News

Blue & Gold News from Montana State University President Tessman

October 21, 2026/

It has been a beautiful, busy fall here on campus, and there are many activities yet to come! Thanks to all of you who joined us for Homecoming, and to all of you who are planning to come to Parent and Family Weekend on Oct. 23-24: we can’t wait to have you on campus.

Earlier this month our team traveled to our nursing campuses in Kalispell and Missoula to celebrate the grand openings of two new nursing education buildings. These were the final of five new nursing education buildings to open on our campuses in Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls, Kalispell and Missoula. The new infrastructure comes after a historic $101 million investment in MSU’s nursing college by Mark and Robyn Jones, founders of Goosehead Insurance, in 2021.

All together, the five new buildings will help increase the number of Bobcat nurses who graduate each year by around 100 students. That means across the five campuses, by 2030, MSU will graduate around 400 bachelor’s-prepared nurses each year, about 70% of whom choose to stay in Montana to start their careers. This is terrific news, and I am so proud of how MSU is leading the way to address the need for highly skilled, compassionate healthcare professionals across our state.

I hope you will consider joining us later this month, when our College of Agriculture hosts Celebrate Ag, the annual celebration of the university’s agricultural heritage. We are delighted to invite students, alumni, supporters and community members to participate in Celebrate Ag events scheduled for Oct. 25-31. Those events will include a prime rib dinner on Oct. 26; a campus chili feed on Oct. 27; a horse painting and warrior contest on Oct. 28; a screening of the Montana PBS film “Jonnie” on Oct. 28; the annual Celebrate Ag social on Oct. 30; and the annual Celebrate Ag tailgate on Oct. 31.

Finally, I have terrific news to share about our university’s research enterprise: For the first time, MSU’s annual research expenditures topped $300 million, mostly in the form of grants that fund research across the university. MSU’s research expenditures during the 2025-26 fiscal year totaled $308.7 million and represent an increase of roughly 7% over the previous year’s total of $288.7 million. MSU is the first and only institution in the state to surpass the $300 million mark, and its research enterprise is larger than all other public and private universities in the state combined.

These numbers confirm what we have long known: That MSU is a true talent engine for Montana and the nation. The research we do here not only directly benefits the people and communities of Montana but also gives our students hands-on learning opportunities that lead them into careers after graduation. I am incredibly proud of our faculty members and students conducting research and of the meaningful contributions they are making to science and economic development for Montana.

IN RECENT NEWS

Two undergraduate students in the environmental health option in the Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at MSU will contribute to environmental public health projects involving tick-borne illness and wastewater infrastructure this fall through a competitive national internship program from the National Environmental Health Association. Caroline Hermiller and Vanessa Malsam were selected to participate in NEHA’s National Environmental Public Health Internship Program, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The paid, 400-hour program connects undergraduate and graduate students with environmental public health agencies. Both students will complete their internships remotely while continuing their coursework in Bozeman. A highly competitive program, NEPHIP selected only nine students this year from various accredited environmental health programs across the country.

MSU researchers from the Department of Animal and Range Sciences and the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences have received a $1.5 million grant from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation with funding through the Ranchland Stewardship Program to study adaptive grazing practices with ranchers across the state. The project will begin this fall and continue through 2029, with fieldwork planned for 2027 and 2028. The funding will support three graduate students and one postdoctoral researcher. Together, the researchers aim to answer a central question: What does good grazing management look like in the 21st century?

COMING UP AT MSU

Erwin Chemerinsky, a legal scholar, author and expert on free speech, will give a free, public lecture at MSU on Thursday, Oct. 22. “The First Amendment and the Modern University: A Conversation with Erwin Chemerinsky” will begin at 6 p.m. in MSU’s Strand Union Building Ballrooms. Chemerinsky is expected to discuss the importance of free speech and outline steps that can be taken to ensure it is protected, respected and understood by a diverse audience. He will answer questions from audience members after his talk.

Our university’s annual Dyslexia and Innovation Symposium of Changemakers aims to spotlight the unique strengths of the dyslexic mind during National Dyslexia Month. The hybrid event is free and open to the public. It will be held on Oct. 22 from 5 to 8 p.m. in Inspiration Hall within MSU’s Norm Asbjornson Hall and will also be livestreamed. Tickets, though free, are required for the in-person event and can be reserved online.

The MSU-based Burton K. Wheeler Center will host a lecture focused on data centers in Montana on Tuesday, Oct. 27. The event will be held on campus, and there is also an option to stream it online. “Data Centers in Montana: Pros and Cons” will feature three expert speakers: Coltran Hophan-Nichols, senior manager of Research Cyberinfrastructure at MSU; Bob Morris, Lance Energy Chair at Montana Technological University and member of the Unleashing American-Made Energy Task Force; and Anne Hedges, executive director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. Eric Raile, professor in the MSU Department of Political Science, will moderate the discussion. The three experts will give short talks, engage in moderated discussion and respond to audience questions.

Jessie Diggins, the most decorated U.S. cross-country skier in history who is also known as a powerful mental health advocate, will speak at MSU on Thursday, Oct. 29, in the Fieldhouse. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets should be reserved in advance at https://montanastate.evenue.net/event/SU26/JD26. Bridger Ski Foundation, a Bozeman-based nonprofit that provides ski programs for approximately 1,000 youth and maintains approximately 90 kilometers of local cross-country ski trails, is co-sponsoring the event with MSU. I encourage you to consider joining us, as Jessie’s openness about her experiences with an eating disorder and mental health challenges helps foster important conversations. Her story encourages people to seek help, support one another, and recognize that recovery is possible. It also reminds us that people are more than their struggles or their accomplishments.

Jason Bolte, director of MSU’s School of Music in the College of Arts and Architecture, will kick off this year’s Provost’s Distinguished Lecturer Series with a presentation, “A Fascination with Sound,” on Tuesday, Nov. 3. The event will begin at 7 p.m. in Howard Hall’s Reynolds Recital Hall and include a reception afterward. All events in the lecture series are free and open to the public. The lecture will highlight Bolte’s path to music technology and include performances of his original compositions. Bolte’s work manipulates natural and synthesized sounds to capture his personal experiences.

DID YOU KNOW

A recently published paper in the journal Ecology by MSU ecology professor Scott Creel and several of his current and former students has received international attention for its revelations about highly endangered African wild dogs. The paper, “Extraordinary movements connecting distant ecosystems by African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus),” was published Sept. 13. Since then, its findings have been highlighted by media outlets including the BBC, Reuters, Mongabay, The Guardian, The Conversation and CNN. It also was featured prominently by the eminent journal Science.

In Blue and Gold,