WHY? It’s the central question of human existence, the one first asked by children: Why is the sky blue, the grass green? We may grow up, but the query remains, evolving with us every step of the way. Why can’t we cure cancer? Why must we suffer addiction? Why can’t we eradicate terrorism? As a major private research university, the question drives everything we do at Boston University, from our pursuit of diagnostics, vaccines, and cures to the safety of our online interactions and our comprehension of the universe. “Why?” has the potential to unlock a thousand doors.
Case in point: one of our most significant achievements this past year was reaching our $1 billion fundraising campaign goal a year ahead of schedule, thanks to the generosity of our alumni, staff, students, and friends. That money will go toward the hiring of talented professors and groundbreaking researchers, supporting new buildings and labs, and increasing financial aid, to name just a few benefits. But even before we closed the books, the question was posed: Why stop at $1 billion? What other diseases might we tackle, what other barriers might we break, how many more talented minds could we help develop? So, in fall 2015, the Board of Trustees announced an extension of the campaign. We’re now shooting for $1.5 billion by 2019 and we couldn’t be more excited.
To share that excitement as well as the other fruits of our recent labors, we built this year’s Annual Report around our relentless pursuit of answers to that one single question.
Robert A. Brown
President, Boston University