October 7, 2004
Message from the president: Celebrating a culture of collaboration
In my welcome message last week to students, faculty, and staff, I noted the strength of the University’s faculty and staff as evidenced by the many people I have had the privilege of meeting and getting to know over the course of the summer. From crew hands on the Tommy Thompson research vessel to faculty in a variety of academic disciplines to staff from many units who serve on the President’s Staff Forum, I have been impressed by the level of talent, interest, dedication and commitment that people demonstrate every day in their work at this exceptional University. It is a very large and diversified institution whose faculty and staff are doing remarkable things, some of which I know will have substantial and significant impacts on people’s lives around the world for many years to come.
I am also delighted by the special culture of collaborative and interdisciplinary work that exists here. We are not unique, of course, among American research universities in coming at questions and problems from an interdisciplinary perspective. But what struck me was how ingrained the notion of crossing disciplines and boundaries has become in the intellectual climate of the University. At an administrators’ workshop in August, one of the emerging themes from virtually every corner of the University was the eagerness to combine expertise from multiple disciplines in order to pursue complex questions and a fundamental belief that doing so promises to accelerate the rate at which new discoveries are made and new knowledge is acquired.
The degree to which people here embrace this ethos is inspiring. We have a culture where protecting one’s turf factors very little into the equation, contrary to what is found at many universities across the country. It suggests that what drives and motivates people here is inquiry in its purest form. In my view, this is the mark of a truly great university, one that can become even better if we can find a solution to one of the most frustrating challenges you deal with every day — the chronic under-funding of the University’s core mission.
My job is to be an enabler, to bring the resources into the University that will enable you, the UW community, to accomplish your best work and to ensure that conditions prevail for the culture of collaboration and creativity to flourish and grow. I will be working very hard at this, both with regard to stable and adequate public funding, as well as the philanthropic funding that greatly enhances the excellence of our programs.
Elsewhere in these pages, you can read about a very special occasion taking place on Oct. 15. Come Together Washington will mark the beginning of the public phase of the University’s fundraising campaign by providing all of us an opportunity to recognize and appreciate the contributions this University makes to our region and ways in which both the University and our community contribute to human progress both here and around the world. This event will be held in Hec Edmundson Pavilion and is intended for everyone, all of us who work at this great University as well our students, alumni, and friends in the community. I hope you will make a special effort to attend and be a part of this inspiring celebration.
