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People Making a Difference

PHOTO: ROGER MASTROIANNI CWRU President Eric W. Kaler

More often than not, it's the people in our lives who shape us the most—family members, friends, mentors, sometimes even individuals we've not met. This power to positively influence another human being is special.

At Case Western Reserve University, people who make a difference are central to our past, our present and our future.

When our two new residence halls in the South Residential Village open this fall, they will bear the names of two trailblazing alumni—John Sykes Fayette and Mary Chilton Noyes. When Fayette earned his bachelor's degree in 1836, he became the first known African American graduate of Western Reserve College and the first African American student to enroll in and graduate from a university in Ohio. He studied theology and was active in the abolitionist movement as a student. Noyes, who earned her PhD in physics in 1895, was the first woman to earn a graduate degree from Western Reserve University. An early woman in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), Noyes was also among the first women in the country to be awarded a doctoral degree in physics.

This spring, we will begin demolition of Yost Hall on the Case Quad to make way for construction of our Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building (ISEB), a nearly 200,000-square-foot research facility that we expect to open in 2026. We're excited about the ISEB and the innovative discoveries that will come from it. Indeed, it will be a space for collaborative research that improves our planet and its people.

Also, we are proud to share that, beginning this fall, the university will cover the full cost of attendance—tuition, housing, books and other expenses—and provide mentored, paid research or internship experience on campus for students in our Cleveland Scholars program. We want to remove financial barriers to a Case Western Reserve education for these exceptional graduates of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and East Cleveland public schools. We know that improving access to higher education can transform futures.

Finally, I want to congratulate our Class of 2024 graduates. These promising young people certainly have left an indelible mark on our campus community. Our hope for them is that they continue to be change agents, wherever their paths lead them.

Sincerely,

Eric W. Kaler
President