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January 17, 2006
2005 Year in Review

Compiled by Jessica Gearing and Michael Terrazas

From the culmination of University planning efforts to widespread responses to natural disasters, last year was a busy one on campus. In these pages, Emory Report takes a look back at 2005.

January
Emory pitches in to help global tsunami relief effort
As the waters begin receding from the devastating tsunami that struck southeast Asia on Dec. 26, 2004, the University extends a helping hand. By the time President Jim Wagner distributes an all-campus e-mail on Dec. 30 asking the community to donate to relief efforts, a handful of Emory students already are involved. And that’s just the beginning.

Power of song drives King Week keynote
Grammy-winning vocalist and renowned historian Bernice Johnson Reagon quietly sings the words of the spiritual, “We’ll Stand the Storm,” upon stepping to the microphone, Jan. 18 in Cannon Chapel, to deliver the keynote speech for Emory’s 21st annual King Week celebration.


Lord James W. Dooley, the immortal spirit of Emory, was on hand for
Charter Banquet, Jan. 24, to help Emory celebrate its 90th birthday as a
University. (Photo: Ann Borden)

Charter Week celebrates University’s 90th birthday
Emory’s second Charter Week celebration features a full seven days of academic, social and artistic events to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Emory’s charter. Though inclement weather forces the cancellation of the week-capping Charter Ball, the celebration is still a resounding success.

Nursing’s ‘future of caring’ starts right now
Students and faculty of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing gather in the school’s plaza, Jan. 28, to kick off the school’s yearlong centennial celebration. “We’re here to celebrate the last 100 years, but also to challenge ourselves to make the future even better,” says Dean Marla Salmon.

February
Franklin responds to Cosby criticism
Comedian Bill Cosby’s criticism of the African American community forms the basis of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion’s (CISR) Family Forum Series. Robert Franklin, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Social Ethics and CISR senior fellow, addresses “Cosby’s Call and Our Response: What the Church and Community Should Do” in Tull Auditorium, Feb. 2.

Alexander: Housing laws can define ‘family’
Housing laws and their effects on culture and families are the theme of law Professor Frank Alexander’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture, Feb. 7 in Winship Ballroom. “Our housing laws have been used—directly and indirectly, consciously and unconsciously—as vehicles for the definition and control of families,” says Alexander, founder and co-director of the Law and Religion Program.

Heritage Month blends art and history
African American Heritage Month 2005 looks toward the future of civil rights, and keynote speaker Mary
Frances Berry, former chair of the Civil Rights Commission, examines “Civil Rights in the 21st Century,” in her Feb. 21 lecture in WHSCAB auditorium.

Brokaw headlines 2005 honorary degree recipients
Former NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw is announced as keynote speaker for 2005 Commencement, headlining a group of honorary degree recipients that also includes Atlanta entrepreneur Thomas Cousins, nursing scholar Sue Hegyvary (’66N); founding dean of the Georgia State University School of Law Ben Johnson Jr. (’36C, ’40L); and Master of University College, Oxford, Lord Robin Butler.

Emory ranks high in survey as destination for postdocs
Emory ranks among the country’s top 10 academic institutions in providing the best work environments for life science postdoctoral research professionals, according to rankings in The Scientist’s third annual “Best Places to Work for Postdocs” survey.


First lady Laura Bush shakes hands with the Barkley Forum’s James Roland
during her visit to an Atlanta middle school, March 9.

March
Laura Bush praises urban debate program
On March 9, Laura Bush visits Benjamin S. Carson Honors Preparatory School, an Atlanta middle school whose debate program is getting a helping hand from Emory’s own Barkley Forum, as the first lady prepares to lead a new national education program proposed by her husband’s administration.

Goizueta renovation earns LEED honor
Emory strengthens its “LEED” in environmental sustainability as renovations to Goizueta Business School make it the first building on a university campus to earn gold-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings certification, a rigorous process overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Malveaux makes room for Sadie in WHM keynote
Julianna Malveaux, teacher, author and syndicated columnist with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, describes the life of Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander in her Women’s History Month keynote lecture, “Making Room for Sadie—A Diversity Metaphor,” in Tull Auditorium, March 23.

April
Medicine, law, business place in U.S. News rankings
In U.S. News & World Report’s 2006 rankings of graduate schools, the School of Medicine ranks 20th among research-oriented medical schools and 30th among primary care-oriented medical schools. Goizueta Business School (GBS) ranks 18th, and the School of Law ranks 32nd. Emory’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, launched in partnership with Georgia Tech in 1997, ranks third in the nation.

Future holds a lot for Forum panelists
Fourteen eminent thinkers from around the country converge at Emory April 8 for the Futurist Forum, part of the University’s strategic planning process. The event is designed to help the University see what lies ahead in higher education as it focuses its strengths through the framework of the strategic plan. CNN anchor Stephen Frazier moderates the morning-long public event in the Schwartz Center.

Claire Sterk named new senior vice provost
Claire Sterk, associate dean for research in the Rollins School of Public Health, is appointed senior vice provost for academic planning and faculty development, effective June 1. Sterk will be one of two new vice provosts, and her charge is to help build Emory’s faculty in quality and reputation.

Emory Healthcare to ride with Tour de Georgia
Emory Healthcare is named the official health care provider for the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia, held April 19–24. Professional cyclists pedal through 11 Georgia cities over six days to raise support for the Georgia Cancer Coalition, the state’s comprehensive cancer initiative.

Employee Council holds first spring Town Hall
Vice President Bob Ethridge, Provost Earl Lewis, Executive Vice President Mike Mandl, Senior Vice President Johnnie Ray and President Jim Wagner speak and answer questions at the Employee Council’s first spring Town Hall, April 26 in Winship Ballroom. Wagner asked that the event be held and expanded due to the popularity of the council’s annual fall Town Hall.

Task forces tackle community wellness
President Jim Wagner charges a pair of task forces, one on mental health and the other on alcohol and drug abuse, with collecting data on campus and prioritizing community needs in those areas.

Senate OKs benefits proposal
At its April 26 meeting, the University Senate endorses a broad slate of proposed changes to Emory’s employee benefits package, put forward by an ad hoc group that had examined the issue throughout 2004–05. President Jim Wagner later puts many of the changes into policy, beginning with the addition of an extra paid holiday—New Year’s Eve—in 2005.


At Emory’s 160th Commencement, May 16, former NBC news anchor
Tom Brokaw, author of The Greatest Generation, feted the latest
generation of grads. (Photo: Kay Hinton)

May
Class of 2005 enjoys day in sun
The Class of 2005, numbering more than 3,400 members across all the University’s schools, don their gowns and mortarboards on a sunny May 16 for Emory’s 160th Commencement ceremonies. Tom Brokaw, former anchor of NBC Nightly News, delivers the keynote address on the Quadrangle, marking the final day of the five-day Emory Weekend celebration.

Emory’s homepage gets a facelift
Emory goes live with a new central Web site design, its first Web redesign in five years. The new look graphically ties the University together with Woodruff Health Sciences Center and provides a simplified navigation structure.

Alexander named interim law dean
Law Professor Frank Alexander is named interim dean of the School of Law, Provost Earl Lewis announces
May 26.

Campus Services created in reorganization
The Division of Campus Services is created by consolidating Facilities Management with the offices of parking and alternative transportation and the Emory Police Department. Vice President Bob Hascall will lead the new division.

June
Trustees give passing grade to strategic plan
At a retreat held June 1–3, the Board of Trustees gives Emory’s nearly completed strategic plan an enthusiastic reception. The plan, taking shape since early 2004 through the efforts of more than 1,000 across the University, is scheduled to be publicly released in fall 2005.

Bowen named new Oxford dean
Stephen Bowen, former provost and vice president for academic affairs at Pennsylvania’s Bucknell University, will be the next dean of Oxford College, Provost Earl Lewis announces on June 17. “Steve is the best person to lead this college as it refines its mission for the next decade and beyond,” Lewis says.

July
Study abroad participants safe after London bombings
More than 115 Emory students, faculty and staff are in or near London for summer study programs when terrorists bomb the city’s buses and subways on the morning of July 7. Within hours, all are safely accounted for and word is spread to their families back home through the Center for International Programs Abroad.

Mendola named to new CIO post
Rich Mendola, associate vice president for administrative information technology services at the University of Illinois, is named Emory’s first vice president for information technology and chief information officer. Mendola is charged with coordinating and integrating IT infrastructure between the University and Emory Healthcare.

EUH ranked near top by U.S. News
Emory Hospital makes another strong showing in U.S. News & World Report’s annual hospital rankings. Two
programs earn national Top 20 designations, including heart and heart surgery and ophthalmology. Emory’s programs in geriatrics, gynecology, kidney disease and psychiatry also are included in the magazine’s rankings of 17 specialties.


From left, professors Dennis Liotta and Raymond Schinazi, and former researcher Woo-Baeg Choi,
invented the anti-HIV compound Emtriva, the July sale of whose royalty rights netted $540 million—
the largest such sale in the history of higher education. (Photos: Jon Rou)

Drug royalty sale fuels Emory research
Emory announces the $540 million sale of royalty rights to the leading anti-HIV drug Emtriva, a compound invented by University professors Dennis Liotta and Raymond Schinazi and former researcher Woo-Baeg Choi. Believed to be the biggest sale of intellectual property in the history of higher education, the sale provides some $130 million in scientific research and education funding to jump-start Emory’s soon-to-be-announced strategic plan.

August
Helen Jenkins celebrates 60 years at Emory
Food services’ Helen Jenkins retires on Aug. 1 after more than 60 years of service to the University, and she is celebrated with a banquet on Aug. 11 attended by President Jim Wagner and other top administrators, colleagues, friends and family. Official records are incomplete, but it is believed that Jenkins—who began work on campus on March 5, 1945—is the longest-serving employee in Emory history.

U.S. News ranks Emory No. 20
For the second straight year, Emory ranks 20th among 248 national universities in U.S. News & World Report’s annual college quality rankings, published in the magazine’s Aug. 29 issue. Goizueta Business School places 18th in the rankings of undergraduate business programs.

Emory reaches out with Katrina help
The University mobilizes on several fronts to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which makes landfall along the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29. Emory Healthcare doctors and staff provide medical assistance, University employees make room for displaced students in their homes, and University schools make room in their classrooms as more than 150 New Orleans-area students are temporarily enrolled.

New café opens in Woodruff Library
Woodruff Library’s first food-service location, a Jazzman’s Café, opens its doors, Aug. 29, offering a menu of beverages and light fare for hungry scholars.

Class of 2009 arrives on campus
Freshman Convocation, held Aug. 30, serves as the University’s official welcome to the Class of 2009. Marshall Duke, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Psychology, delivers the convocation address to approximately 1,250 freshmen overflowing the seats in Glenn Auditorium.

September
Pioneering career women tell life stories
Professors Frances Smith Foster and Martha Fineman narrate the seventh annual “Telling Our Stories” event, sponsored by the Center for Women and held Sept. 13 in Miller-Ward Alumni House. Some 100 faculty, staff and students listen in on their conversation.

Carter Town Hall addresses global poverty
Former President Jimmy Carter addresses Emory freshmen at his 23rd annual Town Hall, Sept. 21. The evening’s tone ranges from lighthearted to somber. Carter tells the crowd that everyone at Emory is a part of The Carter Center, which is currently working in 65 nations, mostly in Africa.


Two years of hard work and planning culminated in “Where Courageous
Inquiry Leads: Emory University Strategic Plan, 2005–15,” released in
September to the University community. The plan outlined an ambitious
array of strategic goals and aspirations as Emory looks to leap into the
highest tier of American research universities. (Illustration: Francis R. Irizary)

Emory pledges to go ‘Where Courageous Inquiry Leads’
On Sept. 26, Emory releases “Where Courageous Inquiry Leads: Emory University Strategic Plan, 2005–15,” marking a culmination of nearly two years of planning by more than 1,000 individuals across all the University’s schools and divisions. The plan identifies strategic goals, school and unit aspirations, and signature themes and initiatives, through which Emory will aim to reach the highest tier of research universities.

Grand debut for Goizueta Ph.D. center
Olga Goizueta, widow of Goizueta Business School namesake and benefactor Roberto Goizueta, is on hand to help dedicate the school’s $33.4 million Goizueta Foundation Center for Research and Doctoral Education, Sept. 28. The center, connected to the main business building by a footbridge, will house Goizueta’s doctoral program and executive MBA programs.

New VPs hired for HR, marketing
Peter Barnes and Ellen Dracos Lemming are announced as Emory’s new vice presidents for human resources and marketing, respectively. Barnes comes south from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, while Lemming is former marketing vice president at The Home Depot.

October
Ted Hughes archive in spotlight at conference
Scholars from eight countries around the globe gather on campus, Oct. 5–7, as Emory hosts the fifth international conference on poet Ted Hughes, titled “Fixed Stars Govern a Life.” The conference’s own star is the Hughes archive, stored in Woodruff Library’s Manuscripts, Archives & Rare Books Library.

Project looks to transform Emory community
The Transforming Community Project (TCP), an ambitious, five-year undertaking meant to take an honest, comprehensive look at race at Emory, gets under way with a series of community dialogues. Associate Professor Leslie Harris and Vice President Gary Hauk co-chair the project, conceived the previous year by Harris and Professor Catherine Manegold.

Class on the Quad teaches human rights
The third Classroom on the Quad examines the issue of human rights from political, legal, environmental and health viewpoints, Oct. 19 on the Quadrangle. Gerald LeMelle, deputy executive director of Amnesty International, delivers the keynote address.

Wagner delivers State of University Address
After two years devoted significantly to a wide range of planning activity, Emory is poised at the brink of another “great period of transformation,” President Jim Wagner says in his annual State of the University Address, Oct. 25 in Cox Hall.


Following on the heels of the strategic plan was the Campus Master
Plan 2005 Update, which provided a framework for Emory’s physical
development for the next generation.

November
Campus Master Plan updated for 2005
Emory releases its Campus Master Plan 2005 Update, meant to guide physical development decisions over the next 10 years and beyond. Among the plan’s ambitious aspirations are a reimagined Emory Hospital, a second Academic Quadrangle and relocation of residence centers.

Stanford professors deliver Unity Month keynote lecture
Stanford University’s Lawrence Bobo and Marcyliena Morgan deliver the Unity Month keynote address, “Talking Race Post-Katrina,” Nov. 14 in Tull Auditorium. The husband-and-wife pair bring their multidisciplinary perspectives to the issue of race following Hurricane Katrina.

CCTMA sends final transit report to county
At a Nov. 14 public meeting, the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association releases its final draft of a transit study that will be incorporated into a larger plan being developed by DeKalb County.

December
AIDS Quilt on the Quad
To commemorate World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, the Quadrangle hosts one of largest displays of the AIDS Memorial Quilt ever held in Atlanta. The entire quilt contains more than 45,000 panels and weighs 54 tons. More than 400 of those panels, each dedicated to a person who has died of AIDS, are spread out for community viewing. Some 1,000 people visit the Quad to view the quilt.

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