Annual Report of the Provost, 2001–2002
October 11, 2002
Dear Colleagues,
The past year, 2001–02, has been one of transition and renewal at the University. With four years and three months to go in my term as provost, I write to you to report on some of the achievements, changes, challenges, and aspirations for the future.
The University of Chicago has had an extraordinary tradition of sharp focus on the basic mission of a leading university, research and teaching. It will be essential to continue that tradition as we crystallize our ambitions in the Chicago Initiative. In April President Randel publicly opened the new campaign with a goal of two billion dollars, about three times the goal of our last campaign. By the end of June, in spite of difficult financial conditions, $723 million had been raised for the support of faculty research, students, programs, facilities, and other needs of the University. The early success is to be credited to the work of the President and the Development staff, and to the generosity of the Trustees, who as a group have already given more than in the last campaign.
New Appointments
Since the beginning of the last academic year, half of the deans and officers of the University have started in their new positions. Saul Levmore in the Law School, Ted Snyder in the Graduate School of Business, James Madara in the Division of Biological Sciences, Susan Mayer in the Harris School of Public Policy, and Mark Hansen in the Social Sciences Division have accepted decanal responsibilities, on which the success of the University depends. In the central administration Tom Rosenbaum has taken the office of Vice President for Research and Argonne National Laboratories, Donald Reaves began as CFO, Margo Marshak held the position of Vice President and Dean of Students for a year and readied her successor, Steve Klass, who took the job on October 1; Anne Robertson and Keith Moffat moved into the positions of Deputy Provost; Bob Rosner became Chief Scientist at Argonne; and Mike Riordan took over leadership of the University of Chicago Hospitals. I believe that we are all aware of the extent to which we are building on the achievements of our predecessors and will need to cooperate to make the most of the current opportunities.
Project Highlights
To guide policy in the sciences, Tom Rosenbaum and I have created a new Science Council, including the deans of BSD and PSD, the Deputy Provost in the sciences, and the Director and the Chief Scientist of Argonne National Laboratories. The charge of the Council is to develop more fruitful collaborations between the University and Argonne, and to oversee the major cross-divisional projects on campus. As we start construction on one of the most ambitious laboratory facilities ever built by a university, the Interdivisional Research Building, it is essential that we plan for the success of the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics at the heart of the new facility. The Council will also attend to the broader issues affecting science across the campus and, in particular, support the work to develop the Computation Institute and the Nanoscience Consortium.
Support for research and infrastructure elsewhere in the University is no less important; I call attention here to only a few of the many projects. The Centers for Race, Politics, and Culture and for Gender Studies are moving into a newly remodeled house at 5733 S. University Av. Under the leadership of its new Director, Cathy Cohen (Political Science), the Race Center will offer an expanded program in the coming years as part of a set of initiatives to weave into the intellectual and social fabric of the University more faculty, students, and staff of underrepresented minorities. The Graduate School of Business started construction on its state-of-the-art facility on the site of Woodward Court, where previously dispersed activities of GSB will be brought together. Planning has begun for a new center for the creative and performing arts, as well as for the renovation of Mandel Hall-both priorities of the Future of the Arts study group. The Economics Research Center, directed by James Heckman, opened with the mission of supporting research in empirical economics. To improve the quality of life on campus, the new Palevsky residence hall was opened last year, and a year from now we can expect the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center to provide attractive fitness and training facilities and an Olympic-size swimming pool.
Faculty Achievements & Awards
It goes without saying that the infrastructure and programs can fulfill their potential only if the schools and departments have outstanding faculties. This letter is an occasion to celebrate some of the major achievements and awards. Since a full list would require pages, here is just a sample. John Cacioppo received the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award. John Carlstrom was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. James Cronin received the Legion d’honneur. Jean Bethke Elshtain won the Goodenough Prize for lifetime achievement from the American Political Science Association. Carlos Kenig, Susan Kidwell, Edward Kolb, Steve Levitt, Peter McCullagh, Bernard McGinn, David Strauss, and William Tait were elected as Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Robert Michael was elected as a Corresponding member of the British Academy. Robert Morrissey was selected for the Ordre de Merite of the Republique Francaise. Martha Nussbaum received the Grawemeyer Award in Education. Robert Pippin was awarded the Mellon Foundation’s Distinguished Achievement Award.
To continue this distinction, the departments and schools seek to renew the faculty at the highest level. To that end, we welcome the following new, tenured faculty.
In the Biological and Physical Sciences
Albert Bendelac (Pathology), from Princeton University, whose discovery and subsequent elucidation of the role of NK/T cells place him at the forefront of immunological science.
Bruce Buffett (Geophysical Sciences), from the University of British Columbia, a geophysicist whose research offers fundamental insights into the dynamical processes in the earth’s interior from both theoretical and experimental perspectives.
Shohei Koide (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology), from the University of Rochester, a biochemist and engineer, whose creative use of techniques such as NMR spectroscopy is revealing the structure, folding, and function of proteins.
James Madara (Pathology), from Emory University, who has made numerous, seminal contributions to the understanding of the cell biology/cell physiology of the intestinal epithelial barrier and who joins us as Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences and Pritzker School of Medicine.
Brian Popko (Neurology), from the University of North Carolina, whose studies of the role of myelinating glial cells in the development and function of the mammalian nervous system has brought him world recognition.
Trevor Price (Ecology and Evolution), from UC-San Diego, whose creative application of quantitative genetic theory to the analysis of speciation in birds is supplying penetrating answers to some of the fundamental questions of evolutionary biology.
John Reppy (Computer Science), from Bell Labs-Lucent Technologies, a leader in the field of programming languages, who has made major contributions to functional, concurrent, and object-oriented programming.
Anne Rogers (Computer Science), from AT&T Labs, an applied computer scientist whose recent work in domain-specific languages for data mining has culminated in her design of the Hancock programming language.
Hisashi Yamamoto (Chemistry), from Nagoya University, an eminent synthetic organic chemist who has addressed a central problem in biological chemistry, the development of new methodologies for asymmetric catalysis.
In the Humanities and Social Sciences
Susan Burns (History), from the University of Texas, known for her reinterpretation of the intellectual history of the Kokugaku tradition, she is now engaged in a study of disease, medicine, and the body in nineteenth century Japan.
Elizabeth Clemens (Sociology), from the University of Arizona, whose study of the transformation of American political institutions, The People’s Lobby, has had a major impact on the understanding of political and social change at the turn of the twentieth century.
Cathy Cohen (Political Science), from Yale University, a leading thinker on questions of political resistance and mobilization of groups marginalized by race, gender, or sexuality, especially gay/lesbian and black communities.
Derek Neal (Economics), from the University of Wisconsin, a labor economist whose research has focused especially on “pre-market” factors affecting minority youth such as family background, schooling quality, and social environment.
John Mark Hansen (Political Science), from Harvard, one of the nation’s leading scholars of American politics, particularly public opinion, public budgeting, and elections, who joins us as Dean of the Division of the Social Sciences.
Michael Kremer (Philosophy), from the University of Notre Dame, a distinguished analytic philosopher and historian of analytic philosophy, currently completing a book on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus.
Eric Oliver (Political Science), from Princeton University, who is best known for his research on the effects of segregation and suburbanization on political participation and civic engagement.
Stephan Palmiè (Anthropology), from the University of Maryland, a Caribbeanist whose work (e.g, Wizards and Scientists: Explorations in Afro-Cuban Modernity and Tradition) is reconceptualizing the cultural history of the Atlantic world.
Philippe Schyns (Psychology), from University of Glasgow, a cognitive scientist whose work on perception and categorization is both challenging theoretical dogma and introducing innovative techniques such as “Bubbles” which will shape the future of research in this area.
Gil Stein (Oriental Institute), from Northwestern University, archaeologist and anthropologist, he is a leading authority on the evolution of complex societies and joins us as Director of the Oriental Institute.
In the Professional Schools
Philip Berger (GSB), from the University of Pennsylvania, whose research at the intersection of accounting and corporate finance is perhaps best known for his analysis of the effects of diversification on firm value.
Bernard Harcourt (Law), from University of Arizona, a scholar of criminal law and procedure offering challenging arguments in debates on criminal enforcement mechanisms, the role of harm, and the burden of proof.
The Community
The well-being of the faculty, students, and staff is linked to the health of the community, which has continued to improve over the past years. Since the mid-1970s crime has declined dramatically in Hyde Park and south Kenwood (burglaries by 76% over 25 years, robberies by 56%, sexual assaults by 92%). Last year the University extended its police protection to Woodlawn, a neighborhood revitalizing at a rapid pace. In May, 2002, the University’s Charter School at 46th St. and Greenwood was reviewed and received a glowing report that suggested it could become a national model for urban education of underprivileged children. (And I can’t resist noting that a bowling alley is scheduled to open in November in the parking garage at 55th St. and Ellis, built and operated by Steve Soble of Spare Time Incorporated.)
Financial Outlook
Finally, a brief word about the financial health of the University. As you know, the endowment of the University grew much faster than the rate of inflation in the 1990s, but over the past two years it has declined along with the stock markets. In this regard we are no different from most other universities and colleges. In the coming months we will be analyzing the consequences for our budget and considering the appropriate responses. We do not expect that the impact of the endowment decline will change our academic priorities and aspirations, though it may well require adjustments in the pace of implementation.
Please accept my best wishes for a productive year,
Richard P. Saller
Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service
Professor of History and Classics, and Provost of the University