Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost
October 16, 2007
Dear faculty, staff, and students,
The University has received a lot of positive media attention lately, and I want to make sure you haven't missed the good news.
Regents Professor Emeritus Leonid Hurwicz just won the Nobel Prize in economics for his pioneering work in “mechanism design theory.” He is one of 20 University faculty and graduates who have won this coveted international prize. For more on this exciting news, please read “University professor wins Nobel Prize” on UMNnews.
Also featured in local newspapers, and on local radio and television, is the Twin Cities campus's incoming freshman class, which is the best prepared, highest achieving, and most internationally rich class we've ever had. More than 26,000 applications for admission, about a 77 percent increase from five years ago, were received on the Twin Cities campus for a freshman class that totals 5,280.
The Star Tribune's article “U's freshman class has its ACT together” succinctly points out such facts as the class's elevated ACT scores, the increase of students who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school class, and the substantial increase (to 96) in the number of National Merit Scholars, more than in any previous year.
Also exciting is the more than doubling of the number of international students, from 70 to 154, making this the most internationally diverse class of any year (read more statistics on the Class of 2011).
The University attracted these students with its growing reputation as a place that provides curious and motivated students with an exceptional education and limitless opportunities. And we expect these talented individuals to take full advantage of those opportunities and to push themselves to reach—or surpass—the high standards of the University.
Last spring, the Faculty Senate and the University Senate approved new learning and developmental outcomes for undergraduates, focusing on what students should learn and what they should be able to do when they complete their bachelor's degrees. These outcomes were established to make sure the University graduates the best, most responsible citizens it can—young people who can solve problems, master a subject, embrace diversity, explore across disciplines, be life-long learners, take responsibility for their actions, and be resilient and self-aware.
Graduates of the Class of 2007 are proof that students who learn in an intellectually challenging environment head into the world with purpose and enthusiasm.
- Psychology graduate Dan Hatfield has what he calls his “dream job.” After a favorite psychology class and an internship, Dan knew exactly what he wanted to do. Now he works for an early childhood intervention center called Partners in Excellence, where he teaches autistic children how to control their behavior.
- Tracy Canton, a Carlson School of Management graduate, lives in New York and is in a two-year leadership development program at Citi. She currently is working to enhance diversity programs, develop an internal communications portal, and help manage a mentoring and internship program for local Paul Robeson High School students.
- CLA's Margot Wagner spent time in Senegal exploring that country's languages and dialects and graduated with a degree in French. Today, she's “very busy but extremely happy” working toward her Ph.D. at Berkeley and teaching entrance level French classes.
- Finance graduate Josh Brock launched a new business based on a case study he did at the Carlson School of Management. Fusion Martial Arts follows trends toward healthier living and traditional values and has brought in $500,000 in revenue. Josh will open a second location in fall 2008.
- Ecology evolution, and behavior graduate Kim VanderWaal is in Tanzania studying elephant-human conflict for the African Wildlife Foundation, working with villagers, and using satellite data to track elephant movement patterns.
- Summa cum laude honors graduate Jared Rowe was a genetics major who participated in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), writing a paper on "Heat shock proteins as cancer vaccines." Jared is now a student at the Medical School on the Twin Cities campus.
I can't wait to see what the graduates of our stellar Class of 2011 will be doing four years from now after they have developed and nurtured their skills and talents in the supportive and stimulating environment we offer here. I encourage everyone to welcome them into our University community and to help contribute to their success.
I hope you are all having a productive fall semester, leaving time to enjoy the season and the great cultural, educational, and social opportunities the University and the Twin Cities have to offer.
My best,
Tom Sullivan
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