[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 58 (Friday, May 12, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E821]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   TRIBUTE TO DR. DON MICHAEL RANDEL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 11, 2006

  Mr. RUSH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer recognition to Dr. Don 
Michael Randel, the outgoing president of the University of Chicago. 
Dr. Randel has presided over the University of Chicago since 2000, and 
he has been instrumental in strengthening the humanities and the arts 
on the campus. Dr. Randel has also been active in overseeing a broad 
range of interactions with the city of Chicago and further 
strengthening the University's programs in the physical and biomedical 
sciences and its relationship with the Argonne National Laboratory. He 
also led the Chicago Initiative, an ongoing campaign for $2 billion, 
the largest in the University's history, which has raised more than 
$1.3 billion toward this goal.
  Dr. Randel came to Chicago after 32 years at Cornell University, 
where he served as a faculty member in the department of music and in 
many administrative posts, including department chair, vice-provost, 
and associate dean and then dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. 
He became provost of Cornell University in 1995.
  Dr. Randel is one of the nation's leading musicologists and served as 
the editor of the Journal of the American Musicology Society. He also 
is editor of the Harvard Dictionary of Music 4th ed., published in 
2003, the Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, published in 1996, 
and the Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians, published in 
1999.
  During Dr. Randel's presidency, substantial improvements to the 
University of Chicago's facilities were completed, including the 
Palevsky residence halls, the Ratner Athletic Center, the new Graduate 
School of Business and the $200 million Center for Integrative 
Sciences, the largest building in the University's history. The 
University also completed several joint programs with the city along 
the Midway, including opening a highly successful charter school, which 
has now been joined by another, under the auspices of the University's 
Center for Urban School Improvement. The University also has launched 
the Collegiate Scholars Program, a College bridge program aimed at 
preparing Chicago public school students for elite academic 
institutions.
  Dr. Randel will leave a long-lasting impact on the First 
Congressional District by encouraging a greater awareness of the value 
of diversity. Speaking on the importance of combating prejudice, Dr. 
Randel noted the related virtue of diversity, both of ideas and of 
experience when he commented, ``No part of the University community can 
think of itself as immune from this concern for diversity. An 
unprecedented number of programs are in place to increase diversity in 
the functioning of our academic programs and in the ways in which we 
carry on our business affairs and our relations with the neighborhood 
and city of which we are a part. Each of us must believe that 
embracing--not merely tolerating--diversity is a personal obligation.''
  Mr. Speaker, the University of Chicago, as well as the city itself, 
will be losing an exceptional, first-class leader, but we want to wish 
Dr. Randel well on all of his future endeavors, as well as thank him 
for his many contributions to the school and to the great city of 
Chicago.

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