Every year, another class graduates from the College, setting out on its own and making the best of the knowledge and skills acquired at BU. Even though our graduates head off in many new directions, the bonds they establish here as students are strong and enduring. We actively seek to preserve and grow those connections by offering an increasing number of opportunities for continuing education, networking, and socializing. In the past year, the electronic version of arts&sciences, the CAS alumni magazine, won coveted awards, acknowledging our efforts to help alumni and friends stay connected.

Pamela Templer monitors sap flow sensors on a tree at Harvard Forest, with students Mary Farina (CAS’12) (from left), Keita DeCarlo (CAS’13), and Anna Ta (SAR’13).

In the past year, CAS and the Boston University Alumni Association hosted 22 Arts & Sciences events, attracting more than 1,500 participants. Many of these reflected the University’s ongoing pledge to its community: in the words of Dean Virginia Sapiro, “Once you have chosen to seek an education at Boston University, we will always be there to help you expand your learning and development.” Events included an election season panel discussion series, cosponsored by the College of Communication, and the Arts, Culture and Ideas Lecture Series, which covered art and the Arab Spring, the danse macabre, and vocal music in the Fin-de-siècle. The topics discussed at the annual Discoveries Lecture Series, held on campus but made available online, also provide excellent examples of BU’s commitment to continuing education:

  • In “Out in the Cold: Effects of Climate Change on Northern Hardwood Forests,” Associate Professor of Biology Pamela Templer shared how winter climate change affects forest biogeochemistry—and has major implications for the health of forests through all seasons.
  • “The Problem that has No Name—50th Anniversary of The Feminine Mystique” examined the legacy and impact of Betty Friedan’s influential The Feminine Mystique. The session panel, chaired by CAS Dean and Professor of Political Science Virginia Sapiro, included Roberta Salper (CAS’59), resident scholar, Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University; Caryl Rivers, professor of journalism, BU College of Communication; Eileen Boris (CAS’70), professor and chair, Department of Feminist Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara; and Susan Reverby (GRS’82), professor of women’s and gender studies at Wellesley College.
  • In April, Sociology Professor Ashley Mears, explored the business of fashion modeling presented “Pricing Looks, Pricing Gender: How Women Earn More than Men in a Few Rare Fields.” Modeling is one of a handful of occupations in which women routinely earn more than men. Mears examined the sociology of gender and labor markets as she challenged the common theories for why women earn less than men in most fields.

Annual Report 2012/2013

  • From the DeanFrom the Dean
    From recruiting ever-better faculty and students to engaging in path-breaking research, academic year 2012/2013 was a year of great accomplishments.
  • New Structures for Organizing Discovery and EducationRecruiting Excellent Undergraduates
    CAS again attracted excellent students who bring with them a wealth of interesting experiences and who are eager to pursue their education in a large and exciting university in one of the major cities of the world.
  • Strengthening the Quality of the FacultyStrengthening Graduate Education
    BU and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences laid the groundwork for a tremendous strengthening of the quality of doctoral programs by developing a new budget model.
  • Strengthening the Quality of Undergraduate EducationStrengthening the Quality of the Faculty
    In 2012/2013, CAS recruited an exemplary cohort of 16 new assistant professors in fields across the humanities and social and natural sciences.
  • Strengthening the Quality of Graduate EducationEnhancing the Research Mission
    This year, Boston University was welcomed into the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization of leading North American research universities—an accomplishment to which CAS, with its portfolio of research in the natural and social sciences and the humanities, was a key contributor.
  • Strengthening Our Research and ScholarshipStrengthening Connections to the Community and the World
    The College’s commitment to make the world a better—and better-understood—place contributes to BU’s growing reputation as a leading, global university.
  • Finances and DevelopmentManaging Our Financial Resources
    Despite the challenges facing all of higher education in recent years, careful fiscal management has allowed the College to again make progress toward achieving its long-term goals.
  • The Class of 2012Nurturing Connections with Alumni and Friends
    The College continues to develop new opportunities for continuing education, networking, and socializing to help alumni and friends stay connected.
  • AppendixA Community in Mourning
    The BU community and CAS came together in many ways in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings.
  • AppendixOur Impact, Your Impact: The Campaign for CAS
    In 2012/2013, BU entered the public phase of its first capital campaign, inspiring many alumni, parents and other friends of CAS to step up support for our annual fund and critical projects.
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