Welcome President Alivisatos

marlowe1
Wed, 06 Oct 2021 13:56:35 +0000

@izzalu , you might also be interested in a discussion moderated by David Rubenstein among Alivasatos and the three living past presidents of the University - Don Randel, Hannah Gray and Robert Zimmer. It can be found on the UChicago website by going to “News” and then “Around Chicago” and “UChicago Presidents”.

I expect Alivasatos had wanted to consult with his predecessors in any event (and did so offscreen), but the ever-resourceful Rubenstein seized on the moment to capture some of their collective wisdom on camera, using his own patented half-jokey interviewer style. The ensuing discussion, including Rubenstein’s own heart-felt assessment of the University, was most stimulating and interesting. There was a common vision underlying the remarks of all the Presidents - and a conviction of the specialness of the University as each of them saw it. Satisfied as they all were with their prior institutions, each said something like, “Chicago was just the right place for me.” They all spoke with eloquence of the fundamental reasons why that was so, though each brought their distinct personalities to the discussion - Hannah very erudite; Randel rather breezy; Zimmer (showing the effects of his recent stroke) frail but impassioned. Alivasatos was soaking it up and contributing observations in his now familiar unpretentious style (revealing, for example, that he did not have very good marks in several of his chemistry courses at Chicago). I liked his explication of why he, a very distinguished chemist and potential Nobel Prize winner, would want to go into administration of a University. First, he said, he intended to continue to do his chemistry; but he had come to realize that making contributions to knowledge is a collaborative enterprise - he had realized in doing his own work the necessity of working with others. Being President of a great university is the just the best way of making that happen. Good stuff.