The department gathered mid-December for great food and fun and to celebrate the end of semester and close of 2022. We held our first-ever ornament decorating contest; Natalie, Rene, Isabella, and Valentina were awarded “Best Ornament” prizes from a competitive field of about 30 creative entries. We gave a spur-of-the-moment award to Clare for her homemade decorated cookies that were almost too beautiful to eat. Ernesto, Ashley, and Nikki were the lucky door prize winners. Thanks to all in the department who came to celebrate and to all the volunteers who made it possible! We’re looking forward to a fantastic 2023 as our two newest faculty, Shuai Huang and Shujun Ou, start up their labs, and we search for and recruit two more junior faculty to begin next fall.