In Boston University’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, students do not just pass through our halls to get out to the other side that is the rest of their life—although the CAS Building is supposedly the longest building in Boston! BU is a platform from which our alumni launch themselves into their future lives and careers, but it also increasingly remains a home base and a source of continued learning and growth for our alumni. We work hard to provide our alumni with more opportunities for networking, continuing education, and socializing, both in person and virtually.
Boston University and the College of Arts & Sciences have made further steps in 2013/14 to construct a framework for alumni to engage with faculty, alumni, and current students, and to seek and find learning opportunities in diverse areas of inquiry.
The award-winning alumni magazines—Bostonia for all of BU and arts&sciences for CAS and GRS alumni—bring fascinating stories and information to alumni through both print and online versions. A great sign of our new successes this year: Bostonia’s online magazine won a gold award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), arts&sciences won a bronze award.
There are many opportunities for participating in alumni events that are diverse enough to attract a very wide portion of BU alumni, and in 2013/14 we saw more CAS alumni taking part in more events than ever before. The Boston University Alumni Association (BUAA) sponsored 20 events for CAS alumni, and over 6,000 of the alumni attending BUAA events around the world were CAS alumni (up 11% over the previous year). Alumni Weekend attracted the largest group of alumni ever in 2013, and CAS participated by offering many lectures, workshops, and occasions for socializing, including the annual get together for alumni of the Core Curriculum.
CAS also sponsors numerous opportunities for alumni to stretch their minds, and during this past year, Alumni Relations constructed a new framework, titled Live to Learn to bring these together with the many opportunities available at BU to provide great access to alumni.
The anchor of our on-campus events is the Discovery Lecture Series, which each year showcases some of the most fascinating and breakthrough research and discoveries taking place among our faculty. In 2013/14, topics included sessions on carbon dioxide and methane in Boston’s environment; the legacy of JFK’s foreign policy; the Bible and religion in the United States; and race, rights, and debates over stem cell policy. Professor Jeremy Yudkin closed the year’s Discoveries Series with “‘What Goes On?’ Music of the Beatles and the Making of the Sixties,” a talk that featured photos and videos of the Beatles, some live piano and singing from Professor Yudkin, and a lot of animated debate about the band’s legacy. More than 75 alumni and their guests attended the lecture and raved about their experience.
This past year saw the launch of Office After Hours, an occasional series featuring informal, small-group discussions for alumni with faculty members in fun off-campus social settings. Charles Rzepka, Professor English, kicked off this series with a discussion of Elmore Leonard’s detective fiction at a pub in Lexington. A dozen alumni gathered for a lively discussion of their favorite Leonard stories and characters, and to analyze a short story with Professor Rzepka as their guide.
We took other opportunities to engage with alumni around the region and around the country. During 2013/14 Richard Primack, Professor of Biology, spoke in Concord about his research at Walden Pond on the occasion of the release of his new book, Walden Warming: Climate Change Comes to Thoreau’s Woods. We held a breakfast briefing at One Financial Center on data security, privacy, and the societal ramifications of ever-changing technology. The participants came at this topic from different disciplines and approaches, as is characteristic of a CAS education: Joe Wippl, a former member of the CIA and current Professor of the Practice of International Relations; Tracey Maclin, the Joseph Lipsitt Faculty Research Scholar and Professor of Law; and Sharon Goldberg Associate Professor of Computer Science, offered great brain food with breakfast to the downtown Boston crowd.
CAS has also expanded the opportunities for alumni to further their education by placing more of the great lectures that take place on campus into streaming video format. Among the recent examples: The 2014 inaugural Silas Peirce Lecture, presented by Caltech’s Bethany Ehlmann, “Following the Water on Mars: Roving with Curiosity” and “Exploring the Eurozone Crisis” with Professor Vivien Schmidt of the Pardee School.
Annual Report 2013/2014
From the Dean
From recruiting ever-better faculty and students to surging ahead in our capital campaign, academic year 2013/2014 was a year of great accomplishments.
Improving Undergraduate Education
CAS once again attracted our most talented class of undergraduates ever. And we laid the groundwork to serve them even better, offering expanded academic opportunities and a comprehensive first-year experience program with over 500 first-year student participants.
Strengthening Graduate Education
BU and the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences saw immediate, strong results from our new five-year PhD funding model that has increased the attractiveness of doctoral programs.
Enhancing a World-Class Faculty
The quality of a university depends on the quality of its faculty, and hiring the best and giving them a strong start is crucial. In 2013/14, CAS hired 17 new assistant professors and 3 senior professors across the humanities and social, natural, and computational sciences.
Conducting Path-Breaking Research
As the academic heart of BU and its biggest school, CAS’s dynamism is helping propel BU’s recognition as one of the finest research universities in the country. New initiatives including the Center for Systems Neuroscience, BU Initiative on Cities, and Center for Autism Research Excellence are taking our research to new heights.
Deepening Our Global Mission
This year, thanks to a generous gift from Frederick S. Pardee (SMG’54, GSM’54, Hon.’06), we laid the groundwork for the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies, launched in September 2014 and reporting to CAS. The Pardee School builds on the substantial success CAS has had in creating strong global and international studies programs.
Stewarding Our Resources
Boston University is financially healthy, although it faces the challenges of a continuing weak economy and many other issues that require skilled and careful management in higher education today. CAS is fortunate to benefit from BU’s wise management and our own diligent stewardship of our resources.
Nurturing Connections with Alumni and Friends
Boston University and the College of Arts & Sciences have made significant steps in building a framework for alumni to engage with faculty, other alumni, and current students in ongoing learning, discussion, and inquiry. Over 6,000 of the alumni attending BU Alumni Association events around the world were CAS alumni (up 11% over the previous year).
Growing Our Capacity: The Campaign for CAS
BU is in the midst of our first-ever capital campaign, and CAS is well ahead in its progress toward our original goal of raising $100 million. More than 4,300 alumni and many other friends of CAS contributed during the past fiscal year. By the end of the 2014 fiscal year, CAS had received $83.2 million in gift funds through the campaign.
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