Joseph E. Aoun, a leader in higher education policy and a renowned scholar in linguistics, is the seventh President of Northeastern University.
President Aoun has strategically aligned the University’s research enterprise with three global imperatives—health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern’s faculty focus on interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship, and transforming academic research into commercial solutions for the world’s most pressing problems. During President Aoun’s tenure, the University has realized a 189 percent growth in external research funding, along with approximately 1,500 patent applications filed by faculty and students.
Want some support … from a distance? Watch Boston Globe Love Letters advice columnist Meredith Goldstein in the second installment of Taking Care, which features conversations with mental health professionals during this time of social distancing. Meredith talks to Dr. Drea Letamendi, a licensed clinical psychologist, about how we can stay connected even when we’re apart. Letamendi also talks about healthy escapism and learning self-care through pop culture, especially during this time of crisis.
Meredith Goldstein is an advice columnist and features reporter for The Boston Globe. Her advice column, Love Letters, is a daily dispatch of wisdom for the lovelorn that has been running online and in the paper for 11 years. Her Love Letters podcast will launch its fourth season later this year. Meredith's books include “Can’t Help Myself: Lessons and Confessions From a Modern Advice Columnist”; “Chemistry Lessons," a young adult novel about a teen who tries to use science to manipulate her love life; and “The Singles,” a novel about dateless guests at a wedding. Meredith lives in Boston with a full-size cotton candy machine.
Dr. Andrea (“Drea”) Letamendi is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her PhD from UCSD. Dr. Drea currently serves at UCLA as the Interim Director of the Resilience Center called RISE. There, she is a mental health advisor and educator to students, staff, and faculty, and as a consultant to campus partners in the areas of student mental health, healing, and resilience. Dr. Drea extends her professional work into public health education by intersecting psychological science with superheroes. For over 10 years, she has served as a psychological consultant for comic book writers and other creatives in television and film. Using art and narrative to teach psychology to wide audiences, Dr. Letamendi has been featured in news pieces and documentaries for MTV, CNN, and Warner Bros./ DC Comics. She shared her personal story of resilience in her TEDx Talk, called “Capes, Cowls and Courage."
