly four years, Megan Bennett has served as an assistant professor in Health and Exercise Science at Wake Forest. Yet her commitment to public health—and her two decades of research on chronic disease interventions—extends far beyond the classroom. This month, she’s launching her most ambitious project yet: Supporting People through Inclusive Cultural Eating for Diabetes, or SPICE-D. Bennett recently received an Academic Community Engagement (ACE) Fellowship(opens in a new tab), which will provide targeted support for the SPICE-D project.

Wake Forest University is proud to announce a new academic initiative that brings together experiential learning, interdisciplinary scholarship, and community partnership: the four-week nationally recognized Summer Institute at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) at Old Salem Museums and Gardens. The Summer Institute, now in its forty-ninth year, is a rigorous program that has helped shape the study of Southern material culture. Through this new partnership, Wake Forest and MESDA will immerse students in the rich history and culture of Southern decorative arts through hands-on learning, field research, and individualized mentorship.

This summer, the Wake Forest University School of Business welcomed faculty and administrators from nearly every top-30 U.S. business school for the 2025 Leaders of Experiential Project-Based Education (LEPE) conference. Now in its 19th year, the annual gathering convenes higher education professionals committed to advancing experiential learning in business education.

Monique O’Connell is a historian, not an engineer. As Professor and Chair of Wake Forest University’s Department of History, she is more familiar with Renaissance politics than the tensile strength of stone.

However, standing in a fourth-floor classroom at Wake Downtown, O’Connell talked to a dozen students enrolled in EGR 111: Introduction to Engineering Thinking and Practice about the connections between da Vinci and modern engineering methods.