CPMS 50th Anniversary Gala: Review

In 1973, Brigham Young University created the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. On February 23rd, 2024, students and faculty celebrated 50 years of the college’s success and innovation that has revolutionized scientific communities around the world.

This diamond jubilee celebration, hosted as a gala in the BYU Hinckley Center, featured remarks from BYU President C. Shane Reese and college dean Dr. Grant Jensen, who announced that the college’s name will officially be changed to the College of Computational, Physical, and Mathematical Sciences. A week-long crowdfunding initiative was also organized in honor of the anniversary and was promoted at the event, the proceeds of which will be used to sponsor continued college departmental research.

Addressing alumni and donors at the gala, Jensen shared that external grant funding has increased by a multiplicity of 8 since the year 2000. In an effort to encourage alumni donations for continued research and lab mentorships, the college hosted a Giving Week initiative with seed money from several generous donors. College alumni and friends donated and accredited their funding to one of the college’s several departments, eclipsing their original goal of 500 total independent donors and achieving a total number of 966 sponsors.

As donation polls closed, the departments of Geology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Physics and Astronomy were the scoreboard leaders and will receive additional impact gifts of $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000, respectively. These much-needed funds will continue to fuel student excellence in monumental research on degenerative disease, cancer treatment, space exploration, and geologic process understanding, among other fields.

“There have been a bunch of experiment’s that we’ve been wanting to do. We’ve played around with the idea of doing RNAC, as well doing mass spec, but that all of that costs money…more money would really help our lab out,” says Kyle Nielsen, a biochemistry major with the Van Ry Lab at BYU. “Thanks so much for giving us this opportunity. The research that we’re doing here, it's really helping me to gain experience…I hope to make a difference because of it.”

Kaden, a student from the Applied Computational Mathematics program, shares similar sentiments. “More money for my department means more people that can be research assistants, more learning, more growth; that would be fantastic,” he says. “My job as a research assistant has really blessed me, and giving other students that opportunity would be really cool.”

This commemorative gala and fundraiser ensures that the budding scientists of the BYU community will continue to “go forth and serve” in global innovative efforts, encouraging their growth not just for the next 50 years, but for their entire lives.

Readers can learn more by visiting https://donate-give.churchofjesuschrist.org.