September 16, 2009
Dear Members of the Clark Family:
The last nine plus years have been the most rewarding years of my life and, I believe, of Kay’s. Recently, after much reflection, I advised the Board of Trustees that I have decided to step down as President of Clark University at the end of this academic year or, to make the start date for the next president more flexible, no later than January 2011. Kay and I both like to feel that we have made a difference in our time here, and hope to continue to do so for many months to come. We also feel that we have at least one more new adventure in our lives, and we are already exploring what that might be.
Ten years seems about the right time for a university president and the last ten years are ones in which everyone associated with Clark can take great pride. While Clark has always had excellent students, the general academic quality of students now is much higher than a decade ago, as faculty members testify. Far more Clark students are prepared and eager to exploit the special learning opportunities provided by individual teachers. Meanwhile over half the current faculty members have come to Clark during this period, and most of these new teacher-scholars have already had a big impact on student learning, on University research, and on the campus culture.
Even as Clark, moreover, is primarily a people place, we now have new science and art and athletic facilities, a splendid Academic Commons as part of a renovated library, a new residence hall, a new IDCE house, and renovations throughout campus. Perhaps most importantly, Clark now has a much clearer sense of its own identity as a special student-centered liberal arts university with a serious research mission, a sense of identity shared by all of us working on campus. We also have a strong sense of our international character, a deep understanding of our commitment to making a positive difference in our world—challenging convention and making change for the better, and a real appreciation of the long-term value of the active learning that so often engages liberal arts students in solving real-world problems as part of their education.
Clark is a college that changes lives—of its students, staff, faculty, and those whose lives are touched by its students, staff, and faculty. I took pride several years ago in hearing the late Senator Kennedy assert that Clark University sets the national standard for how a university should relate to its community. Worcester is fortunate, moreover, to have many colleges that make the city a better place, and the colleges are fortunate to be located in a city that has so many assets to enrich our experience here.
Clark has greater national visibility than a decade ago. There remains, however, much work to do. Too many high school students who would be a perfect fit as ambitious Clarkies still do not know about the University. Clark has enthusiastically loyal graduates, but we should try to double the number of alumni who stay engaged with the University that made a big difference in their lives. Now there is a strong platform on which to build an even stronger university, one that inspires pride for Clark teaching and research among all its alumni and a desire on the part of thousands of students around the world to be part of that experience. The next president, working with splendid faculty, staff, students, trustees, alumni, and friends will build that university.
Last week someone asked me what makes me smile most about my job. After reflection I said it was learning about the success or special accomplishments of a student I have known—perhaps helped recruit or teach or mentor, or a young faculty member making his or her mark here. When I see Academic Spree Day projects that might have been completed by a doctoral student or HERO projects that might have been completed by a professor, or initiatives undertaken by Anton or Steinbrecher Fellows or Global Scholars, I marvel at the talent of our undergraduates. I also marvel at the work of our graduate students. I know I will never forget hearing that Elysia Alvarez, a science major from the Class of 2005, had outshone graduate students from around the nation at a science conference at Harvard, or learning about another incredibly brilliant project by Paula Zimmerman, a Geography major from the Class of 2008. They are only examples.
I also beam when I learn that faculty members who have joined Clark in this decade have won more and more teaching awards and have received very large research grants. When I learned last spring that the new Faculty Chair would be Kristen Williams, whom I had often described as one of our star junior professors but who now had the seniority and respect justifying her election by her peers, I knew indeed that a new generation was taking over.
Kay and I do not know what our next adventure will be. It will doubtless be shaped by our ten years at Clark, just as the Clark experience changes our students, staff, and faculty forever.
Sincerely,
President
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