•  U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 “America’s Best Colleges” rankings placed UM No. 51 in the nation in the National Universities category, up 16 spots from seven years ago.

•  Momentum: The Campaign for the University of Miami came to a close at the end of 2007, having raised a remarkable $1.4 billion from more than 131,000 donors and fueled a sweeping transformation throughout our institution.

•  Research and sponsored program expenditures totaled more than $326 million (FY 2008).

•  The University of Miami and its Miller School of Medicine marked a momentous occasion on December 1, when the University took ownership of the newly renamed University of Miami Hospital, formerly Cedars Medical Center. Owning and operating a full-scale hospital is a first for the 55-year-old medical school.

•  UM officially launched the University of Miami Health System, also known as UHealth, the new name covering South Florida’s only comprehensive network of university-based physicians and facilities and a national brand that signifies the best in advanced health care.

•  For the fifth year in a row the University of Miami’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute was ranked the No. 1 hospital in the country for ophthalmology in the 19th annual survey of “America’s Best Hospitals” published in U.S. News & World Report. Three other specialties at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center were also ranked as among the nation’s best.

•  Approximately 21,750 applicants competed for 2,000 openings in the fall 2008 freshman class. It is the most selective class in University history, with the highest class rankings, grade point averages, and SAT scores. Nearly half of the new freshmen graduated in the top 5 percent of their high school class, and two-thirds graduated in the top 10 percent. The mean SAT score was 1282.

•  In the most significant genetic breakthrough in multiple sclerosis research in three decades, researchers at the Miller School of Medicine and elsewhere announced that they had identified a gene that can increase the risk of developing the autoimmune disease by 20 percent. The findings are reported in Nature Genetics and the New England Journal of Medicine.

•  Internationally renowned researcher James M. Tien, the Yamada Corporation Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was named dean of the University of Miami’s College of Engineering, replacing M. Lewis Temares, who served as dean since 1994.

•  The School of Nursing and Health Studies received a $7 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health for the creation of a center addressing Hispanic health. The National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities/University of Miami Center of Excellence for Hispanic Health Disparities Research, or El Centro, conducts research on health issues that disproportionately affect Hispanics.

•  The University announced that starting with the 2008 college football season it will play its home games in Dolphin Stadium, leaving the venerable Orange Bowl after 70 years. They played their last game at the OB in November 2007.

•  Citing the institution’s bold and effective leadership and dramatic spurt of new programs and initiatives, the editors of South Florida CEO magazine name the University of Miami its Company of the Year for 2007.

•  President Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic made a historic visit to the School of Communication, where he and Dean Sam L Grogg announced a new joint program to develop multimedia journalistic expertise and research in rural and marginal urban areas in the Latin American country.

•  Urging congressional approval of free-trade pacts with Peru, Panama, and Colombia, President George W. Bush gave a speech on October 12 to more than 500 people at the Radisson Hotel in Miami as part of a free-trade conference cosponsored by the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy.

•  Two prominent alumni, film actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia Johnson, a member of the UM Board of Trustees, donated $1 million to the UM athletics department as part of the ongoing Football Facilities Renovation Fund.

•  The Miami Institute of Human Genomics, which focuses on the genetic origins of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases in an effort to change the way medicine is practiced, opens on the University’s South Campus.

•  The Miami Institute of Human Genomics, which focuses on the genetic origins of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, cancer, and other diseases in an effort to change the way medicine is practiced, opened on the University’s South Campus.

•  The University held groundbreaking on January 24 for the Robert and Judi Prokop Newman Alumni Center, a $24 million, 65,000-square-foot facility that will celebrate the achievements of graduates and welcome them whenever they return.

•  The University of Miami ushered in a new era on February 8, when it introduced Kirby Hocutt as its new director of athletics. The 36-year-old Hocutt, who was the athletic director at Ohio University since June 2005, replaced Paul Dee, who served in that role for 16 years.

•  In a leading-edge surgical procedure believed to be the first of its kind, a team of surgeons at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital Transplant Institute removed an inoperable tumor deep in a patient’s abdomen by removing six of her organs, cutting out the cancerous growth, then reassembling her insides.

•  The Rosenstiel School’s Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s new Center of Excellence for Maritime, Island and Port Security, which will conduct research and develop new ways to beef up security at the nation’s seaports and harbors.

•  The University of Miami Ethics Programs were designated a Collaborating Center in Ethics and Global Health Policy by the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

•  In the latest of a cutting-edge series of studies researching the use of stem cells to treat heart disease, Miller School of Medicine physicians conduct a first-of-its-kind clinical trial using stem cells to treat heart failure. The stem cells are taken from the patient’s bone marrow, cultured at a UM laboratory, then injected directly into the patient’s heart.

•  Thanks to the largesse of the Dr. John T. Macdonald Foundation, the Miller School of Medicine created a new Department of Human Genetics and established an endowed chair devoted to the discipline.

•  The Lowe Art Museum dedicated the new Myrna and Sheldon Palley Pavilion for Contemporary Glass and Studio Arts, a 3,500-square-foot wing that houses 113 pieces of glass, ceramic, and fiber works, the majority of which were donated by the UM alums whose name graces the wing.

•  Sergio M. Gonzalez was named senior vice president for University Advancement and External Affairs. Gonzalez had served as vice president for University Advancement since 2001, a role in which he spearheaded the fundraising efforts of UM’s record-breaking Momentum campaign.

•  The 19,000-member Papanicolaou Corps for Cancer Research announced its largest, record-breaking gift of $4.15 million to fund cancer research at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, surpassing last year’s donation by $1 million.