Buna dimineaţa.  Sper ca sunteti bine! Mă bucur să vă văd pe toți. 

My name is Dr. Steve O. Michael and I have the pleasure of serving as the Rector and CEO of Danubius University.  It is my utmost delight to welcome all the new students as well as all the returning students to the new academic year starting today.  To our new students, I thank you for choosing Danubius University as the place to receive your education and to our returning students, I thank you for returning to complete the journey you’ve started with us. 

The Opening Day ceremony has two purposes.  First, we organize ourselves to welcome our new and returning students to the campus so as to kick start the academic year and second, we, members of the university administration and professors, use this opportunity to convey our pledges and promises to you.  As part of the welcome, you will engage in extended orientation that should facilitate smooth transition for you.   By joining this university, you have placed your trust in us to help fulfill your expectations, which include the realization of your dream, personal growth, professional advancement, quality education, preparation for leadership, and fun and pleasure of being a student.  As an American who has led several very large universities before coming to Danubius, I have given this speech to thousands of Americans students in the past and I am glad to give the same speech to you.  As your Rector, I take your trust very seriously and pledge to do everything I can leading the team to ensure that your expectations are fulfilled and hopefully surpassed. 

Our highest priority at Danubius University is and must be student success.  As a private institution, we have the privilege to do things better and that include responding to your needs promptly, checking on you if you miss several classes, advising you if you are falling behind with your grades, ensuring you complete your program on time, providing opportunities for you to engage in a short study abroad, and providing opportunities for you to exercise your leadership talents.  As a small university, you are not just a number.  We want to know you.  We want to hear of your own story.  We want to mentor you and we want to be there for you when you need us.  You are not an empty brain waiting to be filled by uncaring professors.  You are a human being with all the potentials that the good Lord has endowed you with.  At Danubius, we want to amplify these potentials, nurture your growth, and celebrate your accomplishments and continue to do so even after your graduation. 

To achieve our mutual goals, you must do your part.  I want you to know that academic success has a formula.  The formula starts with a strong determination to succeed and followed by action to enroll in the classes assigned to you, read the materials provided to you, never miss a class, engage with your professors, spend time studying, complete your assignments on time, ask questions in class, and if your class is online, turn on your cameras, and participate actively.  From my experience, students who turn on their cameras and participate actively tend to be those who end up getting A’s.  If you do your part, your success is guaranteed. As a university, we will do our part. 

Lastly, there is pleasure and fun being a student.  I want to see some of the things we do in the United States here at Danubius University.  Students do organize social events, be the one to initiate them.  Students do organize community service events, be the one to introduce one.  Some of our best friends in life are those we met as students, be the one to reach out to others.  Soon, we will have more international students at Danubius, be the one to integrate them.  I encourage you, please have fun.  I know some of you have families and children and perhaps full-time jobs also, yet you must find a way to broaden your life beyond the daily chores.  By the way, I would like to challenge you.  I do play Ping Pong or Table Tennis and if any student wants to challenge me, I will pay you in dollars with a T-shirt if you beat me.  Every time you beat me, you get a dollar.  You will get a tee-shirt that says, “I Beat Rector Michael of Danubius University.”  Come to the campus, I want to see you there. 

As you can tell from my Romanian accent, I am not from here.  I am an American who is trying to be a Romanian, so I invite you to be my teacher.  Whenever you see me, please teach me how to say something in Romanian.  Welcome to the 2023-24 academic year and let us make this year a year of fun and a year of success. 

Vă mulțumesc și Dumnezeu să vă binecuvânteze în studiile voastre

Dr. Steve O. Michael, Professor, Rector & CEO

On September, 22, 2023, Danubius University continued the tradition started last year, the Annual Leadership Retreat. The Annual Retreat brings university leaders together to review the past year's achievements and issues, and plan for the upcoming academic year. This year's Retreat was important because of the introduction of the new 7-year Strategic Plan for which leaders worked together to develop the timeline for implementation.

Another special event at the Retreat was the invited Guest Speaker, Dr. Jan Greenwood, from the United States. The Rector, Dr. Steve Michael, introduced Dr. Greenwood as one of the higher education leaders in the US, "who is widely known across the public and private higher education systems." Dr. Greenwood spoke about the characteristics of successful executive leaders and how leaders are identified and selected in the US.

The Retreat concluded with a review of the newly enacted Romanian higher education law. Next year's Retreat is set for September 20, 2024.

Presentation offered by Gabriela Mustata Wilson, PhD, MSc, FHIMSS, SNAI, FIAHSI

Gabriela Mustata Wilson, PhD, MSc, FHIMSS, SNAI, FIAHSI

Co-Director of the Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics and Director of Health Informatics and Public Health Informatics

Professor, Kinesiology, College of Nursing and Health Innovation

The University of Texas at Arlington

ABSTRACT: In the dynamic landscape of Biomedical Informatics and Public Health Informatics, collaboration has emerged as a transformative force that fuels innovation, accelerates research, and drives workforce development. This presentation delves into “The Power of Collaboration,” exploring the synergies between these two critical domains. Research and workforce development initiatives in public health informatics, biomedical informatics and data science will be provided to demonstrate how collaboration has become the key player for advancing knowledge, improving healthcare outcomes, and preparing a future-ready workforce.

SHORT BIO: Dr. Gabriela Mustata Wilson is an internationally recognized health informatics expert passionate about harnessing the power of research and translating it into community action. With extensive experience in both industry and academia, Dr. Wilson currently serves as a Professor and Founding Co-Director of the Multi-Interprofessional Center for Health Informatics (MICHI) at the University of Texas at Arlington and the Director of MICHI’s Health and Public Health Informatics division. With a background in chemical engineering, pharmacoinformatics, health informatics, and public health informatics, Dr. Wilson’s most recent activities focus on workforce development in public health informatics, biomedical informatics, and biotechnology, including research and education to address racial injustice and health inequity. She is a Fellow member of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, a Senior National Academy of Inventors member, and member of the American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences. For her contributions to the Health Informatics field and ongoing commitment to driving transformational change and leading towards improved health outcomes through the advancement of the best use of information and technology, Dr. Gabriela Wilson received the prestigious 2023 HIMSS Changemaker in Health, Most Influential Women in Health IT Award. 

Senate Room, on October, 17,

10.00 A.M.

Danubius University

Free entrance!

On Thursday, October 14, 2023, university rectors of private universities from Romania and the Republic of Moldova participated in a working meeting at Danubius University.

At the invitation of the President of the Administrative Board of Danubius University, Dr. Andy Pușca and the Danubius University Rector, Dr. Steve O. Michael, several rectors of the private universities from Romania and the Republic of Moldova participated in a working meeting for the purpose of continuing their yearlong deliberations on collaboration aimed at expanding opportunities for their respective students and enhancing their higher education systems.

During the event, the Rector of DU, Dr. Steve O. Michael, presented the article he wrote about higher education law and system to the rectors and reiterated the importance of the involvement of private universities in the economic, social and cultural life of their communities. He observed that private universities in Romania and Moldova are operating in environments that are relatively new to the market economy; hence, the non-inclusion or the limited inclusion of the private sector issues in the public higher education discourse and deliberations. The participants discussed how best to access European funding for research and how to work together to enhance their operations and effectiveness.

The event was attended by the Rector of the Romanian-American University, Dr. Costel Negricea; Vice-Rector for Human Resources Strategy, Administration and the Relationship with the Economic-Social Environment, Dr. Andrei Anghelina, Vasile Goldiș University of the West, from Arad, together with the General Secretary of the University, Sabău Flavius Valentin; Rector of the University of European Studies from Moldova, Dr. Iurie Nicolae Sedlețchi, together with the Vice-Rector Nicolae Sedlețchi; the Vice-Rector for Academic Strategy and Study Programs, Dr. Alexandru Căuia, from the International Free University of Moldova; and Dr. George Daniel Papari, Rector of the Andrei Șaguna University. Also present are some members of the management team of Danubius University - Dr. Andy Pușca, President of the Administrative Board; Dr. Steve O. Michael, Rector & CEO; Dr. Florian Nuță, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and Innovation; Dr. Alina Răileanu, Vice-Rector for the Administration and Corporate Partnership; Dr. Emanuel Marinescu, Director of the Department of International Relations; Ana-Iuliana Mihai, Chief of Staff; Dr. Alina Cheșcă; and Oana Pocovnicu, Director of Marketing and Public Relations.