Our university tagline is “think beyond the possible.” The phrase highlights our relentless spirit of aspiration. We are committed to discovery, no matter how improbable. We are driven to overcome, regardless of how high the hurdles. And we are obliged to offer assistance, even when others have lost hope.

An institution with such ambitions always reaches for more. At our best, we manage to achieve it. Sometimes, the answers to our most pressing questions are oceans away. At others, the opportunities are as close as a nearby neighborhood.

The distance is irrelevant. The people involved, the problem to be solved, the learning that lasts—those are what drive our engagement and, ultimately, our impact.

In 2013-2014, our efforts stretched nearly 9,000 miles south and more than 7,500 miles east. They opened an entire world to a child with cerebral palsy, and extended the lives of primates with poor heart health. While we always “think beyond the possible,” we often think beyond boundaries—of countries, cultures and even historic precedent. And so, this year, we reflect on how far we sometimes go to expand knowledge, inspire innovation and evolve toward even more of the institution we believe we can be.