TITLE: Installing a New President
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: September 29, 2006  5:36 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
Today, my university
<A HREF="http://www.uni.edu/installation/">
   installed its new president</A>.
The installation was high ceremony, with faculty dressed in full
academic regalia, a distinguished platform committee, and an
appearance by
<A HREF="http://grassley.senate.gov/">
   one of Iowa's U.S. senators</A>,
who is a UNI alumnus.  (Alas, business on Capitol Hill changed
his plans at the last minute and limited him to a video
address.)  As much as universities have changed in the last
thousand years or so, we still hold onto some of our oldest
traditions and ceremonies.  That's a good thing, I think.  It
creates a sense of purpose and history, tying us to our
forebears in the quest to understand the universe.

<IMG SRC="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog-images/academic/ben-allen.jpg"
     ALT="Ben Allen, President of UNI"
     ALIGN="right">

I am excited by our new president.  He comes to us from a
<A HREF="http://www.iastate.edu/">
   major research school</A>,
a sister institution
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2006-08.html#e2006-08-11T08_23_18.htm">
   with which my department has dealt</A>
recently.  Everyone I've spoken to from his old university,
whether staff or administrator, regular faculty to research
superstar, has praised his intellect, his ability, and his
character in the most glowing of terms.  We need a leader of
high intellect, ability, and character as we face the many
changes that confront universities, especially public
universities, these days.

President Allen's
<A HREF="http://www.uni.edu/installation/speech.shtml">
   installation address</A>
gives those of us in the sciences reason to anticipate the future.
He seems to understand clearly the role that science, math, and
technology will play in the world in the coming century, and he
seems to understand just as well that a comprehensive university
such as ours must play an essential role in educating both capable
citizens and professionals prepared to work in a technological
world.  And his vision takes in more than just the
<A HREF="http://www.cs.uni.edu/~wallingf/blog/archives/monthly/2006-09.html#e2006-09-24T11_36_58.htm">
   aims of education</A>;
he sees the importance of participating in developing our state's
economy and to <EM>lead</EM> in areas where our strengths meet the
greatest needs of the public.  These include the training of
capable teachers and -- perhaps surprising to folks who think of
the Great Midwest as only a homogeneous population of old European
ancestry -- the integration and development of modern immigrant
communities.

I feel great hope that the new president of my medium-sized
public institution in the heartland of America believes that
we can and must become world leaders in the areas of our
strengths.  As he is fond of saying, good is the enemy of great,
and we must ask and answer difficult questions in order to
discern where we will excel -- and then carry out a plan to do
so.  Even greater is my hope in his belief that science, math,
and technology are among the areas we must come to lead.

Now my department faces a big challenge.  At what can we be
<EM>great</EM>?  What specialty can we develop that will be
world class?
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