Summer News Update

Campaign soars past goal in final month

Spurred by Chicago-area philanthropists, donors have exceeded the goal of the University's Campaign for the Next Century, garnering for student aid, research support and new facilities the most money ever raised in a campaign in the history of the city of Chicago. In an outpouring of support that recalled the founding of the institution more than 100 years ago, Chicagoans contributed nearly half of the $676 million raised in the five-year effort.

Student aid was one of the three major priorities of the campaign, and the $50 million raised from all sources exceeded the campaign's $46.5 million goal for student aid. The other two major priorities of the campaign were endowment for faculty support, for which donors have provided $86 million, and new campus facilities, for which they have given $103 million. A new athletic center, which was made a priority of the campaign only in its last year, still requires millions of dollars in gifts and has become a priority of the University's continuing fundraising.

In addition, more than $300 million was raised in expendable funds to support research by faculty and students, the University's libraries and the University's various academic programs. Funds were also raised for special program endowments and the University's general use.

Schramm named DSP; endowed chairs to nine others on faculty

Vice President for Research David Schramm, a world leader in theoretical astrophysics, has been awarded a Distinguished Service Professorship. Schramm, Louis Block Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Physics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, the Committee on Conceptual Foundations of Science and the College, is now Louis Block Distinguished Service Professor.

Nine other faculty members, in fields ranging from ancient cultures to cancer research, have been named to endowed chairs:

Herbert Abelson, the George M. Eisenberg Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics;

Homi Bhabha, the Chester D. Tripp Professor in English Language & Literature, Art and the College;

Harry Hoffner, the John A. Wilson Professor in the Oriental Institute;

J. Paul Hunter, the Barbara E. and Richard J. Franke Professor in English Language & Literature and the College;

Albert Madansky, the H.G.B. Alexander Professor of Business Administration in the Graduate School of Business;

Dolores Norton, the Samuel Deutsch Professor in the School of Social Service Administration;

Martha Nussbaum, the Ernst Freund Professor of Law and Ethics in the Law School, the Divinity School and the College;

William Sewell, the Max Palevsky Professor of History and Civilizations in the College;

Richard Strier, the Frank L. Sulzberger Professor of Civilizations in the College.

The appointments were effective July 1.

Joint center on poverty established

University of Chicago researchers and colleagues at Northwestern have received a $7.5 million federal grant to establish the Joint Center for Poverty Research.

Robert Michael, the Eliakim Hastings Moore Distinguished Service Professor in the Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, has been named deputy director of the center. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Joint Center for Poverty Research will study the causes of poverty in America and the effectiveness of policies to reduce it, with a special emphasis on innovations in welfare reform and poverty policy at the state level around the country. The center will also train graduate students at the two universities in poverty-related research and will fund regular policy briefings around the nation. Rebecca Blank, professor of economics at Northwestern, is the center's director.

Professorship created in honor of Merton Miller

Seventeen donors -- faculty members, alumni and friends of the University -- have given $1.5 million to create a professorship honoring Merton Miller, the Robert R. McCormick Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Business and winner of the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

The professorship will allow the school to recruit a leading scholar from another institution or to promote a deserving existing member of the faculty, Hamada said.

Although the donor group has raised the $1.5 million required to create a named professorship, the group's ultimate fundraising goal is $2 million to bring the professorship up to a higher level. Donations have now been opened to the public. Those interested in donating to the effort should contact the GSB Development Office at 702-8196.

New Director of Argonne named

Dean Eastman, an expert on the electronic properties of materials and spectroscopy and vice president of technical strategy and development re-engineering for IBM Server Group, has been named Director of Argonne National Laboratory. The University manages the laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Eastman played key roles in science and technology at IBM for the 33 years he was with the company. He has conducted important research in the field of condensed matter physics, surface science, and photoelectron spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. During his IBM career, he was involved in many national science and engineering policy and advisory activities.

Eastman succeeds Alan Schriesheim, who announced in November that he intended to step down on July 1 after 12 years as director.

Hospitals' quality of care among nation's best

A nationwide survey, based on "an all-inclusive measure of a hospital's quality of care," placed the Hospitals in the top 1 percent of the nation's 1,961 major medical centers in nine of the 12 areas studied. The survey was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center and published in the Aug. 12 issue of U.S. News & World Report.

The Hospitals' programs rated in the top 10 include cancer, gastroenterology and endocrinology. Others in the top 1 percent (ranked 19 or better) include gynecology, geriatrics, neurology, orthopedics, otolaryngology and rheumatology. The three remaining programs studied -- cardiology, urology and AIDS care -- scored in the top 2 percent.

Faculty committee formed to discuss University issues

The Faculty Committee for a Year of Reflection, established by the Committee of the Council, plans to hold several public discussions this year on general issues facing the University and to organize smaller group discussions on particular issues. The committee's goal is to develop recommendations for educational innovations consistent with the University's long-term fiscal policies.

Members of the committee are co-chairs Frank Richter and Marshall Sahlins, James Chandler, Wendy Doniger, Michael LaBarbera, Deborah Nelson, Robert Pippin, Martha Roth, Katherine Schipper, William Sewell, Melvyn Shochet and Alan Sykes.

SSA teaching award to Sharon Berlin

Sharon Berlin, Professor in the School of Social Service Administration, has been named the recipient of SSA's Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.

The award recognizes exemplary teaching as well as leadership in the development of programs, the creation of innovative approaches to teaching and the special ability to encourage, influence and work with graduate students. Berlin teaches courses on beginning social-work practice and on cognitive approaches to direct social-work practice.

Name change, new appointments for Facilities Services

Facilities Services is the new name of Facilities Planning & Management. The office oversees maintenance, planning, design services, construction, space management, safety, hazardous and radioactive materials management and parking.

In addition to the name change, there have been several changes in staff: Michel George has been named Director of Operations & Maintenance, Mary Anton has been appointed to the new position of Director of Space Management, Marsha East has been appointed Co-Leader of Facilities Services' business process re-engineering implementation team, Ken Lyon has been appointed University Architect and Trevor Tay has been named Director of Facilities Support Services.