State of the University, Fall 2016

October 5, 2016

Dear Colleagues,

As I do each fall, I am writing you to summarize some of our shared accomplishments of the last year and to offer a preview of what we aim to work on this academic year. I have organized this letter around the following topics:

• Initiatives for the new academic year
• Undergraduate education
• Faculty
• Leadership transitions
• Campaign
• Research enterprise
• Budget and capital planning

I hope you find these updates informative about the University’s progress. And I hope you agree that the University continues to advance in quality and in stature as a major private research university. This coming year, several important matters will receive significant attention.

First, you will recall that last spring, the University Council approved the intellectual framework for our first University-wide undergraduate general education program: the BU Hub. To lead the significant work required to realize the vision for residential undergraduate education that prepares graduates to be engaged citizens and leaders in an increasingly global society, the University Provost has established the BU Hub Implementation Task Force, co-chaired by Beth Loizeaux, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Professor of English, and Bruce Schulman, William E. Huntington Professor of History. The Task Force is charged with developing the processes and structures necessary to implement the BU Hub. It will pursue much of its work through 10 satellite committees, involving over 100 faculty and staff from around the University. The goal is to have initial processes and structures in place by spring 2017, so that the University Council Subcommittee on General Education, the faculty body responsible for governance of the BU Hub, can begin consideration of proposals from faculty for the courses and co-curricular activities that will form the BU Hub. Pilots of the Hub’s signature program, the BU Cross-College Challenge, and some courses and co-curricular activities, will be available on an elective basis to current students in 2017–18, with requirements fully implemented for freshmen matriculating in fall 2018.

A second major initiative will be an effort to rethink how we structure life science education and research on both the Charles River and Medical Campuses. Because of evolution in operating models and funding sources, I believe that basic human life science education and research are at an important juncture and that we have the opportunity to develop a transformational vision for education and research in the basic life sciences. The University has strong faculties on both the Charles River Campus (CRC), within departments in the College of Arts & Sciences and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering, and on the Medical Campus (BUMC), in the basic medical science departments and in the Department of Medicine in the School of Medicine. At the same time, we aspire to improve our quality and stature as we hire the next generation of faculty members in these disciplines, while continuing to provide exciting educational opportunities to our increasingly qualified undergraduate, doctoral, professional graduate, and medical students served by these faculty and departments. We need to effectively allocate scarce financial resources to support faculty hiring, research space, and infrastructure so that we can successfully compete for external research support. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer, Karen Antman, Dean of the School of Medicine and Provost of the Medical Campus, and I have charged a special committee to consider the relevant structural and disciplinary issues and to propose to us how we might best organize, through formal collaborations among academic units on both campuses, to achieve efficiencies and build on our recognized strengths, so that we can realize our full potential for excellence.

Finally, as I stated in my September 6 letter to the community, in order to fulfill our mission as a truly global research university, we have much to do to strengthen our community, by working to increase the diversity of our student body, staff, and faculty, and to better leverage our many initiatives and collaborations with the City of Boston and other cities to help address disparities and sources of division and discord. As I mentioned in my earlier letter, I hope you will look for announcements about programs offered by both the expanded Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground and the Initiative on Cities. Your engagement is very much needed and welcomed.

Undergraduate Education

This fall, we welcomed another very accomplished freshman class to the University. With 3,558 students, the class is slightly larger than expected (we aimed to enroll 3,500 students), but is still our smallest freshman class in over 20 years. International students compose 23.5 percent of the group, while 15.6 percent are under-represented minorities and 18 percent are Asian Americans. We also continue to focus on keeping Boston University accessible to all qualified students, irrespective of their financial means. To this end, the class also included 14 percent Pell Grant recipients. The members of the Class of 2020 are academically accomplished, with the students enrolling in the four-year schools and colleges having a mean three-test SAT score of 1973 and a high school GPA of 3.62. This is the strongest class we have ever enrolled.

Faculty

Last year, we added 132 new faculty members across the University, with 75 joining schools and colleges on the Charles River Campus and 57 added on the Medical Campus. Also, 55 faculty members have been promoted to associate professor and professor, with 22 receiving tenure. The promoted faculty members are listed in the appendix to this letter along with faculty members who have received recognition for their accomplishments in research, scholarship, performance, and teaching.

Consistent with our other initiatives and commitments, increasing the diversity of our faculty is critical to fostering an inclusive community in which our students learn to respect and appreciate difference. In May, we received the report of the Task Force on Faculty Diversity, which was co-chaired by Professor Gene Jarrett, Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences, and Professor Steve Brady of the School of Medicine and past chair of the Faculty Council. Their report was sent to the faculty last month. First among the Task Force recommendations was that we establish the position of Associate Provost for Diversity in the Office of the University Provost. We have taken this step and have launched a national search for a distinguished faculty or staff member to fill this new position.

Leadership Transitions

Laurie Pohl, Vice President for Enrollment and Student Affairs, who has overseen a period of extraordinary progress in the recruiting and retention of ever more accomplished undergraduates, has decided to step down and become a faculty member in the School of Education. In her new role, she will concentrate on issues of higher education access and equity, issues that have always been of deep concern to her.

Hardin Coleman, Dean of the School of Education, announced in August that he will step down from the deanship in May of 2017, returning to full-time teaching and research. During his tenure, the school recruited 30 new faculty members, transformed its organizational structure, and made research a key school priority.

In February, Tim Barbari, Associate Provost for Graduate Affairs, announced his plan to step down from his administrative position on June 30. Tim coordinated an initiative that led in 2013 to a new funding model for graduate education. And he led the development of a graduate admission portal to streamline submission and review of applications. He is returning to full-time teaching in the College of Engineering. Provost Morrison expects to announce Tim’s replacement—selected through a national search process—in the next few weeks.

Finally, at last month’s meeting of the Board of Trustees, we celebrated the exemplary service of our Chairman Robert Knox who, after eight years as chairman, handed the gavel to Kenneth Feld. Bob Knox presided over the Board during a period in which the governance reforms promulgated in 2004 were accepted and institutionalized. Perhaps most importantly, Bob Knox was the catalytic leader for the Board’s commitment to the University’s first-ever comprehensive fundraising campaign. The Campaign itself was very ably chaired by Kenneth Feld, who now steps into the Board role. The Board has been led with great distinction by Chairman Knox, and as we head into the next phase of the Campaign, we are fortunate to have the experience and counsel of Kenneth Feld.

Campaign for Boston University

Fiscal year 2016 was a landmark year for our Campaign. Originally, the Campaign charge from our Board of Trustees was to raise $1 billion by 2017. We announced last April that we had passed this milestone. We concluded the year with a Campaign total of $1.045 billion, having raised $175 million during the year en route to our increased goal of $1.5 billion.

In FY2016, we also reached a new level in cash giving to the University, raising a record $157 million, up 7.5 percent over the previous year. Alumni participation remained strong, with 10.3 percent of our alumni making a gift last year, contributing to Annual Fund growth of 15 percent to $20.9 million.

There is ample evidence of the impact of the Campaign on the University. One area in which the Campaign has a pronounced and transformative effect is faculty development. Each fall, we publish in BU Today a story about the awarding of career development professorships to promising faculty on both campuses. The career development professorships are three-year awards given to some of our most outstanding junior faculty. The awards provide additional support for recipients’ research and scholarship during the critical early years of their academic careers. The list of nine new awardees this year is included in the appendix. Because of the Campaign, we now have 21 faculty holding career development chairs, compared to none in 2006.

The Campaign is also driving the physical transformation of our campus. An excellent example is the new studio theatre and the adjoining building for the School of Theatre in the College of Fine Arts. Construction of these state-of-the-art facilities is well under way. You can monitor progress via the webcam focused on the site.

We are working hard to sustain the momentum and enthusiasm the Campaign has generated, so that we can continue to secure the generous support from donors that helps our students succeed, strengthens research and teaching, and raises the stature of Boston University.

Research Enterprise

Our faculty continue to be at the forefront of research and scholarship in their disciplines and in new interdisciplinary efforts, leading in discoveries and insights that translate to better understanding of our world and longer, healthier, and more rewarding lives for people around the world. To lead in research and scholarship, our faculty continue to compete effectively for external support. Last year, we recorded $368.9 million in new sponsored program awards to our faculty, up 13 percent from FY2015.

One highlight this summer was the announcement of the funding of the CARB-X project with Boston University as the lead institution and Professor Kevin Outterson of the School of Law as the Executive Director. CARB-X (Combatting Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator) is funded by an initial $250 million grant from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in the US Department of Health and Human Services. The project brings together life science accelerators to address the problem of drug resistance by developing antimicrobial products and quickly bringing them into clinical use.

I have reported in the past about progress bringing the NEIDL (National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories) into full operation. The mission of the NEIDL is to benefit public health by identifying mechanisms of transmission and infection for high-priority emerging infectious diseases and developing cures and therapies for these diseases. We continue to work diligently to secure the necessary certifications and permits to bring the NEIDL online. Once the NEIDL is fully operational, our researchers will be able to make use of the state-of-the-art capacities of this unique facility. Currently, there are 10 faculty investigators affiliated with the NEIDL. When the facility is fully operational—at all biosafety levels—it will be able to host between 20 and 40 investigators and their research groups.

On September 18, we held a symposium called “Emerging Infectious Diseases from A to Z: Emerging Challenges and Opportunities,” where we brought together 160 of the world’s leading scientists in the field of infectious disease research to discuss critical knowledge gaps in understanding the pathways of these diseases and finding vaccines, cures, and treatments.

The University is committed to helping our faculty succeed through development and maintenance of necessary infrastructure. Laboratory space such as the Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE), which will open next spring, laboratory infrastructure such as the new Cognitive Neuroimaging Center, and support for interdisciplinary initiatives are all necessary to create the environment for our scholars and researchers to achieve their goals.

This year, two new interdisciplinary initiatives have been launched that focus on critical issues of our time: the Institute for Sustainable Energy, directed by Professor Peter Fox-Penner of the Questrom School of Business, and the Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy, directed by Professor Jonathan Woodson of the Questrom School of Business and the School of Medicine. While based in the Questrom School of Business, both efforts are University-wide, engaging faculty from many of our schools and colleges.

Budget and Capital Planning

The University completed another excellent financial year, closing Fiscal Year 2016 with $157.5 million of reserves, up by 12 percent from FY2015. Again, careful control of budgets and expenditures by financial managers across the University helped ensure this positive outcome. Revenue growth across the University was a modest 4.5 percent, while expenses grew only 3.9 percent compared to the previous fiscal year.

Of these reserves, $104.0 million was either designated or deployed to support academic initiatives and critical renovations. Included in this amount are monies distributed back to schools and colleges according to revenue-sharing agreements; funding to support capital projects such as the new Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering and the new studio theatre; faculty start-up support; and investments in the Health Innovation and General Education initiatives.

This year promises to be one of the busiest construction years in our history, with three major projects under way on the Charles River Campus.

• As mentioned before, the construction of the Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (CILSE) will be completed in the spring.
• The total renovation and restoration of Myles Standish Hall began in May and will continue for two years. Approximately half of the structure will be fully renovated this academic year, with the other half completed in Fiscal Year 2018.
• Finally, as mentioned in my review of our Campaign, excavation and site work is proceeding in preparation for construction of the theatre and production and classroom spaces for the School of Theatre adjacent to 808 Commonwealth Avenue. This project is funded in part by the sale of the Boston University properties on Huntington Avenue, our reserves, and gifts. If we remain on schedule, the facility should open in summer of 2017.

In addition to these major projects, our facilities team completed several classroom and laboratory renovations on both campuses; these were described in a BU Today article.

The University is now planning the next phases of our renovation and renewal that will begin after FY2018 once the three major projects described above are complete. Several major capital projects have been advanced into the design stage. These include the expansion and renovation of the 100 East Newton Street facility for the School of Dental Medicine and the addition on Bay State Road to the Questrom School of Business. More information will be forthcoming as we develop our plans for the coming years.

When our students return each fall, the spike in the energy level is tangible and we are reminded of why we undertake the projects and initiatives I have described. Because of the combined efforts of this wonderful academic community, Boston University is a vibrant, ever-changing, and ever-improving institution. Thank you for all you do to make Boston University a wonderful institution. I wish you the best for a rewarding fall semester.

Sincerely,

Robert A. Brown
President

Faculty: New Appointments, Honors, and Awards

A number of outstanding senior faculty have joined the University, including:

• Jonathan Woodson — Professor of the Practice, Markets, Public Policy & Law, Questrom School of Business
• Peter Fox-Penner — Director, Institute for Sustainable Energy, and Professor of the Practice, Questrom School of Business
• Patricia Hibberd — Chair of Global Health, School of Public Health, and Professor, Global Health/Medicine in Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health/School of Medicine
• Christopher Beaudoin — Professor and Chair, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, College of Communication
• Daniel Abramson — Professor, History of Art & Architecture, and Director, Architectural Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
• Edmund Russell — Professor, History, College of Arts & Sciences
• Josephine Halvorson — Professor, Painting, and Chair, Graduate Studies in Painting, School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts
• Glenn Markenson — Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, School of Medicine
• Michael Stein — Professor and Chair, Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health
• David Henderson — Professor and Chair, Psychiatry, School of Medicine; Chief of Psychiatry, Boston Medical Center
• LaDora Thompson — Professor and Chair, Physical Therapy & Athletic Training, College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College

Our faculty members continue to garner external recognition. Awards and honors bestowed on them over the past year include:

• Professor Emeritus Maryann Amodeo, School of Social Work, Department of Clinical Practice, was awarded an American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare Fellowship.
• Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Engineering Temple Smith, College of Engineering, was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Three faculty from the College of Engineering have received American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering fellowships: Professor Edward Damiano and Professor Barbara Shinn-Cunningham of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor Xin Zhang of Mechanical Engineering.
• Two faculty from the Department of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences, received fellowships from the American Mathematical Society: Professor Nancy Kopell and Professor Glenn Stevens.
• Associate Professor Margaret Litvin, Department of World Languages & Literatures, College of Arts & Sciences, was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship.
• Kathleen Corriveau, Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling Psychology & Applied Human Development, School of Education, was selected for a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship by the National Academy of Education.
• A fellowship was awarded by the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars to Professor Thomas Berger, Division of International Studies, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, College of Arts & Sciences.
• School of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics Howard Bauchner was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.
• Four faculty have received the 2016 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award: Konstantinos Spiliopoulos, Assistant Professor of Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences; Aaron Beeler, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences; Deborah Perlstein, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences; and Wilson Wong, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Assistant Professor Erika Wolf, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
• Three faculty received Fulbright Scholar Awards: Jennifer Gottlieb, Research Assistant Professor, Occupational Therapy, College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College; Nina Silber, Professor of History, College of Arts & Sciences; and Pankaj Tandon, Associate Professor of Economics, College of Arts & Sciences.
• Two College of Arts & Sciences faculty members received Sloan Research Fellowships in Physics: Assistant Professor of Physics Alexander Sushkov and Assistant Professor of Astronomy Catherine Espaillat.
• Professor Mark Horenstein, Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering, was named an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow.
• School of Medicine Associate Professor and Assistant Dean of Continuing Medical Education Daniel Alford received the first Educator of the Year Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine.
• Professor and Vice Chair Gregory Grillone, Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, received the Edmund Prince Fowler Award from the Triological Society.
• Assistant Professor of English Joseph Rezek, College of Arts & Sciences, received a National Endowment for the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship.
• Assistant Professor Amy Sobota, Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology, School of Medicine, received an American Society of Hematology Scholar Award.

Boston University granted many faculty awards and honors over the past year, which include:

• School of Public Health Dean and Professor of Epidemiology Sandro Galea was named the Robert A. Knox Professor.
• Jonathan Woodson, Professor of the Practice, Markets, Public Policy & Law, Questrom School of Business, was named the Lars Anderson Professor in Management.
• Shuba Srinivasan, Professor of Marketing, Questrom School of Business, was named the Norman and Adele Barron Professor in Management.
• David Salant, Professor of Nephrology, School of Medicine, was named the Norman G. Levinsky Professor in Nephrology.
• Chris Dellarocas, Professor of Information Systems, Questrom School of Business, was named the Richard C. Shipley Professor in Management.
>Edward Damiano, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, was named 2016 Innovator of the Year.
• Peter Paul Career Development Professorships were awarded to Charles Chang, Assistant Professor of Linguistics, College of Arts & Sciences; Daniel Cifuentes, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, School of Medicine; and Arturo Vegas, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences.
• Jerry Chen, Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences, received the Stuart and Elizabeth Pratt Career Development Professorship.
• The Reidy Family Career Development Professorship was given to John Ngo, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• Joshua Campbell, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Computational Biomedicine), School of Medicine, was awarded the Ralph Edwards Career Development Professorship.
• The Moorman-Simon Interdisciplinary Career Development Professorship was awarded to Keith Brown, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, and Assistant Professor of Physics, College of Arts & Sciences.
• Marcus Bellamy, Assistant Professor of Operations & Technology Management, Questrom School of Business, received the Isabel Anderson Career Development Professorship.
• The University Provost’s Career Development Professorship was awarded to Jessica Simes, Assistant Professor of Sociology, College of Arts & Sciences.
• The Gerald and Deanne Gitner Family Innovation in Teaching with Technology Award was given to Professor of the Practice Gerald Fine, Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering.
• The University Lecture in fall 2015 was presented by James C. McCann, Professor of History, College of Arts & Sciences, and Associate Director for Development at the African Studies Center, titled “Sacred Waters: Historical Ecology, Power, and the Soul of the Blue Nile.”
• The inaugural winner of the Undergraduate Academic Advising Award (Faculty Academic Advisor Category) is Paul Lipton, Research Associate Professor and Director, Undergraduate Program in Neuroscience, College of Arts & Sciences.

The following faculty members were promoted to the rank of professor:

Stephan Anderson, Radiology in Body Imaging, School of Medicine
Rutao Cui, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine
Matthew Fox, Epidemiology / Global Health, School of Public Health
Dirk Hackbarth, Finance, Questrom School of Business
Marc Howard, Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences
Virginia Litle, Surgery in Cardiothoracic Surgery, School of Medicine
David McAneny, Surgery in Surgical Oncology, School of Medicine
Pushkar Mehra, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
Michael Paasche-Orlow, Medicine in General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine
Anatoli Polkovnikov, Physics, College of Arts & Sciences
Bjorn Reinhard, Chemistry, College of Arts & Sciences
Flora Sam, Medicine in Cardiovascular Medicine, School of Medicine
Renée Spencer, Human Behavior, School of Social Work
Dimitrije Stamenovic, Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering
Karen Warkentin, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
David Webber, School of Law
H. Denis Wu, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, College of Communication
Catherine Yeh, World Languages & Literatures, College of Arts & Sciences

The following faculty members were promoted to the rank of associate professor:

Jonathan Appavoo, Computer Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Margret Bell, Psychiatry in General Psychiatry, School of Medicine
Kevin Black, Physics, College of Arts & Sciences
Cynthia Bradham, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
François Brochet, Accounting, Questrom School of Business
Peter Buston, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
David Carballo, Archaeology, College of Arts & Sciences
Luis Carvalho, Mathematics & Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences
Dana Clancy, School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts
Kristen Coogan, School of Visual Arts, College of Fine Arts
Timothy Gardner, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
Jennifer Greif Green, Special Education, School of Education
Stine Grodal, Strategy & Innovation, Questrom School of Business
Angela Ho, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
William Huntting Howell, English, College of Arts & Sciences
Deborah Jaramillo, Film & Television, College of Communication
Ajay Joshi, Electrical & Computer Engineering, College of Engineering
Jeffrey Kalish, Surgery in Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, School of Medicine
Matthew Layne, Biochemistry, School of Medicine
Cara Lewis, Physical Therapy & Athletic Training, College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College
Nancy Miller, Pathology & Laboratory Medicine in Clinical Pathology, School of Medicine
Gustavo Mostoslavsky, Medicine in Gastroenterology, School of Medicine
Sean Mullen, Biology, College of Arts & Sciences
James Noone, School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts
Michael Platt, Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery, School of Medicine
Teena Purohit, Religion, College of Arts & Sciences
Valentina Sabino, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine
Daniel Star, Philosophy, College of Arts & Sciences
Dustin Supa, Mass Communication, Advertising & Public Relations, College of Communication
James Uden, Classical Studies, College of Arts & Sciences
Ashish Upadhyay, Medicine in Nephrology, School of Medicine
Xaralabos Varelas, Biochemistry, School of Medicine
Irena Vodenska, Administrative Sciences, Metropolitan College
Richard Wainford, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine
Alexander Walley, Medicine in General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine
Ziming Xuan, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Min Ye, International Relations, Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, College of Arts & Sciences

View all posts