Western New England University

Less than half of U.S. pharmacy programs sufficiently address complementary and alternative medicine, herbal products, and dietary supplements in their curricula. That's one of the findings three WNE College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences students brought to the national stage this summer.

Doctor of Pharmacy candidate Sumaiya Zakir presented research examining how U.S. pharmacy programs teach pharmacognosy, herbals, and CAM modalities, work conducted under the guidance of Associate Professor Dr. Natalia Shcherbakova. Student pharmacists Yanixa Quiñones-Avilés and Cecil James Buguis presented research on public knowledge and perceptions of genetics and pharmacogenomics, conducted with faculty mentor Dr. Shannon Kinney.

"As pharmacists, we need to be prepared to provide evidence-based counseling on herbal medicines, dietary supplements, and potential drug-herb interactions so that patients can make informed decisions," Zakir said.

All three students presented at the 2026 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Annual Meeting in Grapevine, Texas, one of the nation's leading gatherings for pharmacy educators and researchers.

Read the full story on their research: https://wne.edu/news/2026/08/Pharmacy-students-at-AACP

A new chapter in WNE history. 💙💛

The Western New England University community came together today at the installation ceremony of Dr. Joseph C. Hartman, as our University’s seventh president.

Surrounded by students, faculty, staff, alumni, delegates, and friends of WNE, the ceremony marked an important moment in our University’s history and the beginning of what’s ahead under President Hartman’s leadership.

Here’s to the next chapter for WNE and our Golden Bear community. 🐻

"We were inspired to make a gift in support of Western New England University because it helped me in my professional career, which enabled our family to live the American dream."

That's Bill Tilley '72MBA, who, along with his wife, Joyce, has made a gift supporting two of Herman Hall's most heavily used student learning spaces: the Alice J. Tilley Memorial Computer Lab and the Sophie M. Roman Memorial Math Center, named in honor of their mothers.

The gift will fund professional staffing, peer advisors, and ongoing technology enhancements in both spaces, which together serve students across science, engineering, business, health-related disciplines, and beyond. As Dean of Arts and Sciences Marcus Davis put it, the Tilleys are "helping our students build the quantitative, computational, and problem-solving skills they need to be leaders in tomorrow's careers."

Read the full story on how the Tilleys are investing in the next generation of Golden Bears. https://wne.edu/news/2026/07/Tilley-family-gift

For the 26th year in a row, Western New England University School of Law brought together alumni and students of color to celebrate how far they've come, under this year's theme, "Rooted and Rising: Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future."

The Law Alumni Luminary Award, presented for the third consecutive year, went to the Honorable Tracy E. Duncan L'88. Her legal career spans more than three decades, from juvenile court in the 1980s to the United States District Court in 2023, and she now serves as an associate justice of the Superior Court for Western Massachusetts, only the second person of color in state history to hold the role.

Student speaker Alexis Serra and young alumni speaker Attorney Tasha Marshall L'16 also shared remarks during the evening.

Read the full story in our Summer 2026 issue of WNE Magazine. https://magazine.wne.edu/2026-summer/17-alumni-news-law-alumni-students-of-color.cfm

Can a delivery platform run entirely by students help solve a campus economy? Teams in WNE's 2026 Summer Innovation Fellowship are exploring answers like this at the intersection of finance and technology.

Now in its third year, sponsored by MassMutual and Country Bank, the fellowship brought together student ventures including Divault, turning alternative data into real-time financial intelligence; Photic, creating new pathways to creditworthiness for people without traditional credit histories; and Kodu, a verified student-to-student delivery platform built by students from WNE and Colombia's Universidad de los Andes.

"These startups demonstrate how entrepreneurship and technology can come together to create meaningful impact," said Charles Mutigwe, professor of business and entrepreneurship.

Read the full story on this year's fellowship teams: https://wne.edu/news/2026/07/Fintech-summer-innovation

Happy First Day of the Fall Semester, Golden Bears! It's incredible to have you all back on campus, and we can't wait to see what this semester brings. 💙🐻💛

Happy Move In Day Golden Bears! 💛🐻💙