Photo: Melissa Hortman wearing a blazer and standing behind a podium that says "Melissa Hortman, Speaker"

Obituaries

Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman, a Boston University Alum, Shot and Killed Along with Her Husband

She is remembered for her “grace and compassion.” BU president says the University community grieves the loss of a “beloved and respected public servant.”

June 15, 2025

Latest Headlines

Through Instagram, BU Deaf Studies Empowers the Deaf Community

Accounts focus on research, student life, and public outreach; “All of the posts have impacted someone who is in need.”

2

June 9, 2025

Shared from
BU Data Platform Will Help Massachusetts Track, and Work to Close, Wage Gaps

CDS researchers selected to extend across the state an encrypted data program already in use to track the gender and racial wage gaps in Boston

June 4, 2025

Shared from
BU Historian’s New Book Traces the Rise of Today’s Far-Right Movement

The New York Times calls Hayek’s Bastards by Quinn Slobodian a “riveting read” and “illuminating history”

June 5, 2025

Shared from
The Power of the Middle School Years

It’s often considered an angsty, difficult time, but the Wheelock researchers who study early adolescence and these years know the stereotypes don’t hold up—middle school is a time of rich opportunity, they say

1

June 13, 2025

Shared from

Current Issue

Winter-Spring 2025

Photo: A girl in a leather jacket smiling in front of textiles

Art History

From Wedding Attire to Living Room Curtains: A BU Scholar Is Unraveling the History of Brocade Weaving in Morocco

Iconic throughout history, richly woven silk brocade fabrics have evolved in purpose and utility, but a BU Fulbright Scholar is finding how the traditions are still alive today

May 31, 2025

AI and Stolen Art

Using AI to Identify Plundered Antiquities

BU archaeologists use machine learning algorithm to help identify stolen Cambodian statues

May 27, 2025

Class Notes

Stories and updates from your classmates

Marnie (Pierce) Jones

Marnie (Pierce) Jones (COM’96) was reunited with her BU class ring in November 2024, nearly three decades after losing it. “It is as glorious as I remember! How incredibly special,” she writes. “I received it right before Thanksgiving, so we opened it as a family.” Back in October, the BU Alumni Help Desk received an email from a woman in North Attleboro, Mass., who wanted to return the ring, which her mother had found in downtown Boston many years before. The Help Desk staff contacted Marnie—the ring was engraved with her name, college, and class year—and set the wheels in motion. “There is more to this story than just finding the ring,” Marnie wrote in her thank-you note. Just hours before receiving the Help Desk’s email, her father had passed away. “He was the one who bought me my class ring back in 1996,” she wrote. “I remember being heartbroken (and terrified to tell him!) when I lost it, somewhere along a frigid, dark, and wet commute from Cambridge to Congress Street during my first year out of college.”

She is remembered for her “grace and compassion.” BU president says the University community grieves the loss of a “beloved and respected public servant.”

Latest Headlines

Accounts focus on research, student life, and public outreach; “All of the posts have impacted someone who is in need.”

CDS researchers selected to extend across the state an encrypted data program already in use to track the gender and racial wage gaps in Boston

The New York Times calls Hayek’s Bastards by Quinn Slobodian a “riveting read” and “illuminating history”

It’s often considered an angsty, difficult time, but the Wheelock researchers who study early adolescence and these years know the stereotypes don’t hold up—middle school is a time of rich opportunity, they say

Current Issue

Winter-Spring 2025

Iconic throughout history, richly woven silk brocade fabrics have evolved in purpose and utility, but a BU Fulbright Scholar is finding how the traditions are still alive today

BU archaeologists use machine learning algorithm to help identify stolen Cambodian statues

Class Notes

1996

Issues

Featured Stories

Best Of

Browse Sections

Arts & Culture

Business & Economics

Class Notes

Education & Social Service

Feedback

Government & Law

Health & Medicine

Science & Technology

Sports

Tributes

University News