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Crescat scientia; Vita Excolatur

Annual Report of the Provost, 1995–96

For the University community, 1995–96 was a challenging year. As we began implementing the recommendations of the Task Forces on Graduate and Undergraduate Education and on the Quality of Student Experience, initiated a major curriculum review in the College, established several new academic programs, completed the Campaign for the Next Century, strengthened the University’s finances, and began planning for the future, we tested our creativity, our resilience, and perhaps even our patience. Viewed in this light, I am pleased to report that 1995–96 was not only a challenging year, but an extraordinarily successful one as well.

Faculty

The excellence of our graduate and research programs is at the very core of our mission. In autumn 1995, the National Research Council released its decennial evaluation of these programs. In the arts and sciences, Chicago, Yale, and Harvard tied for the most number one–ranked departments in the nation, with five each. Other leading universities included Berkeley (4), Stanford (4), Princeton (2), and Columbia (2). The five number one–ranked departments at Chicago are Anthropology, Ecology and Evolution, Economics, Religion/Divinity, and Sociology. Eighteen of our departments were ranked in the top ten, as compared to seventeen in the two prior decennial evaluations. In similar surveys, our professional schools, particularly law, business, and SSA, are consistently ranked in the top four in the nation, and they usually are ranked number one when the focus is on research.

The excellence of our academic programs depends on the excellence of our faculty. To maintain that excellence, we must hold ourselves to the highest standards in the recruitment, reappointment, and promotion of faculty. As the Committee on the Criteria of Academic Appointment (the Shils Committee) observed twenty-five years ago:

  • The traditions of the University of Chicago…place it under the obligation to be in the first rank of the universities of the world in all those subjects and fields in which it is active. This means that appointive bodies must seek to recruit … and to retain … persons whose accomplishments and potentialities are adjudged to be of the very highest order in research and in teaching and in the creation of an intellectual environment in which research of the highest order is done and in which students of distinguished intellectual potentiality are formed and guided.
  • The Committee regards distinction in research accomplishment and promise as the sine qua non of academic appointment… . The appointment of academic staff members must, therefore, place in the forefront the criteria which will populate the University with persons capable of research at the most advanced level and of the highest quality. It is imperative that in every case the appointive body ask itself whether the candidate proposed, if [junior], is likely in a decade to be among the most distinguished scientists or scholars of his generation; if [senior] whether he is already in that position and whether the work which he is likely to do in the remainder of his career will be of at least the same quality.

We have an obligation to adhere to these standards, and we do. In 1995–96, we promoted eighteen members of the faculty to tenure, and we appointed sixty-eight new members of the faculty. Each of these individuals met the rigorous “criteria” set forth by the Shils Committee. Among our new colleagues are:

  • Glenn Steele, from Harvard, a specialist in oncological surgery who now serves as Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and Vice-President for Medical Affairs;
  • Eric Santner, from Princeton, an expert in twentieth-century German literary and cultural studies;
  • Jonathan Lear, from Yale, a scholar in the areas of logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of psychoanalysis;
  • James Ketelaar, from Stanford, an authority on modern Japanese history;
  • Kathleen Morrison, from Northwestern, an archaeologist who specializes in the study of complex societies of pre-industrial empires;
  • Tom Gunning, from Northwestern, an expert in early American cinema;
  • Herb Abelson, from the University of Washington, a specialist in the treatment of childhood anemia and the new Chair of the Department of Pediatrics;
  • John Lucy, from Penn, a scholar whose research focuses on the complex relation between language and cognition;
  • David Ledbetter, from the National Institutes of Health, a specialist in human cytogenetics who now chairs our Center on Medical Genetics;
  • Yuri Tsivian, from U.S.C. and the Latvian Academy of Sciences, a scholar of pre-Revolutionary Russian cinema;
  • Fanghua Lin, from the Courant Institute at New York University, a specialist in partial differential equations;
  • John Bailar, from McGill, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who chairs our new Department of Health Studies;
  • Dwight Hopkins, from Santa Clara, an expert on African-American and liberation theologies; and
  • Shmuel Weinberger, from Penn, a leading researcher in geometric topology.

We warmly welcome these and all of our new colleagues. We expect great things from them for many years to come.

The national and, indeed, international distinction of our faculty is reflected in the extraordinary number of awards, honors, and fellowships they receive each year. More than one hundred members of the faculty received such recognition in 1995–96. Here is a small sample of those achievements: Bob Lucas was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics (the fifth member of our faculty to win the prize in six years—an unprecedented achievement); Ugo Fano (Physics) received the Enrico Fermi Award for his pathbreaking research that led to the development of lasers; Spencer Bloch (Mathematics) won the Humboldt Research Award for his lifelong contributions to the field of mathematics; Susan Kidwell (Geophysical Sciences) received the Schuchert Award of the International Paleontological Society; Wendy Doniger (Divinity) and John Simpson (Physics) were elected members of the American Philosophical Society; Bob Clayton (Geophysical Sciences) and Elaine Fuchs (Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology) were elected to the National Academy of Sciences; Janet Rowley (Medicine) was awarded the Gairdner Foundation International Award for Extraordinary Achievement in Medical Science; Tom Sargent (Economics) received the Erwin Plein Nemmers Award in Economics; and William Fulton (Mathematics) was named to the Erlander Professorship by the Swedish Natural Science Research Council. In addition, eight members of the faculty were elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and, as an impressive measure of future promise, more than a dozen of our younger colleagues were awarded Sloan, Guggenheim, Packard, Searle, and Beckman fellowships.

During the past year, members of the faculty have published scores of new books on a vast array of subjects. Among those that crossed my desk last year were John Boyer’s Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna; Philip Gossett’s three-volume critical edition of Rossini’s Ermione; Michael Camille’s The Lifeless Art of Pierre Remiet; Martha Ward’s Pissarro, Neo-Impressionism, and the Space of the Avant Garde; Lindsay Chase-Lansdale’s Escape from Poverty; Richard Epstein’s Simple Rules for a Complex World; John Goldsmith’s Ideology and Linguistic Theory; Larry Lynn’s Public Management as Art, Science, and Profession; Tom Mitchell’s Picture Theory; Michael Murrin’s History and Warfare in Renaissance Epic; Martha Roth’s Law Collections from Mesopotamia; Steven Davis’s Job Creation and Destruction; Richard Strier’s Resistant Structures; and Stephen Walt’s Revolution and War, to name just a few. Over the past year, many of you have graciously responded to my request for copies of new books you’ve written and scholarly journals you’ve edited. I do hope you will continue to send me these publications. It is a valuable way for the President, the Provost, and others of us on “the Fifth Floor” to keep up with your achievements.

Much of our research requires external funding, and last year our faculty received 1,500 grants and awards totaling more than $207 million. This represents an increase of 11.5 percent over 1994–95 and 25 percent over 1993–94. At a time of tightening federal support for research, this is nothing short of remarkable. Last year we received forty-nine grants and awards over $1 million (an increase of 300 percent over 1993–94), including (among many others) $10.7 million from the National Cancer Institute to support cancer and leukemia research; $7.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate innovations in welfare reform and poverty policy; $5.4 million from the Department of Energy for research in high energy particle physics; $5.3 million from the National Institutes of Health to support joint M.D.-Ph.D. programs in basic biomedical sciences; $3.9 million from the National Science Foundation to support the University’s Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica; and $2.6 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support programs in neurobiology and genetics.

Academic Programs

1995–96 saw the creation of several new programs to foster interdisciplinary work at the University. Under the leadership of Leora Auslander, the new Center for Gender Studies will foster research and teaching on issues relating to gender; under the direction of Michael Dawson, the new Center for Race, Politics, and Culture will study the ways in which race both shapes and divides American life; and under the direction of Rashid Khalidi, the reinvigorated Center on International Studies launched several new initiatives, including an ambitious program on the issues faced by “minorities” throughout the world.

The Biological Sciences Division established two important new programs in 1995–96. The Department of Health Studies will focus on such areas as epidemiology, biostatistical methods, and population studies; and the even newer Department of Human Genetics will integrate clinical and basic science in interdisciplinary research and education in the field of human genetics. In addition, the Advanced Photon Source, the world’s most brilliant source of X rays, opened last year at Argonne National Laboratory, which is managed by the University. The APS will profoundly expand the opportunities for cutting edge scientific research for scholars from the University and, indeed, from around the world.

Nineteen ninety-five/ninety-six also marked the initiation of several new educational programs, including the Physical Sciences Division’s new master’s program in Financial Mathematics, the Humanities Division’s new Master of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH), SSA’s innovative new master’s program for DCFS supervisors, and the Graduate School of Business’s expansion into the realm of non-degree continuing studies with new programs in Executive and Corporate Education.

Other new and noteworthy programs are reflected in the award of more than $300,000 in grants to faculty by the University’s Board of Computing Activities and Services to support the development of innovative computing technologies for research and instruction, and the award of $400,000 in grants by a joint Argonne/University of Chicago committee chaired by Vice-President for Research David Schramm to support collaborative research between scholars at Argonne and the University.

Students

Because we have spent a good deal of time this year discussing undergraduate education, I will focus this part of my report on the College. We have a strong undergraduate student body. In terms of objective criteria, such as SAT scores and high school records, our College students are near the mean of the students at the top ten research universities. Moreover, in terms of more subjective factors, such as seriousness of purpose, intellectual curiosity, and academic values, we have every reason to believe that our undergraduates are among the best in the nation. It is thus not surprising that our College students this year won more than their share of honors, including a Rhodes Scholarship, a Marshall Scholarship, twelve NSF Fellowships, four Mellon Fellowships, two Fulbright Fellowships, and two DAAD Scholarships.

On the other hand, it is also true that we have fewer undergraduate applicants than any of our peer institutions. Too many of the nation’s best high school students do not apply to Chicago, and too many of those who do apply and are accepted choose to attend other, often (by any usual measure) less excellent institutions. As President Sonnenschein has noted, we must make “the College more frequently the school of choice for the most talented and committed students.” This represents an important challenge for the future, particularly at a time when we are planning a gradual expansion of the College.

In this light, I am pleased to report that applications to the College in 1995–96 increased by 23 percent and that the College last year had an all-time record number of applications. As we move forward, we will build upon this success by enhancing our admissions, recruiting, and financial aid efforts and by addressing some of the concerns that are most often voiced by students who decide not to apply or not to attend Chicago. To this end, we already have begun to implement some of the recommendations of the Task Force on the Quality of Student Experience:

  • We have dramatically improved CAPS, which is responsible for career and placement services for both undergraduate and graduate students.
  • We have established a new University Community Service Center to coordinate and support student public service activities across campus.
  • We are now undertaking the second phase of the Reynolds Club project, which will completely renovate the “C Shop” and expand space for student organizations.
  • Beginning this fall, we will provide a new and expanded range of food services for students both in and out of the dormitories.
  • We will initiate a new bus service this fall that will make the resources of the city more readily accessible to students, staff, and faculty.
  • In partnership with the Chicago Park District, we will inaugurate a new Olympic-size skating rink on the Midway this winter.
  • With the generous support of the Graduate School of Business, the College has introduced a new program in Barcelona that will expand significantly the opportunities of our undergraduates to study abroad.
  • Under the leadership of Dean Boyer, the College is in the midst of a long-term curriculum review.
  • A faculty committee chaired by Bob Rosner is undertaking a comprehensive review of our academic calendar.
  • The President has initiated a search for a new Vice-President and Associate Dean of the College who will have primary responsibility for undergraduate admissions, financial aid, and enrollment management.

As the above suggests, we recognize that although our students come here first and foremost in pursuit of academics, they also seek a broad range of social and extracurricular diversions, including community service, theater, music, art, and athletics. These activities may not be at the very core of our mission, but they are important to the University community because they play a meaningful role in enriching the lives of our students.

Capital Projects

In addition to the Reynolds Club project mentioned above, a number of other campus projects are now underway. This month, we open the 515,000-square-foot Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine, a facility dedicated to the most advanced outpatient medical care; last month, we broke ground on the expansion and renovation of the Oriental Institute; we have made significant progress on the expansion and renovation of Allee Laboratory, which will provide the University with advanced facilities for research in biopsychology; we are in the midst of a major renovation of Jones Chemistry Laboratory; and the Law School’s new Kane Center for Clinical Legal Studies has been fully funded and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Moreover, in accord with the recommendations of a faculty Committee on Instructional and Research Media, we are now in the process of equipping sixteen classrooms across campus with modern audiovisual equipment and an additional seven classrooms with even more advanced digital media to provide faculty and students with ready access to the most up-to-date learning technologies. Other ongoing projects include a $1.3-million project to complete the retrospective conversion of the Library’s card catalogue; a program to renovate and refurbish more than sixty classrooms across campus; and a multi-year effort to enhance the beauty of what is already a beautiful campus, beginning last spring with the re-landscaping of the central quadrangles.

Finally, I should note that other major projects now under active consideration include the expansion and reconfiguration of Regenstein Library; the renovation/replacement of the PSD’s Research Institutes; and the construction of a new Athletics Center and swimming pool.

Campaign for the Next Century

When the University first announced the Campaign for the Next Century in 1991, the Board of Trustees set an ambitious goal of $500 million. In early 1995, in an effort to strengthen the University’s finances, the President and the board raised that goal to $650 million. There was no guarantee that this goal would be achieved. It was a stretch and a risk. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Presidents Gray and Sonnenschein, the Board of Trustees, Vice-President Randy Holgate and her staff, our Deans, and our many friends and alumni, the University completed the Campaign for the Next Century on June 30, 1996, having raised $676 million. This is a stunning and profoundly important achievement. Not only does it provide essential financial support to the University today, but it also lays the foundation for even greater success in the future.

More than 92,000 donors participated in the campaign, including 53.4 percent of our alumni. The campaign raised more than $50 million for student scholarships and fellowships; $86 million for faculty support, including the establishment of forty-five new named professorships; and $103 million for campus buildings and facilities. If you’ve ever wondered what our Trustees do for the University—in addition to overseeing our investments, budgets, financial policies, fund raising, academic programs, and campus and neighborhood planning—you should know that our Trustees contributed more than $100 million to the campaign.

Among the largest gifts we received were $21 million from the Richard Duchossois family to support the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine; a $15-million challenge gift to the GSB from Trustee Eric Gleacher (M.B.A.’67) to help finance the University’s downtown Gleacher Center; more than $11 million from Trustee Irving B. Harris to support the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies and research and teaching programs in other areas of the University; $10 million from Mr. and Mrs. Jules Knapp to fund the Jules F. Knapp Medical Research Center and the Gwen Knapp Center for Lupus and Immunology Research; and a very creative multimillion-dollar challenge gift from Mrs. Gaylord Donnelley and her family that, when fully matched by gifts from others, eventually will generate additional funds to support College scholarships. We are deeply grateful to these and our many other generous supporters for all they do on our behalf.

University Finances

In 1993–94, President Sonnenschein, Vice-President Lawrence Furnstahl, and I reported that the University would have a budget deficit of $15 million that year and that if we continued “business as usual” (i.e., same size student body, same distribution of students across academic programs, same financial aid policies, same size faculty, same administrative practices), that deficit would grow to $45 million by 1996–97 and to almost $60 million by the end of the decade. The President promised the Board of Trustees that we would take immediate action to bring the budget under control, that the deficit would be no greater than $15 million in 1996–97, and that we would be back to budget equilibrium by 1999–2000. To that end, we instituted a series of stringent budget guidelines for 1995–96 and 1996–97. Against that background, I am delighted to report that we will achieve a balanced budget in 1996–97—three years ahead of schedule.

Let there be no mistake about it—this is not the product of luck (although we did have some luck, particularly in the form of a strong stock market over the past two years) or financial finagling. It is, rather, the product of very hard work by Deans, faculty, and administrators. We have increased annual net tuition revenue (tuition less financial aid) across the University by an extraordinary $38 million from 1993–94 to 1996–97 ($27 million more than net tuition would have increased without those efforts); we have cut $12 million out of our annual administrative base; we have decreased the size of the faculty by thirty-five; and, as noted above, we have exceeded even the enhanced goal in the Campaign for the Next Century.

I am also pleased to report that, as a result of this success, we have eased our budget guidelines for 1997–98 and 1998–99, authorizing more significant increases in faculty salaries and financial aid, some relaxation of pressure on administrative expenses, and a reduction in the rate of deferral of faculty appointments. Moreover, our new guidelines call for no further increases in the number of graduate or professional students over 1996–97 enrollments. As we move forward, we must carefully evaluate the changes we have made and build upon our success.

Planning for the Future

Although we have made great progress in the last three years, we have much to do. As has been clear since 1993–94 and as the President reiterated in his letter of April 30, the challenge we face is not only to balance our short-term operating budget, but also to “generat[e] resources at a level necessary for long-run support of excellence.” At present, even with a balanced budget, we are significantly undercapitalized for long-term excellence.

In large part because of the relatively small size of our College (which declined from 4,000 in the 1930s to less than 1,500 by the 1950s), our endowment over the last fifty years has grown at a significantly slower rate than those of our peer institutions, and we have not had the resources to invest adequately in laboratories, libraries, and other essential facilities. That cannot continue. As the President has observed, to maintain our excellence over the long run we must generate the capital to “provide faculty with outstanding research space, materials, and equipment; pay top salaries; support new intellectual initiatives; build and maintain superb libraries and computing facilities; furnish teachers and students with modern classrooms and laboratories; and offer appropriate and competitive financial aid.”

We are already at work to address this larger challenge. As President Sonnenschein explained in his April 30 letter, we are embarking on a course of action that will make “the College more frequently the school of choice for the most talented and committed students” and that should enable us “to effect a rather significant expansion of our College, from our current 3,550 undergraduates to 4,500 within ten years.” Although we will have to make significant investments in dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, and student services to achieve this goal, we are confident that, by the end of this ten-year period, the incremental net tuition revenue from a larger College will exceed $10 million annually—even after accounting for the additional investments and expenditures. And this revenue will increase every year thereafter as these additional students become alumni and supporters of the University. Thus, if we do this well, we will have the resources not only to provide an even more excellent education to our undergraduates, but also to build our long-term capital strength by investing in endowment, buildings, libraries, faculty salaries, student stipends, and the neighborhood.

None of this will be easy. Perhaps most important, we must succeed in a way that preserves and strengthens what is most special about the University of Chicago—its distinctive and long-standing commitments to excellence in research, interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship, robust programs of graduate education, an undergraduate program premised on the value of general education, and, above all else, a fundamental commitment to taking research, education, discourse, and ideas seriously. This is work worth doing.

With warm best wishes for a satisfying and challenging academic year
Geoffrey R. Stone
Harry Kalven, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor in the Law School and the College, and Provost of the University