John Sibley Butler’s Post

The Past and Present Converge in a Promise for the Future Learn about Albie Rinehart ('67) and how his story is a part of Waynesburg University's story. Read Here: https://lnkd.in/exkFbY9U

Did you ever go on a fun one-day car outing together with senior researchers, students and postdocs all working in your area of research? Scientists working in the tri-state area (Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana) will be embarking on one such outing this Spring to participate in CinciNNI. They will be taking a few hour ride to drive to Cincinnati from several different universities in the area. Prof. Carlos Bolech and I co-founded CinciNNI: tri-state quantum condensed matter theory forum in 2010 to form a community of researchers in the states of Oh, KY and IN. It creates a larger supportive network also for students and postdocs. For every CinciNNI gathering we have a theme in which we dive deep into. CinciNNI stands for Cincinnati Near Neighbor Interactions. The inspiration for the name also comes from 1. cincinnus [plural cincinni]  which is a type of inflorescence (that also inspired the logo for CinciNNI) 2. Cincinnatus, a Roman leader (~500 BCE) who became a legendary figure of Roman virtue because he relinquished power after a needed military intervention and went back to being a farmer. The universities that participate in CinciNNI are University of Cincinnati, The Ohio State University, Ohio University, University of Kentucky, Indiana University IndianapolisI, Indiana University Bloomington, Purdue University. We are hoping that Kent State University, Case Western Reserve University and some other universities will join too! Please connect with me if you are a researcher working in Quantum Condensed Matter Theory and are able to drive for the gathering. Stay tuned to learn about the theme and speakers for the upcoming CinciNNI. 👉 Do you have a similar forum where you live? If not, consider making one! #science #research #postdoc #student #community

As we begin a new year, it's important to reflect on the past and set goals for the future. One of the things I do regularly is revisit Admiral McRaven's commencement speech for the University of Texas at Austin. In less than 20 minutes, he shares valuable lessons on perseverance and the power of small actions. Here are 10 takeaways from the speech that are worth remembering: 1. Make your bed 2. Find someone to help you paddle 3. Measure a person by the size of their heart, not by the size of their flippers 4. Get over being a "sugar cookie" and keep moving forward 5. Don't be afraid of the circuses 6. Slide down the obstacles headfirst 7. Don't back down from the sharks 8. Be your best in the darkest moments 9. Start singing when you're up to your neck in mud 10. Don't ever, ever ring the bell If you haven't heard the speech yet, I highly recommend giving it a listen. It's a powerful reminder that the small things matter and that we should never give up. #newyear #goalsetting #motivation

Our latest 'a week in the life of' blog is out now! Click below to read all about a week in the life of Gavin Lambert, University of Sheffield 👇 https://lnkd.in/eFifcwzx #weareacademicvenues #bettertogether

I'm loathe to criticize the University of Michigan as I love the university to an unhealthy degree, and I'm still reveling in the football national championship and 3x wins over Ohio. My experiences there shaped me more than anything outside of my family. So it absolutely pains me to critique the new Vision 2034 as a giant pile of focus grouped garbage that says nothing and means nothing. https://lnkd.in/g79MMqAi "Our vision is to be the defining public university, boldly exemplified by our innovation and service to the common good. We will leverage our interdisciplinarity and excellence at scale to educate learners, advance society, and make groundbreaking discoveries to impact the greatest challenges facing humanity." First off, this could be any public (why does it say public anyway, I want to crush Stanford, Notre Dame, and Princeton too) university anywhere in the world. And you know what I'm gonna stop there. There's no point in parsing this ephemeral banality pretending to be a vision. It's forgotten immediately after reading and cannot serve as a North Star since there is no there there. Simply put, a vision cannot and should not be predicated on the viewpoint of others. Nothing groundbreaking, bold, or innovative can ever come from this. DON'T LET OTHERS DEFINE YOU OR YOU END UP AS THE AVERAGE OF THOSE OTHERS. Michigan is not, nor ever has been average. This vision statement, however, falls far short of even reaching average and isn't remotely close to what we should expect from the leaders and best.

CUNY Laureates has learned of the passing of The Nobel Prize winner and The City College of New York - The City University of New York graduate Arno Penzias. His discovery of Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR) served as the strongest evidence of the Big Bang and is widely considered one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the 20th Century. We look back at our first episode on #CUNYTV and revisit The Sound of Creation.

My article "Towards a Fatal University" in _Philosophy and Theory of Higher Education_ can now also be found online at: https://lnkd.in/eDvDJHsG

Foresight

The Royal Institution of Great Britain is 225 years old this year - here's an article that you may find interesting about its history and role in science research and education through the last two centuries https://lnkd.in/eBw-mxFe

✨Delve into the enriching study journey of Morine Amutorine under the guidance of Neil Lawrence and Jessica Montgomery at the University of Cambridge. Learn More about their study here: https://lnkd.in/dUCC6Hbb