Cyrus C. Taylor. Photo by Daniel Milner.

A research university is a forward-looking place. By generating knowledge and educating successive generations of students, it helps shape the future of its society and the larger world. At the same time, members of a university community assume responsibility for the institution’s own future—asking how it can best adapt to new circumstances, and developing a vision of what the university can and should be.

Here at Case Western Reserve, we deliberate about our collective goals by engaging in a strategic planning process every five years. The process includes a lot of data collection and analysis, but it isn’t confined to number crunching; it also allows us to reflect on our values and exercise our imaginations, and I have seen it yield results. Thanks to the exceptional dedication and generosity of a great many people, we have achieved aspirations and brought projects to fruition that were only dreams or blueprints five or 10 years ago.

The evidence of our success is all around us. This fall, the university once again broke its record for first-year undergraduate enrollment, welcoming the largest and most accomplished entering class in its history. Case Western Reserve is attracting outstanding students from across the country and around the globe—students prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities that we and our partner institutions in University Circle have to offer.

Our reputation as a comprehensive research university continues to grow. One of the most exciting events on campus last year was an unprecedented fusion of dance and technology: Imagined Odyssey, created by Professor Gary Galbraith and his collaborators at CWRU’s Interactive Commons. The production received tremendous attention and let the world know that Case Western Reserve fosters this kind of interdisciplinary innovation. In response to popular demand, Imagined Odyssey returned to Mather Dance Center this fall.

The Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center at The Temple–Tifereth Israel has become an integral part of the campus and of Greater Cleveland’s cultural scene. This year, the center has inaugurated the Silver Hall Concert Series, featuring both student and community ensembles. These concerts are taking place along with other music department events, university ceremonies and the public lecture series Think Forum.

When I call this magnificent building “an integral part of campus,” I mean that literally. A few weeks ago, I took a group of alumni on a morning stroll from the Tinkham Veale University Center, located at the edge of the Mather Quad, to the Maltz Center—and it really was just a stroll. Our chosen path was the new Nord Family Greenway, which traverses the Fine Arts Garden in front of the Cleveland Museum of Art and crosses Doan Brook. The greenway has converted a tract of neglected property into a pleasing landscape; and in doing so, it has made the Maltz Center a readily accessible destination. It’s a shorter walk from the Tink to the Maltz Center, via the greenway, than it is to most of the academic buildings on the Case Quad.

In pausing to celebrate some of our achievements, I don’t want to imply that we are winding down. Elsewhere in this issue, we gratefully acknowledge a $10 million gift from local philanthropist Roe Green to Phase Two of the Maltz Center project. When a beautiful proscenium theater bearing her name opens in December 2020, one more of our aspirations will become tangibly real.

Cyrus C. Taylor
Dean and
Albert A. Michelson Professor in Physics