Annual Report of the Provost, 2002–2003
October 22, 2003
Dear Colleagues,
The past year was one of heightened anxiety in higher education across the country, as financial pressures pinched universities and the USA Patriot Act threatened to intrude into their intellectual lives. Happily, although we must remain vigilant, the latter seems not to have affected the University of Chicago, and the most tangible intrusions came in the form of backhoes and bulldozers.
Let me take the occasion of the annual letter to describe some of the achievements and events of the past year, as well as some of the important works in progress. Among the many major events of 2002–2003 the Law School celebrated its great tradition on the occasion of its centennial, marked by the publication of the Centennial Issue of the University of Chicago Law Review, which included essays by the faculty. The Biological Sciences Division has received funding to expand its research in microbiology with two major grants from NIAID, one to form a Regional Center of Excellence and the other to build a Regional Biocontainment Laboratory at Argonne. The RCE and RBL will make the University a leader in research on microbes that cause infectious diseases from anthrax to West Nile Fever.
Faculty
It goes without saying that the bedrock of the quality of the University is its outstanding faculty. The academic year 2002–2003 witnessed the recruitment of excellent new faculty and also the disappointing departures of valued colleagues. I have been asked whether the trend of departures has grown worse in recent years. The answer is, I think, no. In each of the past two years only nine senior faculty members in the arts and sciences have left for other universities, out of a total base of 450 tenured faculty. Although each unwanted departure is painful, the University is on the whole in good health.
We want to extend an especially warm welcome to our new faculty, senior and untenured. The freshly appointed Full and Associate Professors include:
Richard Baron (Radiology), from University of Pittsburgh, a leading expert in abdominal imaging, known especially for his research in CT and MRI detection of various types of liver pathology; he joins us as Chair of the department
Bernard Ewigman (Family and Community Medicine), from University of Missouri-Columbia, a national leader in the development of core research on family practice, notably in the areas of evidence-based medicine and the application of technology to primary care; he joins us as Chair of the department
Lance Fortnow (Computer Science), from NEC Research Institute, whose fundamental contributions to complexity theory continue in his recent work on quantum computation and time-space tradeoffs
Mark Ghiorso (Geophysical Sciences), from University of Washington, a computational petrologist who developed MELTS, an evolving, thermodynamically-based model of the formation of rocks from fluid magma
Arthur Haney (Obstetrics & Gynecology), from Duke University, distinguished internationally for his pathbreaking contributions to reproductive endocrinology and infertility; he joins us as Chair of the department
Amy Hollywood (Divinity), from Dartmouth, a medievalist whose recent book, Sensible Ecstasy: Mysticism, Sexual Difference, and the Demands of History, provides provocative insights in juxtaposing modern French theorists and the Christian mystical tradition.
Travis Jackson (Music), from Michigan, specializes in African American and Central African musics with a current focus on the performance, aesthetics, and meaning of jazz
Alexei Khokhlov (Astronomy), from the Naval Research Laboratory, a leader in computational astrophysics and fluid dynamics and world expert on thermonuclear detonation supernovae
Young-Kee Kim (Physics), from Berkeley, a high-energy experimental physicist known particularly for her role in the determination of the W-boson mass, one of the most important measures in the standard model
Agnes Lugo-Ortiz (Romance Languages), from Dartmouth, whose research on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Latin-American literature focuses on the relationship between cultural and political identity in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean islands
John McCormick (Political Sciences), from Yale, a political theorist who examines some of the paradoxes and contradictions of liberalism as developed in twentieth-century European, especially German, social theory
Harold Pollack (SSA), from Michigan, a policy analyst whose research examines the effectiveness and costs of programs and policies that are designed to prevent or change behaviors, especially smoking and drug use
Paul Seidel (Mathematics), from Imperial College, a leading figure in the area of symplectic topology and gauge theory
Robert Shimer (Economics) from Princeton, who brings both theoretical modeling and empirical macroeconomics to bear in analyses of labor markets that challenge the standard models
Bernard Wasserstein (History), from University of Glasgow, a distinguished scholar of modern Jewish history, whose recent Israelis and Palestinians: Why do they fight? Can they stop? is receiving wide public attention
Martin Weigert (Pathology), from Princeton, a distinguished immunologist whose landmark discoveries in the field of autoimmunity include somatic hypermutation and receptor editing
In addition, fifteen faculty members were awarded tenure as a result of consideration last December 15th. When the new provost of Columbia University, Alan Brinkley, was asked by a New York Times reporter to describe the contents of his new job, his concise answer was “space and money.” Happily, the job is not as drearily narrow as those words suggest, and reading about the research and teaching of our newly tenured faculty gave an exhilarating impression that the future of the University will be in good hands.
The world beyond Hyde Park continues to acknowledge the distinction of our faculty through numerous awards and honors, only a very few of which can be noted here.
John Coetzee received the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Alexei Abrikosov of Argonne National Laboratory shared the Nobel Prize in Physics. Wen-Hsiung Li and Sidney Nagel were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. John Cacioppo, Rochelle Esposito, John Mark Hansen, Thomas Holt, Boyan Jovanovic, Friedrich Katz, Donald Lamb, Tanya Luhrmann, and John Mearsheimer were elected as Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Shulamit Ran was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Sheila Fitzpatrick was awarded the Mellon Foundation’s Distinguished Achievement Award. Steven Levitt received the John Bates Clark Medal in economics. Wen-Hsiung Li won the Balzan Prize in genetics and evolution. Eugene Parker was honored with the Kyoto Prize. Raghuran Rajan accepted the Fisher Black Award in finance. And Janet Rowley received the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Distinguished Achievement in the Sciences.
Space planning and construction
Anyone on or around the campus over the past summer was affected by the construction projects. Despite the inconvenience many were amused by the game of trying to find their way through the constantly shifting maze of temporary paths around the ditches dug to repair the 70-year-old steam tunnels and to lay the backbone for a central chiller system. In addition, work on the Ratner Athletics Center has brought it to the point of completion for its dedication on October 11. The new GSB facility is taking shape with the expectation that it will be open for use next autumn, and the Interdivisional Research Building is on schedule for completion in the summer of 2005. Through all of this we appreciate your patience.
These magnificent new buildings will serve central needs of our community, but leave other needs to be met through an extension of the 1999 Master Plan. The Physical and Biological Sciences Divisions require additional or renovated laboratories, the Library needs additional shelf space, the arts deserve more and better space, the College will want additional dormitory rooms, to name only some of the priorities. A number of units have been engaged in assessing their priorities for space and other infrastructure. In the coming year those priorities will be drawn together and integrated into a University framework for the next wave of renovation and new construction.
The financial condition of the University
The University is not immune from the financial challenges confronting higher education in a weak economy. You may have read about salary and hiring freezes at some universities and faculty reductions at others. We do not expect the financial stresses here to be as severe as at some other universities, but the limits on our resources will be felt over the next few years, and the reasons are straightforward.
In 1996 the University, following consultations at all levels, proceeded with a major building plan. The addition of major new facilities was projected to take the budget into deficit for a period of seven years, after which it would return to balance. The deficits did not materialize in the late 1990s as expected, both because the run-up in the stock market increased the endowment well beyond projections and because the construction lagged a few years. But these two factors have now changed, as the stock market has lagged and the construction is nearing completion. As a result of the weak economy and markets, the value of the endowment on which next year’s payout will be calculated is about $1.2 billion less than projected in 2000; the consequent loss of payout is about $50 million. This loss of projected revenue from endowment will hit the budget at a time when the costs associated with the new buildings will add roughly $30 million to expenses. With the passage of time the University’s revenues from endowment and tuition will catch up with expenses, but we will need to work to control expenses. With restraint and careful decision-making we should be able to address these deficits without sacrificing our main academic priorities, though we may have to postpone some worthy projects until the finances improve.
In order to soften the financial landing from the declining endowment, I have worked with the deans and officers over the past year and a half to moderate expenditures. In 2002–03 these efforts produced a budget surplus, which the units will keep as savings to draw on in future years to cushion the real declines in endowment payout. Meanwhile, the President and the Development staff are making a concerted effort to raise new funds in a difficult environment. As of August 31 the Chicago Initiative has brought in $912 million. Finally, it is important to maintain a sense of perspective about the magnitude of the challenge. The projected deficits are large in absolute terms, but are of the order of 3% of a $1.4 billion budget over the next three years. We know from past experience that the University can maintain and enhance its excellence in research and teaching in the face of such a challenge.
Let me close with my very best wishes for a productive year in your research and teaching.
Cordially,
Richard P. Saller
Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service
Professor of History and Classics, and Provost of the University