Delivered by President Frank T. Brogan '81
Tuesday, September 19 at 10 a.m.
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Campus
>VIEW WEBCAST (NOTE: Windows Media Player (WMP) required for viewing.)
Sherry [Plymale], thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for the tremendous contributions you’ve made to Florida Atlantic University as a founding member of our Board of Trustees and its current chair.
In a very real sense you’ve been our bright North Star, guiding us along the way as we’ve taken FAU in exciting new directions, and this university has benefited enormously from your tireless efforts. We’re so lucky to have you on the FAU team! Thank you, Sherry!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2006 State of the University Address. Before I begin my report to you, I’d like to introduce two very special people in the audience: the First Lady of Florida Atlantic University and my wife, Courtney Brogan, and our son, Colby John.
Last year at this time we were in the middle of one of the most active hurricane seasons on record. The storms that hit us, especially Wilma, left us with $10 million in damage to our campuses, and we’re still in the recovery process. Everybody pulled together last year and the year before that when we were hit hard by storms, losing more than a week of classes both times. In the aftermath of those experiences, we’ve worked hard on our hurricane response system to make us better prepared to face future storms. In fact, we’ve designated September as Safety Month in order to bring university-wide attention to a broad spectrum of issues, from surviving natural disasters to making lifestyle choices that promote health and safety. We intend to make this an annual observance.
You’re accustomed to hearing our fall numbers in this report, and I’ll certainly share those numbers with you this morning. It’s important to remember, though, that every achievement, every advance, everything that happens here at our university that we point to with special pride has a human face as well as statistical significance. I wish I could shine a spotlight on every single one of you who’ve come here today, especially all the wonderful faculty members who do so much to make the FAU experience come alive for our students. Time prevents me from doing that, but at various points in this address I’ll be introducing a few individuals and asking you to acknowledge them with your applause. They’re all notable in their own right, and they also stand in representation of the remarkable human engine that makes this university run. The people whose stories we’ll hear this morning shine brightly, indeed, and I think you’re going to enjoy meeting them, however briefly.
And now let’s get to those beginning-of-the-year statistics I promised to tell you about.
FAU’s 43rd academic year has gotten off to an excellent start. Our enrollment numbers are holding steady, and that’s a good thing in view of the fact that this is the first year our new admission requirements are fully in effect. We’ve been saying for a long time that we needed to adopt a policy of accepting only those students whose test scores and high school GPAs indicate that they’re ready to succeed at university-level work. This year we’ve put that policy into practice, with no real loss of students in any category.
Our overall enrollment still stands at about 26,000-plus – and growing. Our 2,300 incoming freshmen have average SAT scores of 1052 and average ACT scores of 22 – virtually unchanged from last year. One of our concerns was that our minority enrollment might suffer under the new rules of admission, but that fear has proved unfounded. This year’s student body actually includes an increase of 168 Hispanic students, bringing their total representation to 17 percent. From now until October 18th we’ll be celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a wide variety of activities on the Boca Raton, Davie and Jupiter campuses.
I take great pride in reporting to you that this university remains the most diverse public university in Florida, with minority and international students making up more than 40 percent of our student body. In fact, U.S. News and World Report ranks us 27th among all national universities in terms of student diversity. One of our top priorities for the coming year is to focus on bringing greater diversity to our faculty and staff, to make sure that the FAU community in its entirety reflects the richly interwoven human tapestry of our region and nation.
The diversity of our incoming freshman class is due primarily to the very effective recruitment efforts of our Admissions Office. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Director Barbara Pletcher and her staff for the excellent work they do all year long to attract qualified students of all races, ethnicities and cultures to Florida Atlantic University. Barbara, could you and your colleagues in the Office of Admissions please stand to accept our thanks for the wonderful job you’re doing?
The secret of their success can be summarized in two words: customer service. As we know very well, the educational marketplace has become fiercely competitive, as options entirely unknown less than a generation ago – such as online degrees – have come on the scene. Colleges and universities are discovering that the quality of their interactions with students can make a huge difference in terms of attracting excellent students to begin with and retaining them through graduation.
A few months ago, FAU launched a campaign called “Serving U” that I know will gain university-wide participation. The primary objective of this campaign is to make sure that everyone who interacts with this university in any way – be that person a student, a member of the general public or one of our own employees – gets treated with care, courtesy and respect. Above all, customer-oriented services prepare our students to devote their full attention to learning when they’re in the classroom, and that’s really the point. We want to do whatever it takes to pave the way to the classroom for our students and allow both them and their professors to focus on learning.
One important goal of this initiative is to keep students so satisfied with the quality of their lives at FAU that they stay through graduation. I’m delighted to report to you that we’re definitely making progress on the vitally important front of retention. Our most recent freshman retention rate is 74 percent, which stands well above the mid-60 range of years past and is equal to or better than the average achieved by our national peer institutions.
This campaign is being waged energetically and creatively by a number of units within the university, including the Office of Student Retention, under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Bebergal, and Freshman Academic Advising Services, under the leadership of Assistant Provost Mikki Minney. Liz Kennedy and her staff are making an especially valuable contribution through their supervision of the very important “Transition to College” course. This, along with many other programs of great value to our students, is housed in the Office of Undergraduate Studies, led by the one and only Dr. Anthony Lombardo, whose well demonstrated versatility as an administrator probably makes him the best utility man in the history of Florida Atlantic University! Will Tony and everyone in Undergraduate Studies please stand up and take a bow!
I have a few more Fall Semester figures to share with you. Overall credit hours are also holding steady at the quarter-million mark. Like most other modern universities, we’re seeing a rapid increase in the number of students who take all or part of their coursework online. This year at FAU more than half of our regularly enrolled students are taking advantage of distance learning technology as they pursue their degrees.
In the classroom and online, our students are served by a truly stellar faculty whose numbers grow every year. This summer and fall, we welcomed 87 new full-time faculty members. Their arrival increased our total full-time faculty to 1,024. The introductions that I’m making this morning would certainly not be complete without a heartfelt acknowledgment of the people who are the heart and soul of this university, our faculty. As we applaud the faculty members who are here today, we’re applauding all of the men and women who’ve served with unwavering dedication on the faculty of Florida Atlantic University. Speaking both as the very proud president of FAU and a very grateful former student, I thank you on behalf of the entire university community! Will the faculty members in attendance please stand?
And now let’s talk about Lifelong Learning. By now the success of our Lifelong Learning Society is not a new story, but it’s none the less satisfying. Enrollment in FAU’s adult education program by mature men and women has grown to almost 30,000. We now offer LLS courses throughout our service area, including in Boca Raton, Broward County, Jupiter and the Treasure Coast.
Since the middle ‘80s, the LLS Board of Advisors has chosen to support FAU by donating approximately $1 million to endowed professorships, graduate fellowships and undergraduate scholarships. That figure increases to an astonishing $7.5 million when the cost of building state-of-the-art Lifelong Learning facilities on our Boca Raton and Jupiter campuses is taken into account. What a truly remarkable and meaningful way this is for the Lifelong Learning Society to support the university’s core mission! We owe these devoted members of the FAU family a huge expression of gratitude! Please join me in giving a round of applause to our friends and allies in the Lifelong Learning Society.
I’ve saved one of the very best pieces of statistical news for last: the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College on our Jupiter campus continues to attract the best and brightest – not only from around Florida, but also from around the United States and the world. The 135 students in this year’s incoming Honors College class include five National Merit finalists, three valedictorians, three salutatorians and 17 with International Baccalaureate diplomas. They bring total enrollment in the Honors College to 398. This talented group achieved an average score of 1285 on the SAT and 27 on the ACT, and an average high school grade point average of 3.95. In addition to Florida residents, this diverse class includes students from Illinois and Michigan as well as Germany and Albania.
The Honors College recently came under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Buller, a classical scholar who has a distinguished background in honors education. Dr. Buller, Director of Admissions Kerry Rosen and the entire Honors College faculty and staff are doing an excellent job of nurturing this very special unit of Florida Atlantic University, and I’d like to ask those who are here today to stand and be recognized.
And now I’d like to take a few moments to tell you the truly inspiring story of one member of this year’s Honors College freshman class. Ketsia Dimanche came to the United States from her native Haiti five years ago to care for her father, who had suffered a stroke. She was just 14 years old at the time. She spoke no English when she arrived, but she quickly learned the language by watching television and taking ESOL classes. Her dream was to attend an American university, and her mother promised she’d help make that dream come true, even if it meant working three jobs.
Ketsia proved to be an excellent student, graduating from North Miami Beach High School last spring with a 4.3 grade point average. As Ketsia was completing her final semester of high school, the Florida Legislature was working on a plan to help make a university education accessible to students like her, whose parents never had the opportunity to attend college.
The result of this effort was the First Generation Matching Grant, which Governor Bush signed into law in June. FAU received about a half-million dollars, which was matched by the FAU Foundation to create a new scholarship fund of more than a million dollars. Ketsia is one of 409 FAU students who are benefiting from this fund in its first year of existence, and many more will follow in their footsteps. Incidentally, the money that comes to the university through the sale of FAU license plates goes directly into this fund, giving all of us yet another good reason to put the new FAU plate on our cars.
Ketsia is studying economics, with the objective of pursuing a career in business. We’re proud to have this fine young woman and her devoted mother, Monique Dimanche, as part of the FAU family, and I’d like to ask them to stand so we can welcome them with our applause.
We can be proud of our students not only for their academic brilliance but also for their wholehearted commitment to community service. You don’t have to look far to find FAU students –individually and in groups – who are doing all they can to extend a helping hand to others. One of many such efforts was undertaken this past summer by current students Geno Roefaro and Christina Rodrigues, FAU alumni Shiva Maraj and Robert Keller, and College of Business faculty member Mike Mullen, who went halfway around the world to the country of Belarus to help children growing up in the grim aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.
The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident released 400 times more radioactivity than the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Chief among the victims of this environmental catastrophe are the children of Belarus who’ve been born since the accident. They’re at ground zero in an ongoing cancer epidemic.
Bike2Belarus, sponsored by an organization based in Ireland called Students 10K, took the FAU team from the capital city of Minsk to a city near the contaminated zone, where they met many of the children and families of the region. The goal of this bicycle trip of more than 200 miles was to raise enough money to create a comprehensive hospice program for all the affected territories. Geno says that he and other members of the FAU delegation will never forget the faces of the children of Belarus, whose lives are so very different from the lives of our children here in America.
Dr. Mullen became aware of the Bike2Belarus project while he was serving as FAU’s 2005 Fulbright Scholar to Ireland, where the humanitarian effort is based. The Irish government very generously matched all monies raised. Participation by the FAU team was made possible through the committed fund-raising efforts of College of Business faculty member Barbara Conte and the support of Student Government. I believe that the entire Bike2Belarus team is here with us this morning. I’d like to ask them to stand as we applaud their compassionate outreach effort.
This university is growing by quantum leaps every year in terms of its ability to offer truly life-changing educational opportunities to students. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it many more times: Florida Atlantic University is coming of age right now, on our watch, and what could be more exciting than that?
In terms of economic impact, FAU is a strong engine of growth in its six-county service area, generating $1.15 billion a year in economic activity. The university now directly employs about 3,500 people, and its presence has given rise to an additional 12,600 jobs in the outside community. For every dollar that the State of Florida invests in this university, almost five dollars is returned to the local economy.
During the 2005-06 academic year, FAU awarded degrees to 5,257 students. Almost 80 percent of these new graduates indicated that they plan to stay here in South Florida to pursue their careers, adding greatly to the intellectual capital of the area.
FAU is heavily engaged on the workforce development front, particularly in areas of critical need. The College of Engineering and Computer Science has just introduced a new bachelor’s degree program on the Davie and Port St. Lucie campuses in the high-demand field of information engineering technology. The School of Social Work in the College of Architecture, Urban and Public Affairs has been awarded a $6 million contract by the Florida Department of Children and Families to lead a multi-university, statewide initiative to train child welfare professionals. Just two weeks ago, the College of Education’s Pathways to Teaching program was awarded $1.9 million by the U. S. Department of Education to support its efforts to fast-track mid-career professionals in other fields into new careers as teachers. This nationwide re-training program is aimed at increasing the number of teachers in high-need schools.
While we’re on the subject of accomplishments within the College of Education, let me share some other wonderful news with you: This month Education Commissioner John Winn named the A. D. Henderson University School one of the 50 top K through 12 schools in the state. The Henderson School has earned grades of “A” on the FCAT for six years in a row, and we congratulate the schools students, faculty and administrators for that outstanding achievement!
The Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing, long a critically important provider of essential health care to our region’s medically under-served population, continues to develop its public service, educational and research programs. One of this year’s most memorable events took place in February, when we gathered to dedicate the College’s beautiful new headquarters facility, which embodies its commitment to caring.
The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters will soon increase its presence in South Florida through original radio programming that will be broadcast over a WXEL digital audio channel. This initiative will be managed by the recently created School of Communication and Multimedia Studies.
FAU’s contribution to the life of the community is enhanced in a multitude of ways by the very generous support we receive from individuals and organizations that share our vision of all this great university can be. Once again, we’ve had an excellent fund-raising year, with almost $21 million in donations and pledges coming to the FAU Foundation. Of this total, $2.5 million went to scholarships and fellowships, $11.4 million to support faculty and research, and $6.9 million for new facilities, including the Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center and the Office Depot Center for Executive Education. The Foundation’s endowment now stands at $165 million, an increase of $20 million over 2004-05.
Our very rapid development as a research university is already delivering very real benefits to faculty members and students as the curtain rises on a whole new world of research opportunities. If I tried to describe all the important work that’s being carried out by FAU researchers right now I’d have to keep you here for several hours. One important new grant was received last month by our ocean engineering researchers at SeaTech. The Office of Naval Research has provided $2 million to fund the design and construction of the prototype of an innovative, portable sea base. This mobile base could support Navy, Marine, Army and Air Force operations, eliminating the need for a land base during military actions.
The newspapers have reported some of the most notable discoveries that have been made in FAU laboratories recently, such as the introduction of a new, more precise way of detecting breast cancer through MRI imaging with specialized software developed by Dr. Heinz Otto-Peitgen. This research is being carried out in cooperation with the Center for Breast Care at Boca Raton Community Hospital and the University of Breman in Germany. Dr. Peitgen used the mathematical concept of fractals to develop this unique software, which provides a very precise, three-dimensional view of suspicious lesions, facilitating early diagnosis and potentially saving lives.
A new therapy for the treatment of skin cancer has been discovered by Dr. Herbert Weissbach and other researchers in the Center of Excellence in Biomedical and Marine Biology. One of the really exciting things about this new agent is that it kills cancer cells selectively while leaving normal cells untouched, which means that it might ultimately be used to treat other cancers. The university has signed a licensing agreement with CHS Resources to market this promising new therapy. Neither Dr. Petigen nor Dr. Weissbach could be here with us this morning, because they’re both out of town, but I wanted you to be aware of the important work that they’re doing.
Another highly significant study is being carried out on the Jupiter campus by an FAU professor, a Scripps Research Institute scientist and a recent Ph.D. graduate of FAU who’s been hired by Scripps. Dr. Gregg Fields, Dr. Peter Hodder and Dr. Dmitriy Minond are investigating enzymes that play a role in the progression of cancer and arthritis, supported by $2 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health. Their study has the eventual goal of discovering new lead compounds for development as anti-cancer and anti-arthritis drugs. They're working with the Kalypsis robot, an incredibly sophisticated machine that allows for the rapid screening of millions of chemical compounds to efficiently identify new therapeutic agents.
This project is one of eight research collaborations that are currently being carried out by Scripps and FAU. Cooperative work such as this is exactly what was envisioned when we established our partnership with Scripps, and we look forward to many more such projects in the future. They're going to pay big dividends not only to Florida Atlantic University, but also to the many millions of people who will benefit as our biomedical research initiative advances.
Dr. Fields is here with us this morning. I’d like to ask him to stand so we can thank him for the important work that he and his colleagues are carrying out.
There can be no doubt that the country’s newest biomed/biotech corridor is taking shape here in South Florida, anchored on the south by Scripps and on the north by the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, another highly respected biomedical research organization that’s come here from Southern California. You probably saw all the newspaper and TV coverage that Port St. Lucie recently received when Torrey Pines announced its decision to build its Florida headquarters there. These developments, and others, have led Ernst and Young to add Florida to the list of Top 10 Biotechnology States in America. Florida Atlantic University is playing a pivotal role in all of this, working hand in hand with these major research organizations to elevate South Florida to one of the most important centers of scientific discovery in the world.
Work taking place under the umbrella of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science has become so diverse that the decision was recently made to place the entire biomedical research and medical education components within the newly created Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science. This expands FAU’s community of colleges to nine. Two departments are housed within the new college: the Department of Basic Biomedical Science and the Department of Clinical Science. This provides the infrastructure we need to move ahead on two very important fronts: the discovery of new therapeutic drugs and the development of our innovative medical education partnership with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Michael Friedland, Vice President of Medical Programs at FAU and a highly experienced senior-level administrator in the field of medical education, will lead the very talented faculty of our new college as its very committed Dean.
Creation of the new college will allow our current College of Science to focus on instruction and research in traditional science and mathematics. Our friend and colleague Dr. Gary Perry, who has distinguished himself during his long, productive career at FAU, recently took the helm as Dean, and he, too, heads an extraordinarily talented and dedicated faculty.
Our sponsored research funding from all sources continues to climb, reaching an all-time high of more than $60 million this year, with projected funding of more than $70 million next year. I’m fully confident we’ll reach that mark and perhaps exceed it.
This university’s physical growth continues to keep pace with the demand for new space. Major new facilities that will soon come on line include the second Scripps building in Jupiter, the joint-use marine science building at Harbor Branch in Fort Pierce, and the Wimbish Wing of the main library in Boca Raton. The new residence hall that’s now under construction at the Glades Road entrance to campus will accommodate 600 freshmen, bringing the number of our in-residence students to about 2,700. This spring we’ll break ground on a major new facility for students, the $6 million Recreation and Wellness Center. It will be located at the north end of the Breezeway, just across the street from our much-anticipated alumni center, which will also start taking shape next semester. Construction of the new Boca Raton Community Hospital, a major regional teaching facility, is expected to get under way here on the Boca campus in 2008, with the grand opening anticipated in 2011.
Of special importance to our Broward students is the long-awaited Student Union in Davie. We expect to break ground next month on this $6 million building, which is entirely funded by students. Also in Davie, we’ve received about $9.5 million for planning and the first phase of construction of our first permanent facility on the IFAS site. This allocation received the strong support of the Broward legislative delegation, and we’re very grateful for that. We’ll be looking to the Broward delegation again in the future as we seek additional funding to complete this $39 million project.
I’d like to take a moment now to briefly introduce some members of the team who are either new to FAU or who’ve moved into new leadership roles. Dr. Charles Brown is our new Vice President for Student Affairs. He comes to FAU from the University of South Florida at St. Petersburg, where he was Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Dr. Brown will be playing a key leadership role as we continue to add more and more elements of traditional college life to the FAU experience, particularly here on the Boca Raton campus. This is one of the goals that’s been set by the Board of Trustees with the objective of making FAU a “first choice school” for increasing numbers of students.
Dr. Dennis Coates has been named Dean of the College of Business. One of our own home-grown talents, Dennis came to FAU 16 years ago as an assistant professor and rose through the ranks to the top position in FAU’s largest College. He served as Interim Dean for more than a year before being tapped to occupy the post permanently.
Mrs. El Pagnier Kay Hudson is our new Director of Human Resources. She comes to FAU with more than 15 years of experience in the field of human resources, most recently in the Town of Davie.
Ms. Aileen Izquierdo has been named our first Vice President for Communications and Marketing. Aileen, who is also the university’s first Hispanic vice president, came to FAU in 2003 from Florida International University.
Dr. Jennifer O’Flannery — who has been an integral part of my staff since day one — continues to play a central role as my Chief of Staff and Director of Operations for the Board of Trustees.
Ms. Susan Peirce has been named Vice President for the Campaign. Most recently, Susan directed a successful capital campaign at St. Leo University. She’ll be working closely with Dr. Lawrence Davenport and his staff in University Advancement as we ramp up our efforts to kick off a major new capital campaign.
Mr. Rex Walters is our Men’s Basketball Coach. A former NBA star who played professionally with the Miami Heat, he came to FAU as an assistant men’s basketball coach and became head coach several months ago. Within a matter of weeks, we expect to announce the name of the person who’ll be joining us as our new Vice President for Facilities.
Welcome, one and all!
Our intercollegiate athletics program had one of its best years ever last year as our volleyball, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s swimming and softball teams won their conference championships. FAU was one of only eight universities in the nation to win five or more women’s conference championships last year.
Additionally, our athletics program was reaccredited for 10 years by the NCAA without conditions. As a result of these and other achievements, FAU was ranked 4th in the state and 79th in the nation in the Directors’ Cup National Standings of the U.S. Sports Academy. The national ranking is especially noteworthy because there are more than 300 collegiate athletic programs in the United States. Most important, an average of 136 of our student-athletes per semester earned GPAs of 3.0 or higher. At this university, student athletes will always be students above all else!
Let’s show our support for Coach Schnellenberger and the football team by filling the stands at Lockhart Stadium for our home games. The first one will be on October 12th, when the Owls face Southern Utah. I hope you’ll get out there with your family and enjoy it!
FAU is moving into the future with confidence and a sure sense of direction with the aid of a detailed road map that was 18 months in the making and that many of you helped to write. Our seven-year Strategic Plan has been approved by the Board of Trustees and is now in operation. I’d like to thank Trustee Nancy Blosser and Vice President Kristen Murtaugh for their outstanding leadership of the task force that produced the Strategic Plan, and also express appreciation to all the members of that hard-working group. They’ve given us a document that provides structure for our growth and requires accountability every step of the way. As a direct outcome of that process, we’ll soon have in hand the first campus academic plans ever produced in the history of Florida Atlantic University. They’ll be presented to the Trustees at the second annual Board retreat, which will be held next week.
Where do we expect our Strategic Plan take us over the next few years?
In the research arena, I see a broadening and deepening of our partnerships with Harbor Branch, Scripps, Torrey Pines, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Boca Raton Community Hospital, the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, and the development of new, equally promising, alliances. At the end of the day, our biomedical research efforts are aimed at finding cures for the most serious diseases afflicting the human race, and our partnerships have already begun to super-charge our growth as a research institution.
In the area of fund-raising, I see us honing our ability to attract support from both private and public sources to advance everything FAU does, from world-class teaching and cutting-edge research to cultural enrichment and economic development. I see this university continuing to focus on the very important mission of putting top quality, affordable higher education within the reach of anyone who seeks it in FAU’s very large, six-county service area. This means, among other things, that we’ll continue to develop our strong partnerships with the community colleges in our service region. U.S. News and World Report currently ranks FAU 26th in the nation in terms of transfer student enrollment, giving us more evidence that our partnerships with the community colleges are really working. The accessibility to degree programs offered by our multi-campus structure is changing lives every day, from Broward to the Treasure Coast. We must keep this door open, and work hard to open it even wider.
I see us pushing forward in our efforts to tighten the bonds between the university and its growing body of alumni. This very important initiative will move to a whole new level when the Marleen and Harold Forkas Alumni Center opens on this campus late next year.
This university now has about 97,000 alumni, and we’re proud of every one of them, but I’d like to bring one in particular to your attention right now. Astronaut Steve Swanson, who received his master’s degree in computer systems in 1986, will be aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis when it blasts off for the International Space Station in February of 2007. He called Pat Breman’s office a couple of weeks ago to request an FAU memento to take on the trip with him. She’s having an alumni banner made especially for this purpose. Isn’t it great to know that someone as busy as an astronaut preparing to go into space would want to make his alma mater part of that historic experience? And isn’t it great that his alma mater is Florida Atlantic University?
I’d like to end by thanking all of you for all you do for FAU. As a community, we have to keep pushing the envelope of expectation because in order to lift this wonderful university to even greater heights of achievement, we first have to see those great things happening in our minds. Together we’re showing the world all that can be accomplished by a community of scholars united in its resolve to create one of the most outstanding universities of the 21st century. Thank you for being here this morning, and now I’d like to invite you to stay and enjoy the reception that will take place just outside the theatre doors. I look forward to seeing you there.
