We have recently established the Alice Berline Kaplan Center in the Humanities and also a new Center of International and Comparative Studies. The vision of former President Arnold Weber, now Chancellor of the University, the foresight of the Board of Trustees, under the leadership of Chairman Howard Trienens, have been powerful influences during the past decade. My friend William G. Bowen, from whom I have learned a great deal, has written perceptively about the dynamics of governance by boards of directors and trustees. The leaders of a great university necessarily favor the future. And this is appropriate.
Superb universities are a gift from one generation to the next.
Without a strong financial base the university cannot accomplish any of its educational goals, or maintain its commitments to donors, students, faculty and staff. We must build the University's endowment. We spend only part of the income on the principal of endowment gifts, and we work closely with donors to honor the purposes of their gifts in perpetuity. Our decisions tilt towards the future in other ways as well. We insist that our infrastructure remain viable by budgeting for maintenance.