[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 59 (Friday, May 10, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E782]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. GEORGE RUPP

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 10, 2002

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, today, I would like to recognize the 
distinguished service of one of the nation's foremost leaders in higher 
education, Dr. George Rupp, who is retiring after nine years as the 
President of Columbia University, my alma mater.
  His stewardship of this world-renowned institution has been truly 
commendable, He has enhanced the University's already extraordinary 
level of achievement across all of its mission areas: in teaching; in 
research; and in service. Columbia is poised to celebrate its 250th 
anniversary in 2004 as a leading light in the renaissance of American 
higher education and as an exemplary model of the creation and spread 
of knowledge in the service of humanity.
  Through the initiatives Dr. Rupp oversaw, Columbia has become one of 
the most sought after universities in the world, for scholars seeking 
to join its world class faculty, for recent graduates seeking to enter 
one of its many leading graduate and professional programs, and for 
high school students hoping to be amongst the one in seven applicants 
gaining admission to Columbia College. Some of this vitality can be 
seen in the physical environment of the University, which has 
benefitted from a revitalization effort widely praised for its 
sensitivity to the architectural history of Columbia's campuses and to 
the needs of their surrounding communities.
  But in my opinion, Dr. Rupp's true achievement is less immediately 
visible. He has helped not just to assemble one of the most 
distinguished groups of scholars and researchers and one of the most 
gifted student bodies in the world; his has been one of the foremost 
voices reminding us that the strength of America's institutions of 
higher education stems from the connections they enable, between ideas 
and between ideas and applications. At Columbia, he has helped build 
the linkages that make the University a whole that is more than the sum 
of its parts.
  A hallmark of Dr. Rupp's leadership has been the creation of 
innovative structures to meet the challenges posed by the increasingly 
multidisciplinary and interdependent nature of scientific research. In 
recent years, Columbia has drawn together scholars from different 
departments, schools and even outside institutions to develop new ways 
to organize the search for knowledge. These new centers include The 
Earth Institute, The Columbia Genome Center, The Center for Biomedical 
Engineering, The International Research Institute for Climate 
Prediction, and The Center for New Media Teaching and Learning. Such 
efforts will certainly further Columbia's already major role in a 
strong and successful partnership between the federal government and 
university-based research.
  Under Dr. Rupp's tenure, Columbia's remarkable pool of talent and 
resources has been increasingly directed to the service of good 
citizenship. The University, the third largest employer in New York 
City, has been active in helping foster economic growth in its 
neighboring communities. For instance, Columbia helped develop the 
proposal for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ), provided 
ongoing technical support to the UMEZ and opened the first biomedical 
research and development park in New York City. The University also 
established a program that hires and helps train community residents, 
and offers ``forgivable'' loans to employees as an incentive for home-
buying within the Empowerment Zone. Columbia also administers academic, 
professional and service programs that assist thousands of upper 
Manhattan residents, school children and businesses.
  The son of German immigrants, Dr. Rupp has also emphasized the global 
dimension of Columbia's work and sought to develop its role in 
international education and research. A number of new academic programs 
have been created with institutions abroad including the Law School's 
faculty exchange program with Tokyo University and its four-year 
double-degree program with the University of Paris; the first American 
undergraduate program with the Free University of Berlin; and the 
Center for Environmental Research and Conservation's programs with 
universities in Brazil, Indonesia and Belize.
  Dr. Rupp's retirement closes 25 years of service as dean or president 
at a major university. Before assuming the presidency of Columbia in 
1993, he led Rice University for eight years of successful growth, a 
period which saw the tripling of applications for admissions and a 
doubling of federal research support. Earlier, Dr. Rupp was the John 
Lord O'Brian Professor of Divinity and dean of the Harvard Divinity 
School. Under his leadership, the School's curriculum was revised to 
address more directly the pluralistic character of contemporary 
religious life. Further developments included new programs in women's 
studies and religion, Jewish-Christian relations, and religion and 
medicine.
  Dr. Rupp's accomplishments place him in the company of such other 
illustrious presidents of Columbia as Nicholas Murray Butler and Dwight 
Eisenhower.
  As a Columbia alumnus, I feel a heightened pride in my alma mater. As 
a New Yorker, I applaud Columbia's role in the cultural, intellectual 
and economic life of my city. I thank George Rupp for his masterful and 
dedicated service to one of the greatest institutions of one of the 
greatest cities of the world.

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