TULANE TALK

October 5, 2001

Good Morning:

Remember the November 8 Presidential Symposium I mentioned in last week’s Tulane Talk? Unfortunately, our speaker Dr. Ruth L. Kirschstein, acting director of the National Institutes of Health, is unable to attend this special event due to job-related demands following the September 11 terrorist attacks. I definitely plan to reschedule this event and will let you know as soon as I have a date and speaker. In the meantime, mark the date of Januuary 14th for the Presidential Symposia in Neurosciences.

Speaking of upcoming events, I want to encourage you to attend the Town Hall meetings that I will host on October 24 at 2 p.m. in the Kendall Cram Room and on October 25 at 2 p.m.in the Medical School Auditorium. These meetings will allow us time to discuss the exciting progress we are making on the 10-year Strategic Plan we implemented in 1998 as well as our objectives for this year.

This week began with two important receptions. On Sunday night we welcomed our new Provost Lester Lefton with a dinner at #2 Audubon and on Monday we hosted a reception for our new faculty members. Our new faculty members are a great group and I’m expecting wonderful things from them and continued excellence from all our faculty under the guidance of Lester Lefton.

Monday, I also met with the University Senate, a group of faculty, staff and students who advise me on university policies. We discussed how the tragedy of September 11 is likely to impact our goals in the weeks and months ahead. Here is a http to an e-mail I sent to our Deans, Directors and Department Heads regarding this subject.

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago meeting with prominent Tulane alumni and friends who all gave me assurances of support as we continue to advance Tulane’s mission. I came back home in time to learn that the membership of our newly created Presidential Task Force on Diversity and Equity had been finalized. This task force will be charged with determining ways in which we can best provide equal opportunity for all members of Tulane’s wonderfully diverse family. You can read more about the purpose of this Task Force in the next issue of Inside Tulane.

I also received the good news that Dr. Cheryl A. Nickerson in our Department of Microbiology and Immunology has been selected to receive NASA’s Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Dr. Nickerson will receive her award at a White House ceremony later this month. Congratulations, Dr. Nickerson. This is a great honor for you and Tulane University.

Enjoy your weekend,