INNOVATION: IT'S IN OUR DNA.

• Position: EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATION

The entrepreneurial spirit drew them to High Point University.

Today, they watch it come to life in the new $120 million Congdon Hall.

Dr. Daniel Erb, who hails from Duke University, is the dean of HPU's Congdon School of Health Sciences. Dr. Ron Ragan became dean of HPU's Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy after building a top program in the Midwest.

Congdon Hall, the university's single largest investment in history, opened this fall and ushered in a new era of health innovation and graduate studies. Erb and Ragan remember the early days when these programs were merely plans on paper.

But they had opportunity, and Dr. Nido Qubein, HPU president, had vision.

"I came to High Point because there is a can-do attitude here," Erb says. "That's more evident today than ever before."

Erb and Ragan hired faculty who are leading experts in their fields and welcomed students into new programs in physician assistant studies, physical therapy and pharmacy. Their classes are selective--between 60 and 70 in the physical therapy and pharmacy cohorts, and 35 in the newest physician assistant cohort. Their students compete against more than 1,000 applicants for their spots.

In August, Congdon Hall opened as the hub of innovation for these two academic schools, bringing 220,000-square-feet of medical research and clinical practice space to campus. Expansive labs and technology include a Human Biomechanics and Physiology Lab that is the only North American site where research for Adidas is conducted. There's a gross anatomy lab that rivals the best in the country, high-fidelity mannequins that act as real patients, an environmental chamber where the altitude can mimic up to 15,000 feet above sea level.

The transformational plan that Qubein began when he became president in 2005 has always centered on taking HPU to new academic heights.

"When campus is infused with the spirit of an entrepreneur, you find opportunities to do things that haven't been done before," Ragan says. "We built our programs from the ground up and created opportunities students don't have elsewhere."

"The vision was right on target," says Erb. "The programs we set out to develop are needed in the changing landscape of health care. Now, our mission is to prepare students to become the kind of health care providers who will, quite literally, change lives."

FOCUSED ON PATIENT CARE

In fact, they've already started.

In the last year, their new students have arrived as the programs launched in steps--physician assistant studies in 2015, pharmacy in 2016, and physical therapy in 2017. Their work in the classroom has quickly been applied to conducting impactful research and serving the underserved in their community.

HPU's first physical therapy doctoral students--60 total--made history when they arrived on May 17. This fall, they opened a pro bono physical therapy clinic that is meeting the needs of community members who otherwise wouldn't have access to these types of services. Read more about the first physical therapy class on page 24.

They're learning from a group of faculty who hail from leading medical universities and health centers...