Education, Research & Public Sector

Franklin, Tenn. – September 18, 2026 -- Summit Professional Education, which has served more than 500,000 healthcare professionals, has appointed Jeff Wahl as Chief Executive Officer, bringing more than 40 years of leadership experience to the education platform's next growth phase.

Wahl brings four decades of operating experience, including two-plus decades in education

Wahl most recently served as CEO of Big Blue Marble Academy (BBMA), an early childhood education provider he joined as Executive Chairman in 2019 before being named CEO in 2020. Under his leadership, BBMA more than quadrupled in size to 93 schools across eight states, educating over 10,000 students and employing more than 2,000 staff.

Maryland – September 18, 2026 -- Savvas Learning Company and University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) have struck a strategic alliance that lets high school students earn UMGC-accepted college credits through Savvas's Outlier dual-enrollment platform, with qualifying students receiving a 25 percent discount on out-of-state tuition for most UMGC undergraduate programs.

UMGC will accept Outlier college credits earned by high schoolers

The Outlier by Savvas solution delivers asynchronous online college courses to K-12 districts, allowing students to simultaneously bank high school and college credit that UMGC will recognize. UMGC, part of the University System of Maryland, serves more than 100,000 learners annually and is the second-largest public university in the U.S. as of 2026, offering skills-based programs in AI, business, cybersecurity, and healthcare.

Atlanta – – September 18, 2026 -- Roughly 350 high school student-athletes will gather at Atlanta's Loudermilk Conference Center on Sept. 26, 2026, for the inaugural AJT Academy Student-Athlete Leadership Conference presented by Truist, a program built around the AJ Terrell Jr. Foundation founded by Atlanta Falcons All-Pro cornerback AJ Terrell Jr.

Truist funds leadership program spanning three Atlanta-area high schools

Students from Westlake High School, Frederick Douglass High School and Benjamin E. Mays High School will attend the five-hour event, running 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 40 Courtland St NE. Katie Saez, Truist regional president for Georgia and Alabama, said the bank's partnership with the AJ Terrell Jr. Foundation aims to give young people tools that extend beyond athletics.

Winter Park, Fla. -- September 15, 2026 -- Full Sail University reported that 124 of its graduates were credited on 52 winning projects across 85 categories at the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, with three alumni also winning individual Emmys for their own work.

Judah Getz claims three Emmys for ADR mixing across three different series

Judah Getz won Outstanding Sound Mixing awards in three separate categories for his work as ADR Mixer on "Pluribus" (comedy or drama series, one hour), "Beef" (limited or anthology series or movie), and "Widow's Bay" (comedy or drama series half-hour and animation).

Sound editing honors go to Jerry Lafuente and Andy Sisul

Jerry Lafuente won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special as Sound Effects Editor on "Beef." Andy Sisul won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) as Co-Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer on "Spider-Noir."

Phoenix – September 17, 2026 -- Ninety-eight percent of managers who directly supervise University of Phoenix graduates report overall satisfaction with those employees, and 97% say they would likely hire another University of Phoenix graduate in the future, according to new research from The Harris Poll commissioned by the university.

Harris Poll surveys 408 U.S. managers to benchmark employer experience

The Harris Poll conducted an online survey from June 4-25, 2026, among 204 U.S. managers supervising at least one University of Phoenix graduate and 204 managers supervising graduates from other colleges and universities. Of 1,796 individuals contacted, 96% met screening requirements (n=1,728), and 24% of the qualified sample completed the survey. Results carry a Bayesian credible interval of ±8.6 percentage points for the University of Phoenix group and ±8.0 percentage points for the benchmark group at a 95% confidence level.

Salt Lake City – – September 17, 2026 -- Instructure, maker of Canvas LMS, has appointed Stephan Geering as chief privacy officer to lead its global data privacy programs and AI regulatory compliance efforts. Geering brings more than 20 years of experience in data privacy, risk management and public policy across technology, financial services and government sectors.

Geering will vet AI features for privacy and safety risks before customer release

In his new role, Geering will work across Instructure's legal, security and product teams to set requirements for how new products handle learner and educator data. He will oversee the evaluation of AI features for data privacy and safety risks prior to deployment and lead the company's response to emerging AI regulation worldwide.

Denver – September 17, 2026 -- Procare Solutions has acquired Playground, an all-in-one child care management platform serving more than 5,000 programs nationwide, expanding its footprint among the 40,000-plus centers it already serves.

Procare adds Playground's AI assistant Camber to its product suite

Playground's flagship tool, Camber, is described as the first AI assistant built specifically for child care operations. The platform also integrates marketing, enrollment, billing, subsidy management and payroll functions into a single system.

Roper Technologies-owned Procare extends 30-year presence with deal

Procare Solutions, a business unit of Roper Technologies (Nasdaq: ROP), has operated in child care management software for more than three decades. CEO Joe Gomes said the acquisition reflects continued investment in tools supporting center growth and reducing administrative workload for operators.

Allentown, Pennsylvania – September 17, 2026 -- Women in Science Demonstrating Outstanding Merits (WISDOM) will convene its third annual Connecting Our Talents: Women in STEM event on Oct. 8, 2026, at Lehigh University's Iacocca Conference Center, running from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Event pairs Lehigh Valley students with industry professionals to address AI's growing role in STEM careers

The gathering will bring together college students from across the Lehigh Valley with STEM industry professionals for networking and project showcases. A new format element this year requires each student presenter to spend one minute explaining how they incorporated artificial intelligence into their work, or explaining why they did not.

Sukhothai – – September 17, 2026 -- A sports court renovated by STARCARES at Ban Nam Lat School in Sukhothai, Thailand, now functions as a dual-use facility, serving 62 students on weekdays and roughly 600 residents from 180 households on weekends.

Renovated court shifts from single-use to community asset

The facility supports physical education for Ban Nam Lat School's 62 students during the week, then opens to neighbouring villagers once classes end and on weekends. STARCARES designed the transition intentionally, given that rural schools in Sukhothai often double as the only nearby recreational infrastructure available to local households.

Phoenix – September 16, 2026 -- University of Phoenix's College of Doctoral Studies will convene its 13th annual Knowledge Without Boundaries Summit on October 22-23, 2026, a fully online research conference featuring more than 90 research and scholarship presentations across disciplines.

Summit centers on research amid uncertainty and disruption

Co-sponsored by the Research and Scholarship Enterprise (RSE) and the College of Doctoral Studies, the event is themed "Research as Sense-Making in Times of Uncertainty" and titled "Exploring Scholarship, Society and Change." The interdisciplinary program addresses research practices during crisis and transition, methodological innovation amid data ambiguity, research ethics in high-stakes environments, and digital methods including artificial intelligence and algorithmic sense-making.