News

Blue & Gold News from Montana State University President Tessman

January 15, 2026/

Montana State University Office of the President

Dear Russ,

Happy 2026! It’s the start of a new semester at your university; we have been so excited for classes to begin this week and to kick off the second half of what has already been a phenomenal school year. We have so much to be proud of — from extraordinary academic achievements like Dorianne Keiser’s Rhodes Scholarship to defeating the Griz twice in one season to celebrating the achievements of more than 1,000 graduates at fall commencement to our football team’s heart-stopping FCS national championship victory.

There’s a sense of promise and potential in the air on campus, and I can’t wait to see this semester unfold and to join all of you in our community in writing another chapter in MSU’s history.

Speaking of our FCS champions, I’m sure many of you, like me, are still buzzing from the drama of that game. To celebrate the team, MSU will hold a parade and a celebration on Saturday, Jan. 17. The parade starts at 10 a.m. at the Bobcat Athletic Complex. It’ll head north on 11th Avenue to Main Street, then east to Highland Boulevard and back up Kagy to Bobcat Stadium. The parade will include the football team and coaches, as well as the Spirit of the West marching band, the Spirit Squad, the MSU rodeo team and more.

Immediately after the parade, we’ll host a celebration at Bobcat Stadium, where you can hear from our football players, Coach Vigen and others starting at approximately 11:30. The band will be there to rally the crowd (thanks to all of you who donated to help make their trip to Nashville possible!), and after remarks, the football team will be available for photos and autographs. I hope those of you who are close by will join us, and if you can’t be there in person, the events will be livestreamed at http://www.nonstoplocal.com/parade.

Finally, I want to invite you to join us on Saturday afternoon and evening for Cat-Griz basketball at the Brick. The women’s team will host the Griz at 2 p.m., while the men’s game will begin at 7 p.m. Go, ‘Cats, Go!

IN RECENT NEWS

QCORE, Montana State University’s Quantum Collaborative Research and Education facility, has been awarded a $31.5 million contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, New York, for novel research in quantum applications and the development of novel quantum materials, sensors, devices and network systems. The contract will support research across the university, with more than 50 MSU faculty and staff affiliated with QCORE. Facility CEO Jayne Morrow said those individuals mentor students from across disciplines, including mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, business, philosophy and art. Krishna Rupavatharam, QCORE’s chief technology officer and director of MSU’s Spectrum Lab, said the work performed under the contract will provide those students with direct, hands-on research and laboratory experience that ultimately will help them pursue careers in industry and government.

With a new $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, MSU will continue to offer a successful summer program for elementary school teachers to gain hands-on research experience and fresh ideas for bringing science, technology, engineering and math into their classrooms. The grant will fund three more years of an MSU program called Research Experience for Teachers in Engineering, in which participants work alongside faculty in cutting-edge research labs, attend field trips and engage in workshops for crafting STEM lesson plans. The program will bring at least eight elementary schoolteachers from rural Montana communities, including tribal reservations, to campus for six weeks this summer. The experience includes a stipend plus housing and travel expenses. Both current and future educators are eligible to apply.

Farmers and ranchers across western Montana are invited to participate in Better Together: A Wellness Series for Farmers and Ranchers, a free, in-person workshop series made possible through a newly awarded U.S. Department of Agriculture Western Regional Agricultural Stress Assistance Program grant. The series is led by MSU Extension in Missoula County in partnership with Deep Roots Montana. It aims to support the mental, emotional and social well-being of agricultural producers facing increasing pressures related to climate uncertainty, market volatility, long work hours and isolation.

MSU alumna Alicia Crane won a 2025 National Area Health Education Center Organization Alumni/Advocate of the Year Award this winter to honor her efforts supporting rural health care in the Treasure State. The annual award recognizes individuals who demonstrate sustained, exceptional service in support of the AHEC mission. AHEC is an organization that receives funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Crane is one of three people nationwide to receive the award in 2025. The Montana Office of Rural Health and Area Health Education Center, based at MSU, nominated Crane for her leadership in rural health care, mentorship of future providers and longstanding support of the AHEC Scholars program at MSU. Crane, a family nurse practitioner, is a primary care provider at the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation School-Based Health Clinic based in Lame Deer and Busby, where she delivers essential primary care and health education in one of Montana’s most rural regions.

Sally Mudiamu, dean of Global Engagement and International Programs at MSU, has been selected for a highly competitive national fellowship recognizing emerging leaders in international higher education and supporting the expansion of global learning opportunities for students. Mudiamu was named this fall as one of four Association of International Education Administrators (AIEA) Presidential Fellows for 2025-26, one of the organization’s highest honors. The fellowship provides individualized mentorship and professional development designed to strengthen institutional leadership in international education. The fellowship positions Montana State to expand high-impact global programs that strengthen student learning, research collaboration and workforce preparation while advancing the university’s land-grant mission.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced last month that MSU will be home to a newly established Community Engagement Office for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The MSU-based office will join Dallas and San Francisco as the largest hubs west of the Mississippi providing trademark and patent services to U.S. innovators. The new office will support workforce development in the state and region, especially in the advanced manufacturing and computing sectors, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a press release. The office will provide inventors and entrepreneurs a direct connection to federal intellectual property resources and guidance tailored to Montana’s technology ecosystem, the release said.

COMING UP AT MSU

MSU will host Opera Montana for a performance and discussion of its “Ragtime” musical on Tuesday, Jan. 20, in celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. in MSU’s Strand Union Building, Ballroom A, with light refreshments included. It is free and open to the public, sponsored by Access and Success at MSU. Registration is not required.

Registration is open for spring semester programs offered by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at MSU. Programming includes more than 50 courses, lectures, workshops, field trips, travel programs and discussion groups for the intellectually curious ages 50 and up.

In addition to Cat-Griz basketball on Saturday, our Bobcats will play a number of games at home in the coming weeks. Our women’s basketball team will host Northern Colorado on Monday, Jan. 19, Sacramento State on Thursday, Jan. 29, and Portland State on Saturday, Jan. 31. Meanwhile, the men’s team will host Idaho State on Thursday, Jan. 22, and Weber State on Saturday, Jan. 24.

In track and field, Montana State kicked off its indoor season with the Bobcat Preview on Dec. 4, which marked the competitive debut of the Kennedy-Stark Athletic Center in Bozeman. The Bobcats next host the Bobcat Challenge on Jan. 23-24 before traveling to Pocatello, Idaho, for the one-day Stacy Dragila Invite on Jan. 30.

We’re also cheering on our men’s and women’s skiing teams as they compete this week at the Denver Invitational and the Spencer James Nelson Memorial/CU Invitational. Go ‘Cats!

DID YOU KNOW

The National Security Agency has named MSU a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense in recognition of programs that prepare students to protect and promote America’s national security and economic prosperity. The National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, a program managed by the NSA’s National Cryptologic School, notified MSU of the designation on Nov. 20. The designation runs through the end of the academic year in 2030.

In Blue and Gold,