Author of "Hidden Figures" to give UNCG commencement
Margot Lee Shetterly, author of the book “Hidden Figures” from which the movie of the same name is based, will be the commencement speaker for the UNC-Greensboro graduating class of 2017.
“Hidden Figures” tells the story of three African American women who, while suffering discrimination due to both their gender and skin color, worked for NASA during the space race, solving intense mathematical equations that helped the United States execute a number of space exploration missions.
Jeff Shafer, UNCG associate vice chancellor, said Shetterly was chosen because of the salience of her book’s message; that if given the opportunity, anyone can achieve great things. He said he hopes Shetterly’s story will inspire the graduating class to achieve their goals in life and empower them to overcome life’s obstacles.
App State professor publishes study on relationship between future planning and risk taking
Appalachian State University Psychology Professor Andrew Monroe recently published a study that found that thinking about the future, even with an optimistic outlook, may cause people to behave pessimistically and make risk-averse decisions.
He found there was a mismatch between people’s optimistic ideas of what their futures would look like and their capacity to trust others and make high-risk high-payoff decisions.
Monroe said in an email that the results initially surprised him.
“You might expect that these types of positive thoughts would motivate people to be more trusting and risk-tolerant. (Yet) focusing on this bright and promising future appears to make people more worried about making mistakes or losing out on their desired, imagined future.”
