Meet Boston University’s New Provost, Colin Duckett
“I believe the best work happens when you can forget yourself—when you’re so absorbed in a problem with a group of people that everything else drops away. I get to experience that with our people every day,” says Duckett, photographed on the Charles River Campus on July 8. Photo by Bob O’Connor
Meet Boston University’s New Provost, Colin Duckett
In an interview with BU Today, he talks about his initial impressions and what’s on his to-do list
A world-renowned immunologist and molecular biologist, Colin Duckett has joined Boston University as its new provost and chief academic officer, effective July 1. He arrived from Duke University, where he was executive vice president for research at the School of Medicine. His new duties encompass both BU’s Charles River, Fenway, and Medical Campuses.
In a letter to the BU community announcing his appointment, President Melissa Gilliam noted that Duckett brings the experience necessary to help the University make progress on its goals, including greater collaboration between the two campuses and Boston Medical Center, the medical school’s primary teaching hospital.
“Colleagues across his institutions consistently note his thoughtful approach to leadership, his boundless curiosity, kindness, and commitment to engaging with faculty and academic leaders, and his ability to guide complex conversations with clarity and respect,” she wrote.
Duckett recently met with BU Today for an interview at his One Silber Way office, where he discussed how he’s settling in and his immediate goals for the coming academic year. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q&A
With Colin Duckett
BU Today: What are your first impressions of BU?
Duckett: What strikes me already: the range and quality of work happening across our campuses is remarkable. I’m somebody who focuses on what it’s like to come to work at Boston University. That broader question is important to think about, as my office largely focuses on serving academic leaders, faculty, students, and staff. This is a large organization, but it’s composed of human beings. It’s an ecosystem. It takes time to understand a place. It goes beyond org charts; it’s about actually getting to know people.
When I’ve met with deans and others, I like to go see them in their locations, so I can have a visual sense of where they work. I have an opportunity to walk through the school, see the building, bump into people on the way, meet their administrative staff, and chat with students. Getting out and about is an important part of the first phase of this job. I was just talking to students in RISE, a six-week science program for precollege high school students. I told the students that as a scientist, when I see data, I imagine the experiment underneath it. I think you’ve got to be able to envisage the University the same way I can visualize an experiment. You can imagine people’s lives in that building.
What got me excited to come here was when the president described the vision to be Boston’s University. I was an undergrad at the University of London, and there you essentially live in this big city, and, oh, by the way, you show up to the university occasionally, as opposed to being in a college town where the university environment is your home. If you’re a student at Boston University, you are immediately part of a community on our campuses as well as our city. I love that.
BU Today: What are the first things on your to-do list?
Duckett: Among my first priorities are the dean searches that we have underway. [The Questrom School of Business, College of General Studies, Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, and College of Fine Arts are seeking new deans.] The president and I are spending a lot of time thinking about the future of these schools and colleges, and we’ve got strong search committees and deep pools of candidates.
Then, I’m learning about the global nature of the University and what it means. I think about Study Abroad in London, Australia, Switzerland, Greece, and elsewhere, and imagine the experience for an incoming student. Part of that work is understanding what students and their families are looking for. Why would you want to come to Boston University, specifically? What would make you come here and only here? We’re thinking about the curriculum and the other kinds of opportunities available to students throughout their academic journey.
BU Today: There’s a lot of momentum around convergence here at BU. How are you thinking about convergence as you come on board and what kind of discussions are you having?
Duckett: Successful scientists and humanists have been interdisciplinary for many years. The focus on convergence is taking this to another level by creating infrastructure that will support our ability to work across disciplines and create new solutions to societal challenges.
For example, engineers have been working with biomedical researchers for a long time. Biomedical engineers run MRI studies of the brain, so it makes sense to have biomedical researchers in close proximity to engineers. You need to think: Who’s my neighbor going to be in the lab next door? It’s vital to create a culture around intentional collaboration. The physical neighborhoods in the building or new opportunities for relationships or collaboration across our campuses can create the conditions for convergent research.
The nature of research has changed in recent years. For example, when I was a postdoctoral fellow [at the University of Chicago], I codiscovered a family of genes, which at the time was a pretty cool thing, but it took about a year from beginning to end. Nobody does that anymore. Every gene is known. You place an order and the plasmid encoding the gene is shipped out to you the next day. Another example: A research lab no longer necessarily means four walls—lab design has been revolutionized, and we try to construct open-format research buildings with spaces conducive to collaboration, common rooms, and equipment.
The University is a place where people come to work and study, so I’m particularly focused on the experience for students, faculty, and staff. Where do people park? What’s the public transportation like? All of these elements come together to make this the ecosystem that we want it to be.
BU Today: “Service leadership” is important to you. Can you tell us what that is, and how it will become a part of your approach as provost?
I’m fortunate that I have gotten to know incredibly successful leaders, in academia as well as in the military. A common attribute among them is the absence of ego. In my efforts to follow in their footsteps, I often remind myself that I am here to serve this institution. I am a temporary inhabitant of this office, and I can’t do this job on my own. It is my responsibility to empower people to do their best work and ensure they feel valued for their contributions.
I believe the best work happens when you can forget yourself—when you’re so absorbed in a problem with a group of people that everything else drops away. I get to experience that with our people every day.
As a leader, I am trying to create opportunities for this kind of energy and collaboration to happen as frequently as possible by bringing people together around common goals. There are so many creative and brilliant people here at Boston University, and I’d like them to feel included and see their parts in our larger community every day.