eCALSconnect Volume 12-3

Message from the Dean

Susan A. Henry
The Ronald P. Lynch
Dean of Agriculture
and Life Sciences

The most momentous news of the last few months, certainly, is that David J. Skorton has been chosen to lead Cornell University. President-elect Skorton — a practicing cardiologist; a professor of internal medicine, biomedical engineering, and electrical and computer engineering; a jazz saxophonist and flutist; and a Latin jazz radio show host — is also the beloved president of the University of Iowa. His wife, Robin Davisson, an associate professor of anatomy and cell biology and radiation oncology at Iowa, is a widely respected functional genomicist. Both will hold joint faculty appointments in Ithaca and at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Among the many issues that matter to Cornell, one of the most important for us in CALS is the land-grant mission. President-elect Skorton cited this as one basis for his interest in Cornell, along with our university’s commitment to "public service and outreach, economic development, and technology transfer." He is a committed proponent of international education. Other commonly held values that he noted include our “very proud legacy of leadership in promoting diversity," and the balance Cornell strives to maintain among the natural sciences, humanities, fine arts, and social sciences.

David J. Skorton, Cornell's president-elect.

When the president-elect met with the deans before the announcement in January, I found him to be exceptionally engaged and engaging. He is, by all accounts, ready to lead Cornell University with energy, passion, imagination, good humor, and great intellect. Please join me in welcoming both President-elect Skorton and Professor Davisson to Cornell.

Speaking of public service and outreach, I am very proud of the new Impact portal. There you will find nearly 600 reports by CALS faculty on projects reflecting all facets of our academic priorities — the land grant, the applied social sciences, environmental sciences, and the new life sciences. These Impact statements, all fully searchable, were rolled out in January with the launch of an entirely revamped CALS Web site. Read more on that project in this issue.

And it’s not over yet. In the 2006 reporting project completed in mid-February, faculty prepared another wave of Impact statements that will highlight the progress of another year.

As President Skorton can be counted on to put his distinct visionary stamp on this university, CALS can be counted on to stay true to our deeply rooted institutional values and further extend our role as the flagship for a truly great land-grant university to the world.

Susan A. Henry, Ph.D.

The Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences

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