What Recent News and Stories Are Featured on the USD Website?

The University of South Dakota's homepage currently highlights five recent stories: President Sheila K. Gestring's retirement announcement, a statewide NIH research partnership, a faculty grant in philosophy, an Educators Rising Day event, and a new piano and music technology lab. These appear in a rotating "Featured" news carousel, with the most recent item dated October 14, 2026. The page also surfaces rankings and recognition alongside the news, so visitors can see both current developments and external assessments of the university in one place.

The Five Featured Stories

Presidential Retirement Announcement

The lead story, dated 10/14/2026, reports that USD President Sheila K. Gestring will retire after nine years leading the university. Her retirement is effective June 21, 2027. This is the most recent item on the page and the one with the broadest implications for the institution's future direction.

NIH Research Partnership

Dated 10/9/2026, this story covers an $11,090,204 National Institutes of Health award over five years. The funding establishes the South Dakota Center for Advancing Clinical and Translational Research (SD-ACT), a statewide partnership among Avera Research Institute, South Dakota State University, and the USD Sanford School of Medicine. For readers interested in research capacity or health sciences collaboration in the state, this is the most substantive item.

Faculty Grant in Philosophy

Also dated 10/9/2026, this story reports that Joseph Tinguely, Ph.D., received a $435,790 grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The grant supports organizing interdisciplinary collaborators to produce a conference, an edited manuscript, and a series of public-facing media.

Educators Rising Day

Dated 10/9/2026, this item describes an event on September 23 that welcomed approximately 150 high school students from 12 schools across South Dakota and Nebraska. The event introduced students to careers in education and encouraged them to explore futures as teachers, leaders, and advocates.

New Piano & Music Technology Lab

Dated 10/5/2026, this story announces the unveiling of The De & Dave Knudson Piano & Music Technology Lab on October 9, a new named space in the Department of Music within the College of Fine Arts.

Rankings and Recognition Also Featured

Beyond the news carousel, the homepage lists external rankings:

These figures are presented as the university's own summary of external rankings; checking the ranking organizations directly is advisable if the exact methodology or category definitions matter to your decision.

How to Use This Page

If you are researching USD, the featured news gives a quick sense of current institutional priorities—leadership transition, health research growth, faculty scholarship, and facilities investment. The carousel includes previous/next controls and a "More News & Stories" link, so older items remain accessible beyond the three slides shown at once. The homepage also states "Apply for Free" and points to more than 200 academic programs, with separate entry points for undergraduate and graduate offerings.

For prospective students, the most decision-relevant items are the program listings and the free application prompt; for research or community readers, the NIH partnership and faculty grant stories carry the most detail. The retirement announcement matters mainly as context for leadership changes taking effect in 2027.