The University of Chicago Magazine April 1996
Cheers:
Former trustee Max Palevsky, PhB'48, SB'48, and his wife, Ellen,gave a $5-million unrestricted gift to the University's endowment through theongoing Campaign for the Next Century. Palevsky has generously supported the Uof C for 25 years, including his gift for construction of the Max PalevskyCinema in Ida Noyes. Former executive-committee chair of the board of Xerox, healso founded a successful movie company and is a noted art collector.
Admissions boom:
Applications to the College for the coming academicyear increased 23 percent compared with last year--the biggest jump in 50 years.Applications from African-American students increased by a third, and 26percent more Latino students applied than last year.
Kid critics:
The first major children's-literature prizes to be judgedby children were awarded in March by the U of C Lab Schools. Named in honor oflibrary-school professor emerita Zena Sutherland, AB'37, AM'68, (above), theawards were given to author/ illustrator Marjorie Priceman and illustrator EdYoung. Sutherland coauthored Children and Books, in its eighth edition, andedited the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
Tuition raised:
The College "term bill" for 1996-97--including tuition,room and board, and other fees--will be $28,338; an increase of 5.2 percent.The University has also budgeted $28.4 million for College scholarships nextyear, compared with $25.5 million for 1995-96. Chicago continues to admit, andmeet the full financial needs of, the most qualified College applicantsregardless of their ability to pay.
Net gain:
With an 18-6 record, the men's basketball team enjoyed itsmost-winning season in 35 years. The team finished second overall in theUniversity Athletic Association.
Nobel path:
U of C cancer researcher Janet Rowley, SB'46, MD'48, andneurosurgeon Bryce Weir each received the Toronto-based Gairdner Foundation'sinternational award for achievement in medical-science research, which includesa $30,000 prize. About a fifth of the annual award's previous winners have goneon to receive Nobel Prizes.
Our gain:
Jonathan Lear--a leading American philosopher whose workexamines both Freud and the ancient Greek thinkers--will join the Committee onSocial Thought this fall. Currently a visiting professor at Chicago, Learformerly chaired Yale's philosophy department. Also joining the Social Thoughtfaculty is Glenn Most, one of Germany's foremost classics scholars.
Award of a lifetime:
Hans Güterbock received the American OrientalSociety Medal of Merit in recognition of his lifetime of contributions to thefield of Hittitology. The Tiffany and Margaret Blake distinguished serviceprofessor emeritus in the Oriental Institute and coeditor of the ChicagoHittite Dictionary, Güterbock is only the second scholar to receive theaward, established in 1985.
Eastward bound:
In February, sociologist William Julius Wilson, aleading expert on race and urban poverty, announced his decision to leaveChicago to join Harvard's faculty in the fall. A professor here since 1972,Wilson is author of The Truly Disadvantaged (U of C Press, 1987).
Familiar face:
George Shultz, secretary of state under Ronald Reagan andformer GSB dean, was chosen to give the inaugural George J. Stigler LectureApril 9 in Mandel Hall. Stigler, PhD'38, who won a Nobel in economics, was onChicago's faculty for 30 years until his death in 1991. The lecture wasestablished with a gift from the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.
A good cause:
At the Law Students Association's annual charity auction,one bidder paid $75 to spend an afternoon with professor Cass Sunstein's dog,and another offered $105 for a bow-tying lesson from Senator Paul Simon. Theday's biggest item: a boat tour and tea with assistant professor ElizabethGarrett that added $410 to the event's $15,850 total.
Photographs from campus: