Engagement and Inquiry

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

This annual report describes developments at the University of Chicago over the last fiscal year and provides a detailed overview of our finances. Our efforts are aimed at supporting the work of our faculty, students, and staff in our missions of research, education, and impact, and doing so within the context of the distinctive, intellectually rigorous culture that has characterized the University since its inception.

FOCUS ON AMBITIOUS GOALS

While the University undertook a significant and disciplined response to the global financial crisis, we also took focused and ambitious steps toward a number of important goals. These goals include the enhancement of our research and education capabilities and their impact through expansion of the faculty, increased financial support for our students, continued major investments in our facilities, and expansion of the University’s global presence.

This year we initiated the first systematic expansion of the faculty in more than 40 years. This expansion will be broad based, extending across the entire University and including both junior and senior faculty. In addition to supporting existing programs, we initiated a search for the first Pritzker Director of the newly approved Institute for Molecular Engineering, a major new science initiative.

Financial support for our students at all levels, ensuring access to a University of Chicago education independent of family financial circumstances, continues to be a major priority. The philanthropy of our alumni and friends is essential to this effort, and the ongoing support of the Odyssey scholarship program in the College, as well as the support for our graduate and professional programs, has enabled us to continue to expand financial assistance for our students.

INVESTMENT IN THE FUTURE

We continue essential investments in our physical environment. Construction continues on the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, which will open in spring 2011 and provide a striking new research facility for faculty and students. The New Hospital Pavilion, an essential addition to our ability to provide outstanding patient care, is rising adjacent to our existing patient care facilities. In May, we broke ground on the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, a facility that will advance the arts on our campus and in connection to the Chicago community.

In September 2010, we celebrated the opening of the University of Chicago Center in Beijing. This beautiful facility in the heart of the research and education district of Beijing is a permanent base for University of Chicago scholarship, education, and collaborative efforts in China. In addition to serving as home to the College’s Civilization Abroad program in Beijing and relevant University language programs, the center’s programming is organized into three broad areas: business, economics, and policy; science, medicine, and public health; and culture, society, and the arts.

These are just samples of the many important efforts undertaken by faculty, students, and staff throughout the University of Chicago community and reflect some of the areas that our alumni and friends continue to support so generously. I hope you find this report of interest and that it is a stimulus to further exploration of the multifaceted, important work being done every day at the University of Chicago.

Robert J. Zimmer, President