By Dan Fletcher and Libby NelsonThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern is in excellent academic and financial shape and has made progress in research and development, University President Henry Bienen said Thursday morning at his annual State of the University address.
Bienen noted several advances in the past year, particularly Kellogg School of Management’s new undergraduate certificate program, construction on both the Evanston and Chicago campuses and the new Norris University Center Starbucks.
“Anyone who has been over there, at almost any time of day, can attest to the fact that it is a phenomenally successful project that is very popular with our students,” Bienen said of the Starbucks.
In the speech, Bienen also congratulated the admissions staff for attracting a record number of applicants.
Admission statistics were up at the undergraduate schools and at both Kellogg and the Feinberg School of Medicine, Bienen said. While applications were down at the Law School, they still were better than the national trend, he said.
Bienen was quick to highlight NU’s commitment to attracting diverse students.
“As part of that, we are also increasing our efforts to attract undergraduate students from lower-income households by reducing or eliminating the loan component of their financial aid package as much as we can and replacing those loans with additional grants,” Bienen said.
Bienen also praised faculty members and former students for achievements in research, mentioning that NU has continued to draw funding for research though federal support for the sciences has declined in recent years.
“Northwestern’s emphasis on multidisciplinary research and education programs positions us to make critical contributions to society,” he said.
Bienen summarized sports highlights of the past year, saying NU finished in the top 30 universities in the country for overall athletic success.
“We also suffered a great loss with the sudden death of Randy Walker, our highly regarded football coach, and a good friend,” Bienen said. “In the coming years, we will continue to build on the foundation he established.”
NU is making progress toward potentially building a campus abroad, which Bienen said would provide a unique opportunity for students.
“The objective is to have a worldwide reputation,” Bienen said. “There’s an obvious shift going on, a shift in power, of economic influence. Old Europe and maybe even Old America are not going to have as prominent a place in the world as they do now.”
In the question-and-answer session following his speech, Bienen also addressed global issues in response to a question about NU’s possible investment in the Darfur region of Sudan.
He said the university had taken action in 2005 even before student demand, through divestment from four Chinese petroleum extraction companies working in the region.
“On this one I think there was a bright light,” he said, adding that questions of divestment often are controversial.
While Bienen said he recognized that there are always areas to improve, he said he was confident about the course NU is taking.
“We’re not perfect,” he said. “Universities are not perfect – it’s a big complicated place. We could do better in every single area we undertake, but I think we do pretty well.”
Reach Dan Fletcher at [email protected] and LIbby Nelson at [email protected].
