Over the past year, Temple continued achieving excellence, making remarkable contributions to its diverse community. Both familiar faces and new additions, along with impactful initiatives and discoveries, helped us soar to greater heights.
Here’s a look back at proud moments from 2024, beginning with the arrival of a new leader and the departure of another.
On Nov. 1, we welcomed our 15th President John Fry—who was recently inducted into the American Philosophical Society—and honored Chancellor Richard Englert for his service spanning more than four decades.
Awards, accolades and milestones
For the second consecutive year, Temple ranked in the top 100 national universities in the latest “Best Colleges” U.S. News and World Report ranking. These most recent rankings also place the university at No. 46 in top public schools and No. 72 in best value.
Temple earned STARS gold for sustainability from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. This rating was the highest honor the university has been given since it started participating in the program in 2015.
Temple won the prestigious Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine for the third year in a row.
We celebrated major milestone anniversaries: 140 years for the university, 100 years for the Diamond Marching Band, 50 years for Temple University Center City, 50 years for dance, 50 years for glass and 40 years for the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection.
Temple Athletics continued to perform well. Student-athletes achieved a 93% graduation success rate. Temple men’s basketball celebrated its 2,000th victory in program history—becoming one of just six NCAA Division I programs to reach this milestone—and Temple women’s basketball won its first-ever Big 5 Classic championship.
The Diamond Marching Band was selected to perform in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Temple Votes—a nonpartisan coalition of students, faculty and staff—was awarded the Highly Established Action Plan Seal from ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. Temple was also recognized as a 2024 ALL IN Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting.
The university was designated a Certified Suicide Prevention Institution of Higher Education in Pennsylvania. It was just one of seven four-year colleges and universities in the commonwealth to receive this recognition.
Additionally, Temple was ranked the second most fashionable campus in the U.S. by StyleSeat, a beauty and wellness website.
Academic and research highlights
The university introduced new academic programs including a sports media major in the Klein College of Media and Communication and a social justice minor open to all undergraduate students through the Honors Program. A master’s degree and graduate certificate in sustainability were also developed, offered collaboratively by the colleges of Liberal Arts and Science and Technology.
A pathbreaking new joint facility for Klein and the Center for the Performing and Cinematic Arts was also announced. The shared space—located on the west side of North Broad Street—will expand and modernize teaching spaces and serve as a community hub for activity, education and entertainment.
The university led life-changing research, including a $7.5 million award from PCORI for a new study led by Professor of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Beth Pfeiffer and her team. This study will compare approaches to help young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities learn to use public transportation. Additionally, the Kornberg School of Dentistry received a $3.6 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health to study periodontal disease progression, in collaboration with the College of Public Health and Lewis Katz School of Medicine. The Fels Biomedical Research URM Undergrad Program recently received $1 million to increase opportunities for undergraduate researchers from underrepresented backgrounds.
To further spark discovery, Temple opened the Innovation Nest, nicknamed the iNest, dedicated to commercializing new discoveries and technologies from researchers and spurring student innovation. Technical.ly Philly hailed the opening of iNest as the Power Move of the Year.
Temple hosted the inaugural Women in Sports Media Symposium, which featured pioneers in the industry like Claire Smith and Doris Burke.
Student success
Our recording-breaking applications led to a significant increase in first-year enrollment, with the Class of 2028 marking one of Temple’s largest and most diverse classes. Additionally, the university welcomed numerous University of the Arts students after the school closed in June.
We launched Temple Promise, a new, last-dollar financial aid grant program.
We built upon our world-class academic reputation as 11 students were recognized as Fulbright recipients. Additionally, the university celebrated its first Payne Fellow and sixth-ever Truman Scholar.
Philanthropy and scholarships
Temple Athletics received its largest-ever gift from Debbie and Stanley Lefkowitz, CST ’65, which will endow the athletic director position. Temple is one of only nine public Division I institutions to have an endowed athletic director position.
The College of Engineering also has been awarded the largest gift in its history—$2.5 million from Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering Brian Butz and his wife Susan, CPH ’85, to support expanding artificial intelligence research.
Additionally, a transformational $5 million gift from Joyce Kean, EDU ’63, LAW ’79, and her husband, Herbert Kean, will lead to the creation of the Kean Family Deanship at the Beasley School of Law. Temple Law School Dean Rachel Rebouché will serve as the inaugural Kean Family Dean.
The university also established Made for More: Prioritizing Scholarships at Temple, a three-year initiative aiming to raise $125 million to support students.
Overall, donations to the university totaled more than $100 million for the fifth consecutive year.
A global university grounded in Philadelphia
Temple continued creating and cultivating community connections such as initiating the Saturday College program to help underserved Philadelphia middle school students prepare for post-secondary education. The College of Public Health, School of Social Work, College of Education and Human Development, Black Student Union, and Community Gateway banded together to collect and donate school supplies and uniforms to students in the School District of Philadelphia. Temple Athletics was honored as one of the region’s 50 most community-minded organizations as well. The Institute on Disabilities opened the new TechOWL Community Space to offer assistive technology for people with disabilities.
We expanded globally as we prepared for Temple Japan’s new satellite location in Kyoto and celebrated Temple Rome’s move to the city center near the historic Spanish Steps. Students and faculty traveled to Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to support hospitality experiences and training facilities, cover related stories, and even compete.
Public safety
Temple continued enhancing public safety as it became the first university in the region to deploy ZeroEyes gun detection. The Department of Public Safety also was the first campus police department in the tristate area to use Ti Training simulation technology.
Additionally, the department upgraded its dispatch system, installed license plate reading cameras within the university’s patrol zone, expanded its Investigations Unit, and hired and promoted officers.
Faculty and staff achievements
Several staff and faculty were appointed to prestigious positions. Quaiser D. Abdullah, CLA ’03, EDU ’07, ’17, became Philadelphia’s first director of Muslim engagement. Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology Nora Newcombe was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences. Vice President for Research Josh Gladden joined the University City Science Center Board of Directors, while Marjorie Joy Katz Dean of the Lewis Katz School of Medicine Amy Goldberg was named chair of the American Board of Surgery. Additionally, Assistant Dean for Community and Communication David W. Brown was appointed executive director of Philadelphia’s Civic Coalition to Save Lives.
And Liz Moore, associate professor and director of the MFA in creative writing program, appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss her latest book The God of the Woods, which voters selected as the 2024 Fallon Summer Reads winner. The novel is also a New York Times bestseller and a pick on Barack Obama’s Summer Reading list. Moore’s novel Long Bright River is being adapted into a TV series on Peacock starring Amanda Seyfried.
Additional highlights
We welcomed new faces across the university community such as Dean S. Suresh Madhavan of the School of Pharmacy, Board of Trustee member Pedro A. Ramos and head coach of Temple football K.C. Keeler.
We said goodbye to our Class of 2024 graduates. Award-winning actress, writer, producer, showrunner and former Temple Owl Quinta Brunson was awarded an honorary degree at Temple’s 137th Commencement and spoke at the ceremony. Historian Charles L. Blockson was also awarded an honorary degree posthumously.
Additionally, Brunson was the recipient of the 2024 Lew Klein Excellence in the Media Award.
Around Main Campus, Temple partnered with a new bookstore provider, Follett. The university also celebrated first-time Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, TFM ’08, who visited Temple to lead a master class for theater students and participate in a Q&A. While here, she received the Gallery of Success Award.
We honored our 2024 30 Under 30 recipients. This program recognizes changemaking young alumni who are transforming their industries and communities.