For those who haven’t watched Friday’s inauguration, I’d highly recommend it - youtube embedded in the link below. Marlowe is correct in the characterization of what Alivisatos professes to want to do which is none other than return to WR Harper’s expansive vision of a great university that proactively connects with the local, national and global communities for the benefit of humankind. His one “harsh” critique of UChicago was that part of this expansive vision was toned down or even abandoned a decade or so after Harper’s tenure and the university went through a period of being inward, rather than outward, looking. I attended UC at such a time and agree that the place, including parts of Hyde Park, had a cloistered feel to it. A lot has changed in 20 years, but Alivisatos seems to be planning to go more aggressive and actively engage with all sorts of ideas. How they will balance this goal against the university’s own long-standing principles (including the Chicago Principles and the Kalven Report) remains to be seen. But I feel reasonably assured that he’s not out to change what his colleague Steven Chu (Nobel Laureate in Physics) characterized as a unique feature of UChicago among its peers: a culture of intellectual honesty. Boy, I loved hearing that! I know several other academics who have made the same comment, but it’s nice hearing that from such a prominent scientist and friend of the new guy in charge.
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