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New SFA dean and prof

	Jeffrey Babcock, new School for the Arts dean and SFA professor of music. Photo by Larry Crouse

Jeffrey Babcock, general director and chief executive officer of Boston Ballet, has been named dean of the School for the Arts and an SFA professor of music, effective August 1.

Babcock, who has more than 25 years of experience in performing arts management, education administration, strategic planning, fundraising, and teaching, was selected after a seven-month search. An eclectic composer whose output includes an opera entitled Mirrors, as well as works for orchestra, dance, and chorus, chamber music, electronic and computer music, jazz, and music for film and television, Babcock is also an experienced conductor and a professional musician (keyboard, bass, and tuba).

"Jeffrey Babcock has the combination of artistic vision and administrative acumen needed to build on our strengths in the fine and performing arts," says BU President Jon Westling. "He has thoughtfully and creatively directed several kinds of performing arts organizations and achieved notable success in developing new programs. Dr. Babcock will help the University to multiply its contributions to the cultural life of Boston and the nation."

As CEO of Boston Ballet, one of America's top five ballet companies, Babcock led the company through a significant period of growth and strategic restructuring. The ballet company, with 58 dancers and 57 orchestral musicians, participated in more than 120 performances during the 2000-2001 season, before a total audience of 250,000.

Under the auspices of its Center for Dance Education, Boston Ballet operates one of the nation's largest, most profitable, and most comprehensive ballet schools, in which 60 faculty members instruct more than 2,400 students each year in three greater Boston locations. Boston Ballet's highly regarded education and outreach programs give 20,000 inner-city and suburban students of all ages the opportunity to dance and to attend performances each academic year.

"I am honored and delighted to be asked to lead the next era of institutional growth at Boston University's School for the Arts," says Babcock. "I look forward to working with the school's distinguished faculty, gifted students, and staff to build on existing strengths and to creating a compelling institutional vision and strategic plan that will take SFA to a new level of artistic and educational excellence."

Stith named to commission on international religious freedom

Former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith, who is now a special assistant to President Westling, has been named to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. His appointment was announced by Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle. The nine-member commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 to promote religious freedom as a foreign policy goal and to combat religious persecution in other countries.

Stith is the founding director of the new African Presidential Archives and Research Center at BU.

Boston Scholars Program awards 58

Through its Cardinal Humberto Medeiros Scholarship Program, BU awarded four-year, full-tuition scholarships on May 29 to 14 Boston Archdiocese high school students. This year's scholars are (front row, left to right): Stephen Connelly (Central Catholic H.S.), Michael Datta (Savio Preparatory H.S.), Maura Lally (Archbishop Williams H.S.), Nadia Timofeev (Austin Preparatory School), Mary Kingston (Marian H.S.), Sean Carlson (Saint John's Preparatory School), and Thomas Pasakarnis (Arlington Catholic H.S.). Joining BU President Jon Westling, Cardinal Bernard Law, BU Chancellor John Silber, and BU Catholic chaplain Father Paul Helfrich (back row, left to right) are: Christopher Dobbins (Arlington Catholic H.S.), Michael Perry (Catholic Memorial H.S.), and (far right) Peter Nguyen (Malden Catholic H.S.) and Aubrey Cheung (Malden Catholic H.S.). Not present are Keri Buchanan (Bishop Fenwick H.S.), Erin Field (Notre Dame Academy), and Lindsay Galbraith (Notre Dame Academy). Photo by Vernon Doucette

On June 18 at the School of Management auditorium, BU's Boston Scholars Program presented 58 Boston public high school graduates with four-year, full-tuition scholarships to BU. President Jon Westling and Beth Antoniazzi (SMG'02), a 1998 Boston Scholar, addressed the scholars. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino (Hon.'01) delivered the keynote address.

Since 1973, when BU Chancellor John Silber launched the Boston Scholars Program, BU has given more than $83 million in scholarships to more than 1,400 Boston public high school graduates. The program is now the largest and longest running scholarship program in the nation for urban public high school students.

This year's awards have a value of $6.1 million. Recipients all graduated in the top 5 percent of their class.

VP Reaske joins NCSE board of directors

	Christopher Reaske, vice president for development and alumni relations at BU, was recently elected to the board of directors of the National Council on Science and the Environment. Photo by Fred Sway

Christopher Reaske, BU's vice president for development and alumni relations, has been elected to the board of directors of the National Council on Science and the Environment (NCSE). The NCSE, founded in 1990, works closely with community representatives who play key roles in creating and using scientific knowledge in shaping environmental policy.

Reaske, who has been with BU since 1995, is a self-taught marine biologist who has written several books on ecology, nature, and marine life. At the request of BU President Jon Westling, Reaske has been involved in the NCSE for more than two years, giving advice on how it can deepen its financial support and leverage further the many ways university faculties can secure higher levels of federal funding for research.

"The NCSE is very focused on ensuring that environmental policy is science-based, as opposed to politics-based," says Reaske. "Boston University's faculty members seek federal funding for research, and I would like to work through this organization to make sure government allocations keep a focus on hard-science research at universities."

As a board member, Reaske hopes to develop action plans and assist with fundraising to strengthen the NCSE, as well as work with other universities to cohost science conferences.

The NCSE consists of universities, businesses, government organizations, and stakeholders who are interested in the environment and lobby for science-based research. It has 1,300 affiliated university members, including BU, and recently set a goal of securing an additional $1 billion a year over the next five years for environmental research, assessment, and education grants.

International Programs resident directors meet at BU

Resident directors of BU's Division of International Programs gather together at their 2001 annual meeting on campus in early June: (front row, left to right): Marlis Cambon, resident director (retired), Padua/Venice programs; Linda Killian, resident director, Washington Journalism Center; Silke Fimmel, resident director, Dresden programs; Sue Rosenfeld, resident director, Niger programs; Maria Antonieta Zalles, resident director, Quito programs; Jerusha McCormack, resident director, Dublin programs; (back row, left to right): Urbain (Ben) DeWinter, associate provost, International Programs; Kevin Martin, resident director, Sydney programs, and interim resident director, Washington programs; Joe Finkhouse, executive director, International Programs; Nancy Downey, director, International Programs; Ray Green, resident director, Madrid programs; Marie-Eve Scheibling, resident director, Grenoble programs; Ranald Macdonald, director of British programs; Joe Gareri, assistant director of finance and administration, Washington programs; Paolo Bernardini, resident director (incoming), Padua/Venice programs; and Darin Menlove, resident director, Moscow programs. Absent: Gerry Honigsblum, resident director, Paris programs. Photo by Vernon Doucette

The resident directors of Boston University's Division of International Programs gathered on campus in early June for their annual meeting to discuss issues and concerns related to the International Programs.

International Programs, BU's study-abroad division, offers language, liberal arts, fine arts, science, business, and internship programs in 17 cities in 14 countries on 6 continents. In the past 25 years, more than 16,000 students from approximately 400 colleges and universities in the United States have participated in one or more of the many study-abroad programs sponsored by BU around the globe - in Australia, Belize, China, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Niger, Russia, Spain, and the United States.

MET launches executive bachelor's completion program on South Shore

To invest in the workforce and economic development of the South Shore, Metropolitan College has launched an executive bachelor of science degree in management program in Braintree, Mass. Classes begin on September 4.

	At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Metropolitan College Braintree executive bachelor's degree completion program are (left to right): Melissa Ryan, executive director of BU's Corporate Education Center; Dennis Berkey, provost and dean of Arts and Sciences; Mozammel Husainy, assistant executive director of BU's Corporate Education Center; and Dayle Thorpe, director of BU's Center for Professional Education. Photo by Albert L'Etoile

"We hope this program will fill the missing hole in many people's career tracks," says John Ebersole, MET dean. The two-year program, for those who have at least seven years of work experience and 65 previous college credits, offers concentrations in electronic commerce or innovation and technology management. In addition, to fulfill the demand for C++ software development specialists, an undergraduate certificate in software development will provide the technological tools and proficiency necessary for career success as part of a C or C++ development team.

"The Braintree program is geared towards a motivated corporate executive who hasn't yet completed his or her degree," says Jay Halfond, MET associate dean. The program, created to accommodate full-time employees, will offer classes on weekday evenings and alternating Saturdays.

BU chose the South Shore because of the large number of companies located there, companies such as Talbots, Wear Guard, Reebok, and the J. Jill Group. For more information, call 617-358-2231.

29 June 2001
Boston University
Office of University Relations