President Rupp to Step Down in Summer 2002
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| PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO |
George Rupp, who became the 18th President of Columbia University
in July 1993, announced on Saturday, March 3 that he will
step down from his post in summer 2002.
"I have decided that next year will be my last as Columbia’s
president," said Rupp. "I am announcing my intention to resign
now in order to allow time for an orderly succession. The
actual transition will take place in the summer of 2002.
"All of us in the Columbia community can and should celebrate
the fact that the University today embodies substantial forward
momentum and is poised to achieve further advances in the
years ahead."
Stephen Friedman, chair of the Columbia Trustees, said, "George
accomplished everything the Trustees hoped for and more. The
University is in great shape and has strong momentum, and
he built a first-class team.
"For years George told us that right about now was when he
expected he would like to retire. When he told us he wanted
to stay with that plan, we nevertheless tried to prevail upon
him to extend his time. In the end we reluctantly accepted
his decision, with regret but with great appreciation for
a magnificent job.
"We are fortunate that Trustee Henry King agreed to chair
a search committee, which will be empanelled in the near future.
Henry chaired the committee that brought George to us and
so we are following the simple theory of backing a proven
winner."
In addressing the March 3rd meeting of the Columbia Trustees,
Rupp reviewed some of the University’s important accomplishments:
"We are attracting record numbers of applications from ever
more exceptional students-for example, since 1993 a more than
doubling of applications to Columbia College and a reduction
of the percentage admitted from over 30 percent to under 13
percent.
"We have strengthened virtually all of our departments and
schools through the successful recruitment of outstanding
faculty. "We have fostered a sense of Columbia as a whole
that is more than the sum of its parts by forging links among
schools and even across campuses.
"We are in the final phase of two successive five-year capital
investment plans totaling over $1.5 billion that have transformed
our facilities and infrastructure.
"We have just concluded an enormously successful fundraising
campaign that attracted over $2.8 billion, with record annual
cash totals for what this year will be the eighth time in
a row.
"Our financial condition is sound, with a balanced operating
budget of $1.7 billion and an endowment of over $4 billion.
"We have achieved all-time highs in research support, now
totaling almost $500 million annually.
"We have developed the nation’s most effective program for
generating both social goods and significant revenues ($144
million last year) from University-owned intellectual property.
"We have positioned Columbia as a leader in Internet-enhanced
education and research.
"We have raised the University’s profile in New York City
and significantly improved relations with our immediate neighbors
in Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Washington Heights.
"We have emphasized the global dimension of Columbia’s work
and we continue to develop our role in international education
and research.
"We have sought to provide members of the Columbia community
with a quality of life worthy of our great intellectual traditions
and to engender a feeling of pride among our alumni, both
in the United States and around the world.
"I take it as a weighty responsibility to transfer leadership
to my successor without losing the momentum we are now experiencing.
I will be fully and energetically engaged in the life of the
institution until the day I leave office. But if one assumes
as I do that a transition will in any case occur in the next
few years, then I think that sooner is better than later.
"Over what will be nine years, we have worked together on
a series of initiatives that have contributed to the current
flourishing of the University. None of these initiatives is
altogether complete because it is in the nature of a university-perhaps
even more than most other institutions-to be always in process,
always on the way, always under construction. But there comes
a time to open a new chapter, to frame new objectives, to
launch new campaigns to generate resources. My sense is that
the time for the next new beginning will be upon us soon and
that Columbia should have its new president in place to lead
the way.
"As for my own future, I have no definite plans. After what
will have been 25 years as either dean or president, I would
certainly welcome the opportunity to return to the teaching
and writing I intended to pursue when I first became a faculty
member. Should I remain at Columbia, I would especially enjoy
teaching, among other courses, Contemporary Civilization in
the Core Curriculum. But at this point, I will not rule out
other options that might develop in the course of the coming
year-except to note that I will not become the president of
another university.
"As we continue to work together, I thank you for your support,
I assure you again that I will keep on pushing forward for
the remaining almost 16 months of my presidency, and I wish
all of us all the best in choosing my successor."
Prior to coming to Columbia, Rupp served as president of
Rice University and dean of the Harvard Divinity School.
Rupp is a native of New Jersey. He has studied and conducted
research for extended periods in both Europe and Asia. He
was awarded the A.B. from Princeton, the B.D. from Yale, the
Ph.D. from Harvard, and the honorary Doctor of Letters from
Columbia.
Rupp is the author of four books, including Beyond Existentialism
and Zen: Religion in a Pluralistic World and Commitment and
Community. Rupp and his wife, Nancy, are the parents of two
adult daughters.
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