Media Relations: The Latest News at Vanderbilt

April 23, 1999

Chancellor Wyatt's legacy at Vanderbilt

When Wyatt left Harvard University, where he was vice president for administration, to become Vanderbilt's Chancellor in July 1982, Vanderbilt was a well regarded regional university with an approximately $200 million operating budget, $170 million endowment and $42 million in sponsored research. It also had a large number of aging buildings and a student population of 8,782, drawn largely from the South.

During the intervening 17 years, the University has won national recognition for its undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, while expanding its academic offerings and initiating a number of innovative, interdisciplinary teaching and research programs. Its operating budget has grown to $1.3 billion; its endowment has soared to $1.5 billion; and its faculty now attracts nearly $200 million in sponsored research.

The student body of 10,110 is the most diverse in its history, with students from all 50 states and 91 foreign countries. The percentage of minorities among undergraduates - 18 percent - is an all-time high, thanks to an aggressive effort to recruit and retain students of color. An honor scholarship program initiated by Wyatt in 1986 has been particularly instrumental in attracting minority students. During its 14 years of existence, a total of 268 students have been awarded the full-tuition Chancellor's Scholarships for Outstanding Minority Students.

Vanderbilt's health care and public service activities also have increased dramatically during Wyatt's tenure. A number of new medical research and patient care facilities have been constructed, and the Medical Center has solidified its position as the premier academic health center in the mid-South region and among the finest in the country. In fiscal year 1998, VUMC recorded 30,000 inpatient admissions, 50,000 emergency room visits and more than 500,000 outpatient visits. At the same time, Vanderbilt's contributions to the Nashville community -- through community service projects, volunteer activities, health care for indigent patients and joint projects with the Metro Nashville public schools, among other activities - have grown to record levels. Wyatt also was the first Chancellor in Vanderbilt history to serve as chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Joe Wyatt is among a small handful of strong, seasoned academic leaders of major research intensive universities in the United States.”

—Stanley O. Ikenberry

National leadership

Wyatt's success at Vanderbilt and his deep commitment to improving education, both at the primary and secondary level and at the college and university level, have thrust him into national leadership roles. He is the current chairman of the Universities Research Association and of the Government-University-Industry-Research-Roundtable at the National Academy of Sciences. A former chairman of the Association of American Universities, he has testified before Congress on such issues as federal funding of research and the partnership between the federal government and the nation's research universities. He also serves on the Business Higher Education Forum, the Advisory Committee of the Public Agenda Foundation and the Council on Competitiveness.

"Joe Wyatt is among a small handful of strong, seasoned academic leaders of major research intensive universities in the United States," said Stanley O. Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education. "His record of accomplishment at Vanderbilt is remarkable and widely admired by his presidential colleagues. His leadership on the national scene has been equally creative and productive. Joe has led or been engaged with virtually every major struggle in American higher education for more than two decades. From his many colleagues from coast to coast, we congratulate him on a great career."

Faculty initiatives and fundraising

Recognizing that to be a truly great university, an institution must have truly great teachers, Wyatt initiated several programs at Vanderbilt to enhance and reward faculty members for extraordinary classroom efforts. These include the Chancellor's Lecture Series on Great Teaching, begun in 1988, and the Chairs of Teaching Excellence Awards, begun in 1996. In 1986 the Center for Teaching was established in the College of Arts and Science to help faculty members and graduate students sharpen their classroom skills. It now serves as a resource for faculty from throughout the University. The Initiative on Team Teaching was launched in 1993 to encourage professors from different disciplines to develop and teach courses together. The Initiative on Technological Innovation in the Classroom was established in 1994.

To undergird Vanderbilt's continued progress into the next century, Wyatt in the early '90s led with Trustee E. Bronson Ingram the most ambitious fund-raising effort in the University's history. The Campaign for Vanderbilt, a six-year effort that culminated in 1995, generated $560 million. More recently, the University's financial holdings were bolstered by a gift from the Ingram family valued at the time at approximately $300 million, believed to be the largest donation to any institution of higher education.

As a result of such giving, the University has increased endowed faculty chairs from 39 in early 1982 to more than 100 today.

During Wyatt's tenure, Vanderbilt has acquired or built one-third of the campus—more than four million square feet of mostly new construction. In addition, more than one million additional feet of renovations to existing facilities has occurred. In 1982, Vanderbilt had about $180 million in outstanding facility needs—buildings or equipment that had become outdated and needed to be replaced or upgraded. An aggressive program of construction and renovation has reduced that backlog by an average of $17 million a year, bringing the current backlog to $84 million.

Much of the new construction was designed to house new teaching, research and service initiatives. The Free-Electron Laser Center, a joint project of the College of Arts and Science, the School of Medicine and the Engineering School, opened in 1990 after Vanderbilt won out over six other universities for a multi-million-dollar government contract. The center, expanded in 1995, attracts researchers from around the world who use Vanderbilt's powerful laser to conduct research in such areas as biomedicine and materials engineering.

“For me, it's a balance of heart and mind. My professional career has been deeply rooted for 44 years in the origins and development of computer and network technology in a variety of settings, but my values were shaped by a rural Texas upbringing where neighbors depended on one another in both word and deed, not just for success but for survival.”

—Joe B. Wyatt

Technology and volunteerism

Among Wyatt's accomplishments with the most significant impact on the Vanderbilt culture involve what might be characterized as "quiet revolutions" in two very different areas - information technology and volunteer service.

"For me, it's a balance of heart and mind. My professional career has been deeply rooted for 44 years in the origins and development of computer and network technology in a variety of settings," Wyatt said. "But my values were shaped by a rural Texas upbringing where neighbors depended on one another in both word and deed, not just for success but for survival."

A proponent of "just in time" investments in technological innovation, Wyatt has long maintained that information technology is a strategic resource of accelerating global importance in education, research and patient care. Eight years ago, he organized an informal collection of leaders from all parts of the University who have met regularly in the early-morning hours to consider the long-range strategic implications of information technology on both the structure and function of universities. Since its formation, the Information Technology Strategy Group has influenced the role and scope of information technology at Vanderbilt and continues to do so.

In the area of volunteer service, Wyatt has been instrumental in the establishment of a wide variety of initiatives aimed at making students and others aware of the need for and rewards of ongoing involvement in community service, as well as providing them with opportunities to become involved. The Office of Volunteer Activities was founded at Vanderbilt in 1989 to facilitate the outreach efforts of students. Today, half of all Vanderbilt students are engaged in volunteer programs and the number of service organizations has almost doubled over the past five years.

One of the earliest and most successful volunteer efforts to receive the Chancellor's support was Alternative Spring Break, which was founded in 1987 by a handful of students. In spring 1999, more than 300 undergraduates participated in the program's 2 domestic and three international sites. With funding from the Chancellor's office, the non-profit BreakAway: The Alternative Break Connection was founded in 1991 by Vanderbilt graduates to help colleges across the country start alternative spring breaks.

Throughout the Wyatt years, other innovative volunteer programs have been initiated, including the Virtual School, Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science and the Ingram Scholars Program.

Through the Virtual School, an initiative begun at Vanderbilt, more than half the teachers in the state have received computer training to integrate technology in the classroom. Through Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, Vanderbilt students present hands-on science activities at area schools and serve as science resource persons to elementary and middle school classrooms. The Ingram Scholars Program rewards scholarships to undergraduates for their volunteer efforts and commitment to continuing those efforts throughout their careers.

Contact: Elizabeth Latt, 615-322-NEWS
elizabeth.p.latt@vanderbilt.edu

Vanderbilt University is a private research university of approximately 5,900 undergraduates and 4,300 graduate and professional students. Founded in 1873, the University comprises 10 schools, a public policy institute, a distinguished medical center and The Freedom Forum First Amendment Center. Vanderbilt offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education and human development, engineering and music, and a full range of graduate and professional degrees.

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