At the request of the Board of Trustees, he will stay on until a successor is named or until June 2002, whichever occurs first. I'm proud to have served at Tufts when the members of our community have made numerous headlines as researchers, educators, business and government leaders, entrepreneurs, change agents and influential policymakers. Tufts is remarkable for having achieved scholarly prominence while maintaining its roots in teaching.
Few universities can make that claim.
Tufts' reputation for being a leading international university has grown significantly during John's presidency, and we are in the best fiscal and operational condition in our history. The quality of our faculty, researchers and staff, and the credentials of our students also are at an all-time high. Gantcher noted Tufts' endowment has nearly tripled, and there are nearly five times the number of endowed chairs since DiBiaggio's arrival. Tufts' undergraduate program is among the most selective in the country-the number of applicants increased by more than 70 percent in just the past five years, while the scores, grades and rank of the incoming freshmen continues to break school records. In addition, the University's graduate and professional schools in medicine, biomedical sciences, dentistry, nutrition, international relations and veterinary medicine stand alongside the country's most prestigious programs.