Boston, MA - The executive committee of the Board of Trustees announced this morning that MIT Chancellor Lawrence Bacow will succeed John DiBiaggio, making him the 12th president of Tufts University.
The appointment marks the culmination of an eight-month review of over 100 potential candidates that included prominent figures from the academic and political worlds. Bacow will take office at the beginning of the fall semester.
Speaking at a press conference at Tufts medical school downtown, the new president said today that he will stress the theme of university-wide integration. Rather than discuss fundraising and alumni relations, the traditional responsibilities of a university president, Bacow emphasized a need to increase interactions between Tufts' various academic programs so that "all seven schools meld together into a single University."
He connected this notion to the idea of globalization and a personal desire to recruit more students from throughout the world. "Tufts has moved from a very good regional university to a university of international prominence," he said. "To capitalize on globalization we can create synergy and do so in a way that strengthens the four campuses."
Bacow, who is also a professor at MIT, said he plans to continue teaching. At Tufts, he will teach at least one class in addition to his duties as president, a job description which Gantcher described as "somewhat unusual, but not unique."
But according to committee members, Bacow's strengths lie in areas beyond academics. "He's far more than simply a respected scholar," presidential search committee chairman Irwin Heller said. "He also has tremendous collaborative and negotiation skills."
The presidential search committee submitted a list of five candidates to the executive committee, which chose Bacow after a long meeting last Sunday. This morning, trustees would not disclose the names of the finalists, but Nathan Gantcher, chairman of the Board of Trustees, described the candidates as high administrators and presidents of other universities.
"You would have been happy with any of the four," Gantcher said.
Bacow, meanwhile, said he is honored by his selection. "I feel privileged to follow in the footsteps of people who have really shaped an institution any educator in America would be proud to lead," he said.
To get a feel for life at Tufts, Bacow and his wife posed as parents of prospective applicants and casually spoke to several undergraduates during two campus visits over the last few weeks. "We surreptitiously stalked the Medford campus... Students described it as a place that was easy to fall in love with and fall in love with it we have," he said.
While Bacow said he is proud to preside over such a diverse institution, he promised to increase the diversity of the faculty.
"We should not rest on our laurels because we have not reached the same level of diversity in our faculty and administration," he said. Tufts must represent "the entire realm of human capital, not just a small slice," he added.
Bacow emerged as a frontrunner early in the presidential search, according to John Isaacson, the president of Isaacson, Miller, the company hired by Tufts to help conduct the presidential search. "His character fits well with Tufts' identity," he said. "He's an unusual man - generous, congenial, and simultaneously intellectual."
Bacow has been MIT's chancellor since 1998. Prior to that, he was elected by students and faculty in 1995 to serve as chairman of the faculty and also served as the director of MIT's Hillel during that time.
Bacow's academic credentials made him attractive to the search committee, but Issacson said Tufts was open to the idea of hiring someone who did not have an academic background. "The first priority is someone committed to the University," he said. "Tufts has tremendous strengths that it has not exploited."
Though Bacow will assume his post on Sept. 1, DiBiaggio plans to remain at Tufts for the next academic year to work on the University College of Citizenship and Public Service, a project that many consider to be his legacy.
