Online Degree Completion Program Established

The University initiates its online undergraduate degree completion program, allowing those with an AA or the equivalent credits to earn a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in Interdisciplinary Studies.

J. Craig Venter Keynote

J. Craig Venter, a visionary scientist and entrepreneur who was a principal leader in the effort to decode the human genome, delivers the Commencement address at Boston University’s 131st Commencement exercises at Nickerson Field. More than 20,000 guests watch 5,776 students receive their degrees in the largest graduation ceremony in New England.

“New areas of science and subsequent advances are fraught with ethical and social issues with which we must all grapple. Healthy debate is good for society, however it can only happen in a science-literate world." — J. Craig Venter

Center for the Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practices

The Center for the Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practices opens with the overarching goal to promote the safe and effective use of medications for the nation's public health through research, education, and consultation. The Center offers opportunities for collaboration and development in research and education related to pharmaceutical practices. The center also has a number of educational programs and offers consultative services.

Center for Biomedical Imaging

The Center for Biomedical Imaging houses a new 3 Tesla Philips MRI scanner for functional, structural, and spectroscopic human and animal studies.

Nickerson Field, Home of the Boston Cannons

The Boston Cannons of the Professional Men’s Lacrosse League set up home at Boston University's Nickerson Field; they remain here for three seasons. In 2007, they move to Harvard Stadium.

Board of Trustees Governance Changes

The Boston University Board of Trustees adopts sweeping governance changes in the areas of Board structure and term limits, conflict of interest, and Trustee qualifications. These new governance policies are a national model for colleges and universities.

George F. Will Keynote

George F. Will delivers the Keynote Address at Commencement.

“Today the principle that individuals should be judged on their individual merits, not on their membership in this or that group, is still under attack. The attack is against a core principle of an open society—the principle of careers open to talents. Today there are pernicious new arguments for treating certain groups of Americans as incapable of doing what Sam Lacy knew Jackie Robinson could do: compete."—George F. Will

Nutrition & Fitness Center

Located at Sargent College Clinical Center, BU’s Nutrition & Fitness Center (BUNFC) is established to expand a successful pilot nutrition and physical activity program developed for BU faculty and staff. Integrating the latest developments in scientific research and culinary art, BUNFC helps people achieve realistic health goals.

Institute for the Advancement of the Social Sciences

The Institute for the Advancement of the Social Sciences serves to advance the study of human affairs in all their variety, i.e., the study of human societies and cultures as they existed in the past and as they exist today through modern culture and nationalism.

Center for Global Christianity & Mission

The Center for Global Christianity & Mission at the Boston University School of Theology explores the most important development in Christianity during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries: the shift of Christianity's demographic center to the southern hemisphere and parts of Asia. The total number of Christians worldwide continues to grow, even as the European and North American component of the world church has shrunk to less than one-third of the total.

“The center seeks to address several critical aspects of Christianity’s 'shift southward' in the twenty-first century. First, Christianity must be understood as a multi-cultural and global movement, an enduring theological tradition that finds new life in the lived realities of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Second, the dramatic growth of world Christianity begs for analysis of the missionary dimension in all churches, as initiators rather than receptors of mission outreach. Third, growing churches are in need of theologically trained leaders, ranging from seminary professors, to grassroots leaders of indigenous churches. And finally, persons being educated to lead religious communities need to incorporate the understanding of these realities into their ministry and outreach."—Dana L. Robert and Prof. M. L. Daneel, Co-Directors