[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 18, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H1748-H1749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PAYING TRIBUTE TO DR. WILLIAM E. ``BRIT'' KIRWAN UPON HIS RETIREMENT AS 
            CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF MARYLAND

  (Mr. HOYER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1

[[Page H1749]]

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to one of our Nation's 
greatest higher education leaders and a great advocate for accessible 
quality higher education. He is a dear friend and a colleague of mine 
for the last 40 years.
  On June 30, Dr. William E. ``Brit'' Kirwan will retire after 12 years 
as chancellor of the University System of Maryland. Under his 
leadership, the University System has transformed from being a national 
leader in public higher education into a national model in several 
areas; these include campus diversity, academic innovation, and efforts 
to close the achievement gap.
  There is, of course, a lot I could say, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues 
about Dr. Kirwan's distinguished career and commitment to improving 
higher education across the country.

       Mr. Speaker, on June 30, Dr. William E. ``Brit'' Kirwan, 
     who has served as chancellor of the University System of 
     Maryland (USM) for more than twelve years, will retire after 
     a career dedicated to advancing higher education.
       Dr. Kirwan has left his mark on academia and the State of 
     Maryland in a way few others have. After a quarter-century as 
     an educator and administrator at the University of Maryland, 
     he was President of the University of Maryland, College Park, 
     before serving as President of The Ohio State University. 
     Later, he returned to Maryland to assume the position of USM 
     Chancellor. Common threads throughout his fifty-one-year 
     career in public higher education include an unwavering 
     commitment to affordability, a passion for excellence, and a 
     drive to increase access, especially for underrepresented 
     minorities and low-income students.
       Mr. Speaker, Dr. Kirwan's leadership has helped move the 
     USM from a national leader in public higher education to a 
     national model in several areas. The USM's groundbreaking 
     Effectiveness and Efficiency (E&E) initiative--a 
     reengineering of administrative and academic processes to cut 
     costs and improve quality--has been profiled in national 
     publications and specifically cited by President Obama. The 
     ``Closing the Achievement Gap'' Initiative, which USM 
     launched in 2007, targets the gap in college participation, 
     retention, and graduation rates between low-income students, 
     first-generation college students, and underrepresented 
     minorities, on one hand, and the general student population 
     on the other. With this enhanced focus, these gaps in 
     diversity have been narrowed--and even eliminated--on some 
     USM campuses.
       As President of the University of Maryland, College Park, 
     Dr. Kirwan helped make that institution one of the most 
     diverse public research universities in the United States. As 
     President of The Ohio State University, he made diversity a 
     centerpiece of the University's Academic Plan. When he left 
     Ohio State in 2002, the University added his name to its 
     interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to 
     understanding racial and ethnic disparities worldwide, now 
     known as the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and 
     Ethnicity.
       Dr. Kirwan's effort to establish a productive working 
     relationship with Maryland's elected officials is another 
     testament to his leadership. By aligning higher education 
     goals with state priorities, the USM has ushered in an era of 
     academic and research excellence, targeted workforce 
     development, greater economic impact, and improved 
     affordability. In fact, the average tuition for undergraduate 
     in-state students at USM institutions, once the nation's 
     seventh highest, has now dropped to twenty-sixth.
       With the launch of its Course Redesign Initiative in 2006, 
     the USM became the first university system in the nation to 
     use innovative new technology to redesign entire courses. To 
     facilitate academic transformation and excellence even 
     further, in 2012 the USM established the Center for Academic 
     Innovation (CAI) to develop, apply, and evaluate more ways to 
     deliver high-quality courses optimizing technology and other 
     resources system-wide. Today the USM is recognized as a 
     national leader in the burgeoning academic innovation 
     movement.
       Mr. Speaker, Dr. Kirwan's impact has also been felt beyond 
     Maryland's borders. He currently serves or has served as Co-
     Chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics; 
     Chair of the College Board's Commission on Access, 
     Admissions, and Success in Higher Education; a member of the 
     Business-Higher Education Forum, and Chair of the National 
     Research Council Board of Higher Education and the Workforce. 
     Dr. Kirwan has also been called upon by U.S. Presidents from 
     both parties to advise on national higher education efforts. 
     His impact on higher education has been honored with two of 
     the most prestigious awards in the field: the TIAA-CREF 
     Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Leadership (2010) and the 
     Carnegie Corporation Leadership Award (2009).
       Under Dr. Kirwan's leadership the USM has flourished, and 
     his lifetime of achievement and service will be celebrated on 
     April 18 at a special retirement gala that will raise 
     endowment funds for the Center for Academic Innovation, which 
     promises to continue exploring the themes of access, 
     affordability, and excellence in higher education that have 
     been hallmarks of his career.
       I hope my colleagues in the House will join me in thanking 
     Dr. Kirwan for fifty-one years of service to higher education 
     in our country and congratulating him on his retirement.

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