Following Provost and Senior Vice President Jamshed Bharucha's announcement on Sunday that he will leave Tufts this year to lead The Cooper Union, officials at both institutions have portrayed Bharucha as an effective administrator and a proponent of interdisciplinary education.
Mark Epstein, the chairman of the Cooper Union Board of Trustees, said that the search committee chose Bharucha after he emerged among candidates as a "truly wonderful" choice.
"In the end, Dr. Bharucha stood out," Epstein told the Daily. "He has experience with interdisciplinary education … and his record of hiring faculty and deans is superb."
Epstein said that Bharucha's success at gathering funds is a skill that will fit Cooper Union's specific needs, as the institution does not charge tuition.
"Because of Cooper Union's nature of giving a full tuition to its students, we needed someone who was adept at fundraising," Epstein said. "Cooper Union has a pretty big endowment, but we still need fundraising."
Bharucha will replace the current president of Cooper Union, George Campbell Jr., effective July 1.
His colleagues from Tufts' Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President echoed Epstein's praise.
"He has made a tremendous difference at Tufts, especially in interdisciplinary programs, in both research and education," Vincent Manno, an associate provost and professor of mechanical engineering, said.
Since Bharucha was appointed at Tufts in 2002, the university's different schools have become much more united, according to Manno.
"He's elevated the level of expectation for excellence across the university for students and faculty alike," Manno said.
Bharucha has initiated several programs at Tufts that encourage collaboration between the university's different communities, including the Summer Scholars Program and the University Seminar, a program that brings faculty and both undergraduate and graduate students from across Tufts together to learn about an issue of societal importance.
"I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with Provost Bharucha," Vice Provost Peggy Newell said in an e-mail. "It has been perhaps the best time in the history of Tufts for research."
"There is almost nothing that Jamshed hasn't been involved in," University President Lawrence Bacow told the Daily in an interview. "He's been deeply involved in the process of nurturing faculty members in their research and teaching. He's been a strong advocate of students, in financial aid and diversity."
Bharucha will succeed in his new post, Bacow said.
"I think it's a good choice for Cooper Union," he said. "I think he will do spectacularly there, and I applaud Cooper Union because I think it's an inspired choice."
Manno agreed.
"It's a different sort of educational institution, it's not a mainstream … university," Manno said. "It's a school that really has followed the themes that he has been passionate about throughout his career, which is the unification of arts and science and the accessibility of university education to people regardless of their economic background."
The search for someone to serve as interim provost and senior vice president has already begun, Bacow said.
"We intend to begin the process of a search for a permanent replacement for Jamshed immediately, but we can't assure that we'll have someone in by July 1," he said.
Bacow said that while the decision about whom to hire as an interim provost ultimately lies with University President-elect Anthony Monaco, he planned to collaborate with the incoming president while he remains on campus. He has already begun to collect input from the Tufts community.
"People are already sending me e-mail messages, and some people are pulling me aside and telling me what they think," Bacow said. "I will be talking to folks and asking their opinion."
Bacow said he hopes the search process will go as smoothly as the one that hired Bharucha as provost and senior vice president nine years ago.
"There was anxiety at the time for finding a replacement for Sol," Bacow said, referring to then-provost Sol Gittleman, who is now a university professor. "Sol was a legendary provost. We did a national search and were fortunate to recruit someone at the caliber of Jamshed.
"I'm confident that we'll do equally well going forward," Bacow continued.
In a formal announcement ceremony yesterday at Cooper Union, Epstein noted the qualities that will make Bharucha an able leader of the college.
"The Cooper Union is now poised to advance to its next level of distinction among the highly selective colleges in America," Epstein said during the ceremony, which streamed live online via Cooper Union's website. Dr. Bharucha has the intellect, academic track record and fortitude to lead us there."
At the ceremony, Bharucha said he was honored to have been chosen as the college's president.
"I cannot imagine an institution nobler than Cooper Union," Bharucha said during the ceremony. "I cannot imagine a philanthropist more inspired than Peter Cooper, and I cannot imagine leading an institution whose ideals are more in harmony with my own," he said.
