Olympic Games help make
1996 a year to remember

The Olympic Games had a tremendous impact on the Emory campus last summer, but 1996 was a notable year at Emory for many other reasons, several of which are compiled here:

JANUARY
Emory ends the largest fund-raising campaign in its history, exceeding its $400-million goal by receiving a total of $419 million in gifts and pledges from a host of alumni, foundations and friends. According to Vice President for Institutional Advancement Bill Fox, the results of the effort show that "we have come of age and can take our place among other great universities."

A September 1995 incident that occurred in Harris Hall and believed to be racially motivated is resolved when an African American friend of the victims later confesses that he wrote a note containing a racial slur as a prank.

Provost Billy Frye establishes a Commission on Teaching charged to examine the "most critical issues that pertain to the quality of teaching at Emory." Chaired by theology professor Rebecca Chopp, the Commission began its work by engaging members of the faculty, staff, student body and administration in a series of small group conversations about pertinent issues.

President Bill Chace attends the first Palestinian elections as part of an election-monitoring mission sponsored by The Carter Center and the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. Chace said he made the trip with former President Jimmy Carter "to make a statement that Emory is very interested in extending its international presence and understanding."

FEBRUARY
A proposal funded by the University dramatically expands the scope of the Emory Recycles program. The program was changed to include building-based recycling sites for mixed office paper, newspaper, magazines, aluminum, glass and corrugated cardboard that will be serviced by the custodial staff.

MARCH
The College establishes a Center for Teaching and Curriculum. Its goals are to promote greater recognition of existing teaching; to encourage a broader public discussion of teaching among faculty; to conduct qualitative research about the attitudes of Emory undergraduates toward faculty teaching; and to provide more tangible support for faculty to develop new courses and new curricular initiatives.

A World Wide Web Initiative is established by the Health Sciences Center Executive Committee to bring a sense of unity to the center's representation on the web. The initiative is part of the WHSC Health Communications Project.

APRIL
The Carter Center Faculty Liaison Program is approved, and Emory faculty are invited to apply for positions as liaisons for one-year terms beginning in the fall. The program was instituted to address frustration expressed by faculty over not being able to connect their work more closely with the work of The Carter Center.

After studying ways for Emory to meet its arts-related needs in a more cost-efficient way, the Arts Center Committee recommends that a new building be built on the original arts center site and that the Rich and Burlington Road buildings be adapted to address the needs of arts programs. By fall semester, the architect selection process had begun.

Trustees approve the appointment of Dennis Liotta, professor and chair of the chemistry department, as Emory's first vice president for research. Liotta said that "because I'm maintaining my own research program, I understand what researchers do-I'm going through the same things."

The Trustees adopt Choices & Responsibility (C&R) as the official "value platform" from which to conduct strategic planning. President Chace said that in the future, the trustees will evaluate critical decisions in light of the five areas addressed by C&R, which was published in 1994.

MAY
The University announces a $5 million gift from former Coca-Cola executive Claus M. Halle and his wife Marianne for development of a comprehensive and integrated program in international studies. The University plans to use the funds to create a new Institute for Global Education.

In her commencement address, Spelman College President Johnnetta Cole urges graduates to "rebuild the kind of understanding and unity among diverse peoples" that will determine the nation's success in the next century and beyond. In September, the University announced that Cole will join the Emory faculty in 1998.

Jessica Glasser, who graduated with honors in women's studies and had been accepted to the University of Virginia Law School, was killed in an automobile accident on her way home to Norfolk, Va., on May 20. Glasser's death occurred a week after commencement, where three students who died the previous year in separate incidents were awarded their degrees posthumously.

JUNE
The University and the American Cancer Society (ACS) reach an agreement on a revised site for the Hope Lodge, an ACS project to be built on land provided by Emory at the University Apartments. The agreement followed a January vote by the University Senate that recommended revising the building's original site.

A search committee is named to find a new Emory College dean and vice president for Arts and Sciences to replace David Bright, who will step down in June 1997.

JULY
Michael Johns comes from Johns Hopkins to Emory as executive vice president for Health Affairs, director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, and chief executive officer of the Emory System of Health Care. Johns replaces the retiring Charles R. Hatcher Jr.

The new Emory Hospital Emergency Department opens after a year-long conversion of the Hospital Treatment Room. The process included a $750,000 renovation of a 6,660-square-foot space.

Two exhibitions on display at the Carlos Museum include what is billed as "the most important and comprehensive gathering of African American self-taught art in the country." Presented as part of the 1996 Olympic Arts Festival, the exhibitions include "Souls Grown Deep: African American Vernacular Art of the South" and "Thornton Dial: Remembering the Road."

Thousands of Emory community members line the sidewalks of Clifton Road on the morning of July 18 to see the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay pass through campus. Emory provided accommodations for Olympic officials as well as international media, and served as a training site for six sports.

AUGUST
The Paralympic boccia ball competition is held in the P.E. Center Arena and includes 64 athletes with cerebral palsy representing 11 countries in both team and individual competition.

An Aug. 11 fire delays the construction schedule for the 1525 Clifton Building and damages the parking deck portion of the project. The $13.5-million project should be completed by
August 1997.

Leaders of The Atlanta Project (TAP) announce a much more streamlined version of the program for its second phase, scheduled to begin in January 1997. Reductions in budget and staff will be accompanied by a more concerted focus on education, immunization and employment.

Oxford College upgrades its campus security force to a full-time police department. The department becomes a unit of the larger Emory Police Department.

SEPTEMBER
Thomas J. Lawley is named dean of the School of Medicine. Lawley replaces Jeffrey L. Houpt, dean of the school since 1988.

Three prominent philanthropic foundations announce the formation of the Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Fund Inc., which will provide at least $3 million a year to the Health Sciences Center. The foundations jointly designated a portion of their Coca-Cola stock to be set aside to establish the corporation.

Provost Billy Frye is named chancellor of the University,
effective upon his retirement as provost on June 1, 1997. The chancellor serves as an adviser to the trustees, president and University officers, but does not carry administrative duties.

Loren F. Ghiglione, a long-time journalist and news executive, is named the first James M. Cox Jr. Professor in Journalism. The undergraduate program combines basic journalism skills development with a challenging academic program.

Nigerian playwright, Nobel laureate and political activist Wole Soyinka is appointed Woodruff Professor of the Arts. Honored with the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986, Soyinka was Distinguished Visiting Professor in African American Studies last spring, marking the 25th anniversary of African American studies at Emory.

Provost Billy Frye announces the creation of a Digital Information Resources Council to function as the University-wide coordinating and planning body for information technology issues. Frye also announces a technology superfund of $500,000 to promote development of new services and operations that benefit the entire campus.

Efforts to increase the University's child care capacity take a big step forward with Program and Budget Committee approval of funding for a proposal from the Campus Child Care Committee. The center will augment the existing Clifton Child Care Center.

OCTOBER
Theater Emory presents works by noted playwrights Wendy Wasserstein and Megan Terry. Both playwrights visited campus to see productions of Wasserstein's first major play, Uncommon Women and Others, and Terry's award-winning play, Approaching Simone, that chronicles the extraordinary life of French philosopher, mystic and social activist Simone Weil.

The demolition of the pedestrian bridge linking Woodruff and Candler libraries signals the beginning of work on the Center for Library Information Resources construction project. Scheduled for completion in August 1998, the Center will consist of a 65,000-square-foot, four-story addition between Woodruff and Candler libraries.

Anthony Hirschel is named
director of the Carlos Museum. Director of the Bayly Art Museum at the University of Virginia, Hirschel identifies as one of the next major areas of focus for the museum the integration of the facility more fully into Emory's academic mission.

NOVEMBER
Ely R. Callaway Jr. '40C, CEO of Callaway Golf Co., attends a small dedication ceremony and tour of the Callaway Center, which includes the former Physics and Humanities buildings as well as the new connector that links them. The renovation/construction of the project was made possible by Callaway's gift of Callaway Golf Co. stock.

Human Resources announces the Emory Employment Re-Engineering Project, designed to speed up referrals and improve the quality of applicants being referred to hiring officials in Emory departments. The new system took effect Jan. 1, 1997.

The University Senate endorses a proposal to improve campus communication by establishing a Communication Office to assist all campus organizations in publicizing their events and other information. The proposal is designed to increase the use of electronic communication and reduce the number of paper flyers being pasted to campus sidewalks and plazas.

DECEMBER
The administration announces the selection of Ayers/Saint/ Gross Architects and Planners to create a comprehensive master plan and long-range campus development plan for the physical facilities of Emory. The $750,000 project is expected to take 14-16 months to complete.

-Compiled by Peter Mills
and Liza Caceres



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