Brown Provost Zimmer returns to be the 13th UC President

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>Dear Members of the Brown Community,</p>

<p>Today, the Presidential Search Committee of the University of Chicago</p>

<p>is recommending to its Board of Trustees that Brown's Provost, Robert</p>

<p>J. Zimmer, be elected the 13th President of the University of Chicago,</p>

<p>effective July 1, 2006. The Board will act on the recommendation at a</p>

<p>special meeting on Friday, March 10. I am certain all members of the</p>

<p>community will join me in congratulating Bob on his new position.</p>

<p>Bob, an accomplished scholar and administrator, came to Brown from the</p>

<p>University of Chicago in July 2002 to serve as the University’s ninth</p>

<p>provost. Since his arrival, he has been integral to the development</p>

<p>and implementation of the Plan for Academic Enrichment, and has made</p>

<p>important contributions to the academic life of the University. Under</p>

<p>his leadership and guidance, we have expanded the faculty and</p>

<p>strengthened our multidisciplinary programs through initiatives like</p>

<p>the Environmental Change Initiative, the Initiative in Spatial</p>

<p>Structures in the Social Sciences, the Center for Computational</p>

<p>Molecular Biology, and the Cogut Center for the Humanities. Bob</p>

<p>championed partnerships with institutions like the Marine Biological</p>

<p>Laboratory (MBL) at Woods Hole and oversaw the development of new</p>

<p>agreements between the Medical School and our affiliated teaching</p>

<p>hospitals. Undergraduate, graduate, and medical students will benefit</p>

<p>greatly from the improvement of facilities undertaken during his term</p>

<p>as provost. His leadership and commitment to Brown faculty, students</p>

<p>and staff will be missed.</p>

2

<p>Wow.</p>

<p>From Brown, the total open ciriculum, to UC, the hard "core".</p>

3

<p>As mentioned in the press release, he was formerly at The University as a mathematics professor and Vice President for Research and Argonne National Laboratory, I believe. He should be quite familiar with the school. Looks like a good choice.</p>

<p>Looks like Chicago is choosing scholar over politician (not saying one can't be both). Here is a book he wrote (unless there is anothe Robert J Zimmer):</p>

<p>Essential Results of Functional Analysis (Chicago Lectures in Mathematics)
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226983374/102-7287932-5577744?v=glance&n=283155%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226983374/102-7287932-5577744?v=glance&n=283155&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>With two Harvard degrees, he can't be half bad! Though at age 60, one wonders how long his tenure may be.</p>

5

<p>Here is the official U of C announcement. I was right about his background with U of C. (His undergrad degree is from Brandeis and his Ph.D. from Harvard, he may well have an MS from there as well, I don't know.)
<a href="http://www-news.uchicago.edu/president/index.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www-news.uchicago.edu/president/index.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And 60 is not old!!</p>

6

<p>here, here idad!!</p>

7

<p>"To: University Students</p>

<p>I am delighted to announce that the Presidential Search Committee is</p>

<p>recommending that the Board elect Robert Zimmer, currently the Provost</p>

<p>at Brown University, as the 13th President of the University of Chicago.</p>

<p>The Board is expected to approve the Search Committee's nomination at a</p>

<p>special meeting tomorrow - Friday, March 10, 2006. Further information</p>

<p>is available on the University's website: <a href="http://www.uchicago.edu/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.uchicago.edu/&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>There will be a pizza party for students in Hutch Commons at 6:30 p.m.</p>

<p>tomorrow, March 10; I hope you'll be able to stop by for this</p>

<p>opportunity to meet the new President.</p>

<p>James S. Crown</p>

<p>Chairman of the Board of Trustees "</p>

8

<p>He looks like a good choice to me. But I must admit that I am a bit wary, as he was at Brown for a few years, the place with zero core requirements. I hope he doesn't follow in the path of Sonnenshein . . . .</p>

<p>I am sure he will do well, though.</p>

9

<p>Well he has been proposing that Brown consider adding "+" or "-" grades to the A's B's and C's in graded courses, and that has raised a firestorm of protest at Brown, being seen backsliding in the direction of hated "standards". </p>

<p>25 years ago, the Brown faculty capitulated to the "no grades" demonstrators shouting outside the windows, and the then-president of Brown resigned in protest.</p>

10

<p>I don't see whats wrong with + - grades...does anyone know why they are against it? What are these hated standards? </p>

<p>Since he was already at Chicago, I doubt he will try to go against the core in anyway, and they probably wouldn't let him.</p>

11

<p>They don't like it because a student on the borderline of an A or a B who is more A than B, gets a full A, which =4 points. With +, - grades, that student might get a B+ (3.3) or and A- (3.7). Zimmer will not try to change the Core.</p>

12

<p>Zimmer will keep his head down, avoid controversy, and hope to reignite the capital campaign.</p>

13

<p>I don't know. I think the best grading system (one that wouldn't work to my advantage though) would be out of 100. If you get an 89 it's an 89, and the grade is valued higher than an 88 or lower than a 90, while if the grading system gave letter grades, they would all mean the same. I think + and - grades come close to that, and I see why it would be difficult to do a grading system out of 100, but to only have a letter grade with such a huge range seems silly to me. Maybe I'm just bitter...thats how my HS had it and in sophomore year I had 4 classes with a 88-89, which is a B. 90 was an A. What I get is the same as someone who got an 80 for 4 classes. It just seems stupid.</p>