Actress Laverne Cox, who plays the role of Sophia Burset, an incarcerated African-American transgender woman in Orange Is the New Black, speaks in the Palestra during Meliora Weekend.

Paul O’Dette, professor of lute and one of the most influential figures in the study and performance of early music, is receiving international recognition for the albums My Favorite Dowland and Charpentier: La Descente d’Orphee aux enfers; La Couronne de Fleurs.

The National Institutes of Health has invited the Medical Center to join the NIH Accelerating Medicines Partnership in Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus Network. Made up of 11 research groups from around the country, its aim is to develop new treatments for patients with the conditions.

The Rochester Laptop Orchestra performs “Viral Composition” at the annual Rochester Fringe Festival. The group is composed of students at the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music who compose and perform unique, interactive compositions controlled by Wiimotes, Kinect sensors, genetic sequences, and other custom sensors.

Bradford C. Berk announced that he will be stepping down as senior vice president for Health Sciences and CEO of the Medical Center on Jan. 1, 2015, and will launch a new Rochester Neurorestorative Institute to conduct research and provide patient care for people who, like himself, have lost neurological function through disease or injury.

Vice President and University Dean Paul Burgett leads the incoming freshman class in their first singing of the alma mater — with the help of the University’s a cappella ensembles — at the annual Convocation ceremony.

Assistant track coach Jay Petsch is doused by football players Jordan Golinowski ’15, left and Farid Adenuga ’16. Fifteen members of the Athletic Department took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge on Aug. 19, and supported research into ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Legendary flute player Sir James Galway takes a picture of senior flute major Jennifer Zhou during a master class in at the Eastman School of Music.

Mary Ann Mavrinac, vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of River Campus Libraries, has been selected for the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Ontario College and University Library Association.