cwru-news@po.cwru.edu -- About this server -- Copyright 1994-2001 CWRU -- Unauthorized use prohibited
I am very pleased to have been elected as the next Chairman of the Board of Trustees of this great University in its 175th anniversary year at what I perceive is a time of great opportunity. My appointment will take effect on July 1.
I appreciate the trustees' vote of confidence, and I commend John F. Lewis for his extraordinary efforts and strong leadership during the last six years. He has served longer than anyone in recent history as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and will remain a valued counselor and member of the Board, as will one of his most distinguished predecessors, Allen H. Ford.
The challenge to the University is to respond to the enormous technological, economic, social, and cultural changes faced by our entire country and certainly by this community. Some examples include medical education, research and health care delivery, as well as the transformation of our industrial base to an increasing reliance on new ventures based on development of technology and advanced research. The University must also respond to ever-increasing competition among universities for top students, faculty, and research support. It must constantly strive to maintain and improve the national standing of both its undergraduate and graduate programs.
The legacy of the last few years under the leadership of Presidents Agnar Pytte and David H. Auston is the development of many new initiatives to enhance the future leadership position of the University in responding to these challenges. Plans in process hopefully will strengthen the University's role as one of the nation's premier academic health centers and as the driving force, along with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and University Hospitals of Cleveland, in the development of biotechnology enterprises (the BioPark) and other important technology transfer opportunities.
The committee created to study undergraduate education and life is in the process of developing a comprehensive proposal which, if adopted, could have far-reaching and potentially very innovative implications for the University's undergraduate program and student life. Responsive to this proposal is the University's nearly completed campus master plan which calls for the construction of a new residential campus for all undergraduates, new apartment facilities for graduate students, the potential development of a "college town" at the Euclid Avenue and Mayfield Road intersection, a centrally located student center, a performing arts center, and many other improvements.
The University's newly acquired fourteen-acre property, the former site of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, includes over 800,000 square feet of available space and represents a myriad of potential opportunities for future expansion.
The responsibility of the trustees will be to support James W. Wagner, Interim President, in pursuing these initiatives. Jim has been University Provost and was formerly Dean of the School of Engineering. The Board, with the help of one or more outside advisers, will review its governance structure, including board committees and visiting committees, in order to enhance its ability to support these initiatives and strengthen the University at all levels.
In the weeks ahead, I look forward to the opportunity of meeting with the deans and leaders of the faculty, staff, and student body to introduce myself and encourage all members of the University community to feel comfortable communicating with me in the future about the presidential search process or other trustee issues.
I want especially to thank the members of the University staff, the deans and the members of the faculty for their efforts of the last few weeks to assure that the University has run smoothly and that its many initiatives have been continued without interruption. I must make special mention of the extraordinary commitment that Jim Wagner has made to this University in assuming the role of Interim President in such an effective and energetic way. The newly elected Vice Chairman of the Board, Frank N. Linsalata (CIT '63), chairman of Linsalata Capital Partners, and I look forward very much to working with Jim and the members of the administration, and we share their considerable optimism about the future!