Thanksgiving Message from President Brown
November 16, 2018 Dear Friends, Thanksgiving is just around the corner. With it comes celebration of family, friends, and the blessings we enjoy. Thanksgiving is very much an American holiday, but I believe in all cultures and times humans are moved to collectively pause to celebrate blessings, just as we are moved to mourn the […]
Pittsburgh Tragedy
October 29, 2018 Dear Friends, I write you again in the wake of another mass shooting in our country. Some 228 years ago, George Washington wrote to the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Rhode Island, expressing the wish that “the children of the stock of Abraham” might enjoy the good will of other inhabitants of early […]
State of the University, Fall 2018
October 5, 2018 Dear Colleagues, I am writing, as I do each fall, to update you on important topics for the Boston University community. Every fall we experience (and appreciate) the surge of energy that accompanies the return of students. Many of you, I hope, will also have observed many signs of change and innovation […]
Envisioning Our Future: Boston University in 2030
April 25, 2018 Dear Colleagues, The semester is headed into the homestretch as I write my spring letter. This year I want to use it to catalyze discussions that we are initiating to renew our Strategic Plan and to create a vision for Boston University in 2030. This letter is addressed specifically to our faculty; […]
Climate Action Plan Resolution by Board of Trustees
December 8, 2017 Dear Members of the Boston University Community, I am writing to convey the results of the discussion by our Board of Trustees regarding the proposals presented by the Climate Action Plan Task Force. You will recall that in my September 2016 letter to the community I announced that the Board of Trustees […]
New Initiative in Innovation
November 29, 2017 Dear Friends, Boston University students graduate prepared and eager to build a better future. The world needs individuals who can imagine and implement solutions to challenging problems and succeed in the jobs of today and in ones that are not yet imagined. At Boston University, we have the opportunity to foster in […]
State of the University, Fall 2017
October 18, 2017 Dear Members of the BU Community, Our fall semester is well underway, and we have begun the academic year with several notable announcements. Here are six of the highlights: We matriculated our most diverse freshman class to the University, including a large increase in Pell Grant recipients. We received a $115 million […]
Wheelock College Merger
October 11, 2017 Dear Friends, I am pleased to announce that we have reached a definitive agreement with Wheelock College to merge with Boston University. In this agreement, all assets and liabilities of Wheelock College will be transferred to Boston University on June 1, 2018. The cornerstone of the merger will be the combination of […]
Violence in Las Vegas
October 3, 2017 Dear Friends, It is heartbreaking that I write again in the wake of a national tragedy that causes us to shudder at the scale of loss of life—even as we remind ourselves that each life is precious and fragile—and at the all-too-human capacity for evil. Our late colleague Elie Wiesel, whose life […]
Climate Action Plan Draft Report
September 22, 2017 Dear Friends, Last October I wrote you announcing the establishment of the Climate Action Plan Task Force. During the last year, the Task Force, led by Anthony Janetos, Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Earth & Environment and Director of the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, has worked to […]