realizing our vision
A Message from the Dean
Dean Cyrus C. TaylorWhen I speak to our alumni and friends
about the college’s aspirations, I often refer to a
sentence from Forward Thinking, the strategic plan
to which we committed ourselves in the spring of 2008. “Case
Western Reserve University is a comprehensive academic
institution,” the plan declares, “and will provide the breadth
of outstanding programs essential to every great research
university.” With its diverse offerings in the sciences, arts and
humanities, the college has assumed a critical role in enabling
the university to realize this vision.
As many of you know, one of our longstanding hopes has
been to acquire a facility that would give our superb programs
in music, dance and theater the rehearsal and performance
spaces they deserve. In this issue of art/sci,
we celebrate a magnificent gift from Milton and Tamar Maltz that brings this hope closer to reality than ever before. Their
gift marks the beginning of a campaign that will transform
The Temple – Tifereth Israel in University Circle into a vibrant
performing arts center.
I am convinced that this center will have a profound impact
on the university’s reputation and its role in the larger
community. It will make Case Western Reserve a major venue
for artistic and cultural events. It will expand opportunities
for our students and enhance our collaborations with
other University Circle institutions. And it means that the
university’s emerging West Campus, anchored by the former
Mt. Sinai Medical Center, will be a home to the performing
arts as well as to advanced scientific research.
At the March 19 ceremony announcing the university’s
partnership with The Temple – Tifereth Israel, I thanked
Milton and Tamar Maltz personally for their extraordinary
generosity. I would also like to thank President Barbara R.
Snyder for her leadership of this important initiative. Finally, I wish to honor the faculty and students who have brought
such distinction to our performing arts programs, and whose
talent and dedication will find a worthy showcase at long last.
In future issues of art/sci, you will be reading about other
parts of our strategic plan coming to fruition. Earlier
this spring, the provost funded 12 initiatives related to
the university’s four academic alliance areas: energy
and environment; human health; culture, creativity and
design; and social justice and ethics. In seven of these
initiatives, college faculty members will serve as directors or
collaborators. Their participation gives us one more reason
to take pride in the comprehensiveness and excellence of the
College of Arts and Sciences.
Cyrus C. Taylor
Dean and Albert A. Michelson Professor in Physics