Every day, we’re met with reminders of division—on the news, in our social feeds, even in our communities. Recently those headlines hit home, making it harder to advance the work we’re passionate about. But in uncertain times, our shared humanity and commitment to innovation, collaboration, and respect matters more than ever. While there isn’t more that Luddy leadership can add to the public discourse, we remain available to answer questions and provide resources. Let’s lead with empathy, listen with intention, and keep fostering a culture where civility and kindness are the norm, not the exception, even when it’s hard.

I’m Kevin Reeves, Assistant Dean for Engagement and Community at the Luddy School. In my first weeks, I’ve reviewed key documents and met with community members to understand our culture and engagement efforts. I invite anyone to informal listening sessions to share ideas on strengthening our community. Email me to schedule.

Luddy’s socio-technical approach to innovation requires both technical expertise and a commitment to civility. By fostering collaboration, respect, and open dialogue, we can drive innovation while preparing students to navigate the social and technical challenges of their careers.

You may have heard that some students at universities around the country have had their visas revoked. Our priority is to ensure that students are able to finish their education, when possible. Please contact the Bloomington-based Office of International Services or Indianapolis-based Office of International Affairs with any questions about visas.

The funding landscape at Luddy continues largely as before. Since January 1, Luddy Bloomington has received four stop work notices, with several projects asked to curtail DEI activities. Luddy Indy has not received any formal work stoppages, but all community engagement activities on one Department of Energy grant were paused in response to a general instruction from them.

Please let the associate deans of research know immediately if there is any action, big or small, on your grant, so we can act swiftly to mitigate.

We’re continuing our commitment to student success by pursuing new programs that ensure our graduates gain the skills to lead in emerging fields, and the Bloomington campus recently announced a $75M investment in these new offerings. We’re in various stages of approval for the following new degrees. If you are interested in contributing to any of them, please reach out to the contacts listed below.

Established:

• B.S Computer Science, IUI
• M.S. Software Engineering, IUI
• M.S. Economics and Data Science, IUB
• M.S./ M.A.T. Computer Science, IUB

Proposals

• Under ICHE Review
  • M.S. in Biomedical Engineering, IUI
• Under University Review
  • B.S. in Business Intelligence and Data Science (BIDS), IUB-joint with the Kelley School
• Proposed
  • B. S. Mathematics and Data Science, IUB-joint with the College
    • Will require school vote in IUB, date TBA
    • Target date for ICHE approval: F25 or S26
    • Contact: Memo Dalkilic or Paul Macklin
  • B. S. Computer Engineering, IUB-based on existing concentration in ISE
    • Target date for ICHE approval: F25
    • Contact: Beth Plale
• Under Development
  • B. S. Robotics, IUB
    • Cross-school program structured like Data Science B.S.
    • Will require school vote in IUB in mid-May
    • Target date for ICHE approval: F25
    • Contact: Lantao Liu
  • B.S. Biomedical Engineering, IUB and IUI
    • Cross-campus program allowing students to take courses, internships, projects, etc., on either campus
    • Will require school vote in IUB and IUI date TBA
    • Contact: Mangi Argawal (IUI) or Maria Bondesson (IUB)
  • B.S. Artificial Intelligence (IUB)
    • Cross-school program structured like Data Science B.S.
    • Forming task force now; will eventually require school vote
    • Interim Contact: Paul Macklin
  • M.S./B.S. Nanoengineering and microelectronics, IUB
    • Target date for ICHE approval: F26
    • B.S. Electrical Engineering, Luddy IUB
    • Target date for ICHE approval: F27

• Fil Menczer was named to the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s 2024 fellows’ class.
• Bohdan Khomtchouk was elected a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA) conferred by the Council on Genomic and Precision Medicine (GPM).
• Maria Clor named "Outstanding New Advisor" by IU
• Betsy Parker has been awarded the title of Senior Academic Advisor through the highly competitive, campus-wide Advisor Development Program (ADP)

Luddy Bloomington was honored to host the 20th annual iConference March 18-22. I want to thank everyone who worked to make this event an amazing success! Specifically, I would like to thank Noriko Hara and Howard Rosenbaum for submitting the proposal to host iConference and then for chairing the conference committee with Devan Donaldson and Carol Choksy. Many of our staff worked tirelessly. Jill Clancy, Gillian Dunn, Don Carlberg, and Hayley Scruggs in particular worked many hours leading up to and during the conference.