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Simpson Engineering wins two awards on a worldwide stage

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Two research papers from Simpson University’s engineering program took top honors at the 2026 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, beating out submissions from engineering educators from around the world.

Though ASEE began as a national society in the United States, its annual conference now draws engineers and educators from across the globe. Dr. Thomas Omwando, the Engineering Department Chair, co-authored one of the three papers this year with his colleague, Professor Michael Austin.

Dr. Omwando submitted three papers to this year’s conference, with data coming from students in the engineering department. Two were named best paper in their divisions: the Industrial Engineering Division and the Engineering Economy Division. His third paper was submitted to the First-Year Programs Division.

The wins build on Omwando’s 2025 best-paper award in the Industrial Engineering Division. Simpson Engineering has now earned three ASEE division best-paper awards: two in Industrial Engineering and one in Engineering Economy.

“This is a testament that our program is preparing students for the job market and for graduate school,” Omwando said.

From one student to 42

Omwando has spent the last five years in Simpson’s engineering department and has watched it grow firsthand.

“When I came here, the first class that I had, I had a class of one student,” he said. “And now, right now we have a total of 42 students in the program. So there has been tremendous growth.”

The engineering department at Simpson University is still in the beginning stages, as it launched in 2019. The first student to graduate from the program was in the fall of 2024, followed by two more students in the spring of 2025.

The department is preparing for a visit from the professional accreditation body.

“We are anticipating that we have done our best and the program will be accredited by the professional accreditation body, and if that happens, the program will get more visibility, and we expect to get more students,” Omwando said.

Learning by building

Hands-on projects are a cornerstone of Simpson’s engineering curriculum. In their third year, students take an engineering design and product development course in which they design products, build and test prototypes, and recommend improvements.

Seniors then take on a two-semester capstone project, developing solutions to real problems facing developing countries. One recent team designed a water filtration system for rural Ecuador. Their biggest challenge was making the system work without electricity.

Students in the capstone project work directly with practicing engineers, who give feedback on how their designs would hold up in the real world. Teams then build a prototype and test it.

Research rooted in the classroom

Omwando’s papers grow out of data he gathers from students throughout the school year. Students are surveyed before a project begins and again after it ends.

The surveys ask whether the project taught students more about how to be an engineer, whether engineering feels like the right fit for them, and whether they plan to keep pursuing the field. Beyond the conference papers, the findings help Simpson keep improving its engineering curriculum.

How the new building will help the department grow

The program expects more growth soon. The new Hugh and Hazel Darling Center for Business, Technology, and Engineering opens Oct. 16, 2026, adding space for labs and equipment. The new building will have a specialized computer lab area for engineering students to design their projects. There will also be a welding room to work on metal projects, and a room specifically for wood projects. The new building allows space for a 3D printer, giving students access to an entire room to work with that technology. There is also a brand new classroom, giving the department room to grow in class size in the future.

As the program grows, Dr. Omwando aims to submit at least one paper to ASEE each year. He has already collected data from a summer internship class he taught and is gathering more from other courses this school year.

Simpson University Earns Highest National Rankings in Recent History

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Simpson University placed in five categories of the U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, led by a fourth-place finish for Best Colleges for Veterans among regional colleges in the West. 

The university also ranked seventh for Best Value School in the West, 15th among Top Performers for Social Mobility, and tied for 14th for Best Private College and 18th for Best Regional College in the West. 

The recognition arrives as Simpson prepares to open a new Maurice & Marianne Johannessen Veterans Success Center inside its Hugh and Hazel Darling Center for Business, Technology, and Engineering STEM building, expanding a program that already serves one of the largest veteran populations of any campus in the North State. 

Fourth in the West for veterans 

To be considered for the veterans ranking, a university must participate in federal programs that help veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees. Simpson is certified for the GI Bill and participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program. 

Simpson goes further than the minimum. A few years ago, the university restructured its programming to lift its Yellow Ribbon contribution to an unlimited amount, said Andrew Tuggle, director of the Veterans Success Center. 

“That really set the stage to be able to serve those students no matter where they are financially,” Tuggle said. “It just guarantees that they are going to be able to get an education from Simpson at a zero-dollar cost. The VA is going to help pay the bill, and we are also going to help meet in the middle where those gaps were a few years back.” 

Veterans and active-duty service members made up 6.3% of Simpson’s enrollment in the 2025-26 school year. 

A director who has been there 

Tuggle is a veteran himself, which helps set Simpson University’s Veterans Services above many others. He fell into this line of work through his own difficult return to school. 

“When I got out of the service, I put life on hold for family,” Tuggle said. “When I finally started going again, I encountered some of those same exact struggles. I started my master’s program, started getting the runaround at the school, not really sure what to do, not really sure how to be successful again. And I wasn’t successful.” 

That experience is common among people who end up in veteran services, he said. 

“You never want to see somebody fail the same way that you failed. In the veteran community, it’s a big component of how people get into veteran services, whether it’s suicide prevention or career counseling. It’s the ways that they have failed that they want to make sure their fellow brothers and sisters can succeed.” 

It also shapes how he advises students. 

“That’s one of the best things about working with veterans. There is no nonsense,” Tuggle said. “I am not pushing an agenda. I am not pushing them to say, hey, you have to go to school to be successful, because they have earned that right to figure out what they want to do.” 

He points to student Johnny Palmer as an example of what the right support can do. 

“He has not only been an outstanding student, but to see his transition of who he is today and who he was six years ago when he started this process, it’s great to see those night and day differences,” Tuggle said. 

Services built around the student 

Simpson’s location works in its students’ favor. Shasta County has a large veteran community, and the university draws on local partners rather than building every service from scratch. 

One of those partners is Hire Heroes USA, which works with students in their final year of college. 

“It is a program that will help them go to school and figure out what they want to do after they graduate, help them build their resume, help them do interviews, and also help them find jobs in their specific field,” Tuggle said. 

Simpson also partners closely with Our Heroes Dreams, a local organization dedicated to suicide prevention in the veteran community. Tuggle said the program gives students a place to turn as they work out what comes next. 

On campus, veteran students get tutoring services designed for them and a single point of contact for everything else. 

“If they came in with a bad GPA, they can work through me rather than having to go through the runaround of the entire university,” Tuggle said. “They get all of their needs met in one place, at one time, so they have a seamless transition into education and can be successful.” 

More to come 

Simpson is not treating the ranking as a finish line. The university will hold a ribbon-cutting for its new Hugh and Hazel Darling Center for Business, Technology, and Engineering STEM building, which will house the Maurice & Marianne Johannessen Veterans Success Center. 

The new space will expand what the program can offer, including bringing the Shasta County Veteran Service Officer onto campus. 

“That’s something we have not had the flexibility to do,” Tuggle said. 

He sees the payoff reaching past graduation. “Simpson does a really good job at building those students and building people to be able to be successful in the community,” he said, “to heighten our community here in Shasta County.” 

Where Simpson landed 

Category Rank 
Best Colleges for Veterans, Regional Colleges West 4th 
Best Value School, West 7th 
Best Private College, West 14th (tie) 
Top Performers for Social Mobility 15th 
Best Regional College, West 18th (tie) 

The Best Value ranking weighs academic quality against the 2025-26 net cost of attendance for an out-of-state student receiving the average need-based aid package. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, since U.S. News counts the most meaningful values as those found among above-average schools. 

The social mobility ranking measures how well a university graduates students who receive Pell Grants, federal awards based on poverty guidelines, family size and whether a student is supported by a single parent. At Simpson, 44% of students received Pell Grants in 2024-25. 

Small classes behind the numbers 

The rankings reflect an environment built on close contact between students and faculty. Simpson’s student-to-faculty ratio is 18 to 1, and 52% of classes currently have fewer than 20 students. 

For veteran students and traditional undergraduates alike, that means being known by name rather than by student ID. 

Commuter Life at Simpson University

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North State Promise Opens the Door for More Local Students at Simpson University 

For students across Northern California, attending college close to home is becoming a more accessible option as Simpson University expands opportunities for local students through its new North State Promise. 

The initiative reflects Simpson’s commitment to investing in future local leaders while making higher education more affordable, accessible, and local. Incoming traditional undergraduate students from Northern California who qualify for the program receive an automatic 50% discount on tuition. 

As more North State students consider Simpson, some may choose to commute from home rather than live on campus. Currently, about 30% of Simpson’s undergraduate students commute to the university. 

For senior Glorianna Junokas, commuting has allowed her to remain connected to her local community while becoming deeply involved in life at Simpson. 

Junokas grew up about 30 minutes from the university but had never visited the campus until she attended a tour. 

“I actually was not planning on coming to Simpson,” Junokas said. “But I ended up coming to one of the tour days, like the Spring Preview Tour Day. And I ended up really falling in love with the campus. I remember thinking like, I couldn’t believe Simpson has been here this whole time, and I lived here this whole time and never stepped foot on campus. And the next thing I knew, I was fully enrolled as a student here at Simpson.” 

A residential experience with options for local students 

Simpson is a residential university and encourages students to live on campus during their college careers. However, certain students may qualify to live off campus and commute. 

Students may qualify for commuter status if they live with a parent, legal guardian or grandparent within 35 miles of campus. Other circumstances that may qualify include being married or having children living with them, having served three or more years in the armed services, having an off-campus job that requires them to live at their place of employment, already owning a local home, or having a documented disability that has been approved through Simpson’s accommodations process. 

For students who qualify, commuting can also provide significant savings. Students who live at home could save on housing costs and dining costs. 

Those savings come with other considerations, including gasoline and vehicle wear and tear on your vehicle. Students who spend much of their day on campus may also need to budget for meals while they are at school. 

For Junokas, commuting has not kept her from making Simpson a major part of her daily life. 

“There are definitely days where I come here, I have an 8 a.m., and I stay all the way until the library closes at 9 p.m.,” she said. “I have definitely done that multiple times, especially being a science major.” 

Building community beyond the classroom 

One of the challenges commuter students can face is finding opportunities to develop friendships and become connected to campus life. 

“For commuters, it’s a little bit harder; you have to have a little bit more effort to make connections and friends because it is very easy to just come and do your classes and then leave and go home,” Junokas said. 

Simpson’s commuter support team works to help students overcome that barrier by creating opportunities specifically designed to bring commuter students together. 

“We really want to foster community among the commuters, so that they really feel like they belong and that they, you know, have a place at Simpson,” Junokas said. 

The commuter support team organizes events, sends commuter updates and offers activities designed to encourage students to connect with one another. 

“We have commuter challenges, like a weekly challenge, and our goal is to get other commuters to meet commuters,” Junokas said. 

Events are planned with commuter schedules in mind. Some activities take place shortly after classes, while others may be scheduled in the morning or during the middle of the school day. 

A commuter lunch in the campus dining area, for example, gives students an opportunity to meet other commuters without requiring them to make a separate trip to campus. 

Making the most of campus life 

While Junokas lives off campus, she has found ways to make Simpson’s campus feel like an important part of her college experience. 

She regularly uses campus facilities for studying, particularly the library. 

“I spend a lot of time in the library,” she said. “I really like the quiet rooms for studying, because if I go home I will be distracted.” 

Commuting also does not prevent students from participating in extracurricular activities. 

“A lot of commuters are still athletes, and still very involved on campus,” Junokas said. 

For Junokas, attending athletic events is another way to experience the community that makes up college life. 

“It’s really fun to, like, sit in a cheer section, and you really get to feel like you are having that college experience, going to a game and cheering for people,” she said. 

She encourages other commuter students to attend games and support their classmates. 

“I think going to games are definitely worthwhile, and you get to cheer on your classmates, especially if you have met other commuters that are also on the sports team; you get to cheer them on, and yeah, it’s pretty cool.” 

A local path to the Simpson experience 

As the North State Promise brings Simpson’s affordability within reach for more students from Northern California, the university is also creating opportunities for local students to build their college experience in a way that fits their circumstances. 

For some students, that may mean living in a residence hall and experiencing campus life around the clock. For others, it may mean returning home each evening while spending much of the day learning, studying, competing and building friendships on campus. 

For Junokas, the combination has allowed her to stay connected to home while embracing the Simpson community. 

Her experience illustrates that being a commuter does not have to mean being on the outside of campus life. With intentional effort, support and opportunities to connect, local students can make Simpson University their college home—even when they sleep somewhere else. 

Expanding the Gateway to World Service with New Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies

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New interdisciplinary program offers students the flexibility to pursue a major, secondary major, or minor while preparing for careers and service around the world.

REDDING, Calif. — Simpson University is expanding opportunities for students to engage an increasingly interconnected world with the introduction of its new Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies. The interdisciplinary program, available this fall as a major, secondary major, or minor, equips students with the knowledge, cultural awareness, and practical skills needed to make a meaningful impact across communities, cultures, and nations.

Drawing from multiple academic disciplines, the Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies provides students with a broad understanding of global cultures, international issues, economics, politics, religion, and cross-cultural communication. Students will develop the critical thinking and leadership skills needed to navigate complex global challenges while integrating faith, learning, and service in diverse cultural contexts.

“With the launch of this new program, Simpson University continues to live up to its name as the Gateway to World Service,” said Dr. Michael Salmeier, provost of Simpson University. “Whether as a primary major, secondary major, or a minor, students will have the opportunity to design a degree that prepares them to make a global impact.”

The program is designed to prepare students for careers and service opportunities in nonprofit leadership, international development, education, business, government, humanitarian work, ministry, and community engagement. Students may also have opportunities to engage with global perspectives through cross-cultural experiences, service opportunities, and other experiential learning activities that complement their academic studies.

“Our Simpson faculty are not simply well traveled, they have lived around the globe, including in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Canada, France, Jordan, Germany, Peru, Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, China, Laos, Kenya, and beyond,” said Global Studies Program Coordinator and Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Ryan Brasher. “In addition to our significant number of international students, this makes Simpson University a unique learning environment where students can gain a truly global education, preparing them for meaningful careers in a constantly changing world.”

The Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies will welcome its first students this fall and is now available to incoming and current students seeking to broaden their academic experience and prepare for careers and callings that extend beyond traditional geographic and cultural boundaries.

For more information about the Global Studies program or to apply, visit simpsonu.edu/globalstudies.

Simpson University School of Nursing Named Top-Ranked Private BSN Program in California; Also Recognized Among Top 10 Programs Statewide for 2025

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Redding, Calif. — Simpson University has been recognized as the top-ranked private university offering a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in California, and has also been named one of the 10 Best Accredited BSN Programs in the state for 2025 by NursingProcess.org. 

Simpson University was recognized for its strong academic foundation, emphasis on nursing leadership, and commitment to preparing graduates to meet California’s growing healthcare workforce needs. 

“This recognition highlights our faculty’s dedication, the strength of our clinical collaborations, and our students’ commitment to excellence in patient care,” said Chief of Staff and COO Brent W. Thompson, J.D., MPA. “As healthcare needs grow across California, especially in the North State, Simpson University is dedicated to training highly skilled, compassionate nurses who are ready to serve immediately and lead confidently throughout their careers.” 

According to NursingProcess.org, the demand for registered nurses in California continues to rise, with more than 20,000 nursing jobs projected to open annually through 2027. The publication also reports that registered nurses holding a BSN earn an average annual salary of $139,250 in California, underscoring the value and long-term career impact of a bachelor’s-level nursing education. 

In response to the growing statewide demand for nurses, Simpson University has recently nearly doubled its nursing cohort, expanding instructional capacity, clinical placements, and faculty support. The University will graduate approximately 90 nurses each year, with many remaining in the North State to serve hospitals, clinics, and community health organizations. 

Celebrating the Career and Retirement of Wally Quirk

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Tenyson Fowler –

After two-and-a-half decades of dutiful service at Simpson University, and a lifetime of experience in the world of education, we are pleased to recognize and celebrate Wally on his final day in the office.

Robert (Wally) Quirk has worn many hats throughout his time at Simpson. Beginning in 1999, he taught night business classes. He continued his work at Simpson as a Professor of Business for multiple years. During that time, he was elected Faculty President for three separate terms and served as the Faculty Athletic Representative. He served as the Head of the Business Department until 2016, when he was asked to become the Chief Operating Officer. Adding to his long list of titles at Simpson, he briefly taught as an adjunct professor for the ASPIRE Degree Completion Program from 2016 to 2018, overlapping his time as COO. Wally served as COO until his retirement today.

“That’s all I did, I just came to work every day,” Wally said.

During his time as an undergraduate, he spent a semester studying Theology, before he changed his major to Psychology. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Psychology. He then went into a Ph.D. Clinical Psychology Program at Sonoma State University, which he dropped out of to pursue a Master’s degree in Management. 

Prior to his time at Simpson University, Wally taught at three institutions, including Shasta College, Chapman University, and Sanoma State University.

 “No matter what’s been asked of Wally during his tenure at Simpson, he has used his God-given talents to tackle them with grace, hard work, honesty, and humor. First, as a business professor – the one the students loved to listen to – Wally shared real-life stories from the business world that often awed and challenged those listening. Students voted him Faculty of the Year.  

He was often the first on campus and the last to leave. It was common to see the light glowing from the windows of his corner office late into the night. Those lights, his wisdom, and unflappable faith will be missed,” Professor Molly Rupert, a long-time colleague of Robert Quirk shared.

“Those who first encounter Wally are often confronted with his blunt attitude, sharp wit, and professional mindset; usually wrapped into one short and to the point sentence. Those who really get to know Wally will find that he is warm-hearted, deeply servant-minded, and dedicated to his faith, his family, and others. He carries a quiet strength rooted in compassion, offering steady support, genuine kindness, and a willingness to put others before himself. His life is marked by integrity, humility, and a sincere desire to serve those around him,” Dr. Norm Hall, President of Simpson University states.

Since embarking on his 25-year journey at Simpson, he has been a steady face across multiple departments, personally mentoring students and encouraging them in both their academic and spiritual growth. Whether a student-athlete, faculty, or staff member, Wally has contributed to the personal and professional lives of many individuals.