Message from the Provost’s Office
From the University Provost and
Associate Provost and Vice President for Research
This year we are delighted to present an expansion of the scope of the magazine to include research, scholarship, and creative activity in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. As in years past, you will also be introduced in these pages to researchers working in the natural sciences, medicine, engineering, and technology.
David K. Campbell
University Provost
Given the extent of the scholarly activities in our seventeen schools and colleges, as well as dozens of centers and institutes, we realize it is impossible to provide a complete overview of research efforts at Boston University in one annual publication. But we believe the newly broadened scope offers a more comprehensive, balanced perspective.
Uniting researchers in all disciplines at Boston University is the conviction that research and teaching are complementary and that new discoveries augment and sustain our work as educators. Disce ut doceas—learn in order to teach. We hope this conviction is also reflected in the magazine.
Apart from the remarkable breadth and depth of traditional disciplinary research at Boston University, the articles demonstrate the many connections—some quite unexpected—across disciplines. As you will see, “Sights and Sounds: Explorations in the Arts” highlights collaborations between artists and scientists, while “Talking about Religion and Culture” looks at the ways in which faculty members from five very different academic disciplines—classics, economics, law, religion, and sociology—explore issues of faith. All of the articles illustrate the talent and ingenuity of our faculty and students and their engagement in the world around us.
Andrei E. Ruckenstein
Associate Provost and
Vice President for Research
While encouraging interdisciplinary, collective efforts, Boston University is also committed to fostering an environment that nurtures individual researchers. Our newly appointed Associate Provost and Vice President for Research, Andrei Ruckenstein, will seek to promote and advance this dynamic balance between strategic research initiatives and individual creativity. He will play a central role in enabling and enhancing research, scholarship, and inquiry throughout the University. In his own research—which extends across physics, molecular biophysics, and structural and computational biology—Dr. Ruckenstein has proven to be an influential and visionary leader. We are delighted to welcome him now and to entrust future issues of this magazine to him.
Like any publication of this nature, Research at Boston University is necessarily a snapshot in time. For the most up-to-date research news, please visit our website at www.bu.edu/research.
