[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 106 (Thursday, July 9, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4949-S4950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO DR. WILLIAM ``BRIT'' KIRWAN

 Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, I wish to honor the extraordinary 
Dr. William ``Brit'' Kirwan, who recently left the post of chancellor 
of the University System of Maryland, USM. Not only am I honored to 
know him professionally, I am proud to call him a dear friend.
  Dr. Kirwan will be greatly missed. He has devoted himself to higher 
education for the past 50 years. How amazing is that? Not only is he an 
accomplished individual, he also throws the coolest Derby parties. I 
love Dr. Kirwan, and I know Maryland loves Dr. Kirwan.
  Prior to becoming chancellor of USM, Dr. Kirwan served as president 
of the Ohio State University for 4 years. Before that, he served as 
president of the University of Maryland, College Park, UMCP, for 10 
years. Before becoming president of UMCP, he was a member of the 
University of Maryland faculty for 24 years--where he served as an 
assistant professor, department chair and Provost. Until last month, 
Dr. Kirwan served as the chancellor of USM for 13 years.
  Under his leadership, USM roared into the 21st century. He led 11 
universities, with more than 40,000 undergraduate and graduate 
students. He boosted graduation rates while winning lacrosse and 
basketball games. He made sure that no campus was left out or left 
behind. He made sure to support the University of Maryland flagship, 
our schools out in western Maryland and on the Eastern Shore--Frostburg 
and Salisbury--and our Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 
HBCUs. He also worked to make sure our professional schools in downtown 
Baltimore remained strong. In fact, downtown Baltimore has some of the 
best medical, law, nursing and social work schools in the world. 
Students knew they could count on Dr. Kirwan. He made college more 
affordable by freezing tuition for 4 years. Even faculty knew they 
could count on him.
  Dr. Kirwan has so many more accomplishments that it is difficult to 
know where to begin. Particularly, the accomplishments I am most proud 
of were the ones where we worked together. When Senator Alexander and I 
worked together on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act in 
2008, we looked at two things: how can we make sure young people get a 
quality and affordable education, and how can colleges and universities 
control their costs. What emerged was the recognition that we needed to 
do something about burdensome regulations. That is why Senator 
Alexander and I, along with Senators Bennet and Burr, created a task 
force to look at the issue of duplicative, burdensome higher education 
regulations.
  Because of Dr. Kirwan's wealth and knowledge of higher education, I 
knew he was the right man for the job to lead this particular task 
force. What he was able to accomplish is astounding. The task force, 
under his leadership, put together a comprehensive report that 
identified the 10 most onerous regulations institutions of higher 
education were faced with. The report also provided recommendations on 
what Congress and the administration could to streamline regulations. 
As a result of Dr. Kirwan's work, my colleagues in the Senate are using 
his recommendations to make sure our laws are about smart regulation, 
not strangulation.
  While being a national leader in futuristic things like cyber 
technology, training the next generation of cyber warriors, making our 
economy stronger and our country safer, Dr. Kirwan helped changed 
higher education. He helped change the world--literally changing the 
global economy. I would venture to say that we would not have Google if 
it were not for Dr. Kirwan. Now some of you may say: ``Senator Barb, 
where does this come from?'' Let me tell you a story.
  Dr. Kiwan, is not only an able chancellor, he really is a gifted 
mathematician. And in his work as a mathematician, he had the 
opportunity to travel to conferences around the world. At one of those 
conferences in the 1970s, Dr. Kirwan met someone from the Soviet Union 
by the name of Dr. Michael Brin.

[[Page S4950]]

  Then in 1974, Congress passed a little piece of legislation called 
Jackson-Vanik, which helped put pressure on the Soviet Union to remove 
its emigration restrictions. When this happened, Dr. Brin reached out 
to Dr. Kirwan and said: ``Do you think you can help me?'' And boy, did 
Dr. Kirwan help him out.
  Thanks to the work of Dr. Kirwan and the USM Board of Regents, not 
only could Dr. Brin get out of Russia, he was able to come to the 
University of Maryland. With him, Dr. Brin brought his son Sergey. 
Sergey was a brilliant little boy--some may even say a bit difficult. 
He was so smart that he was able to graduate from College Park in 1993 
at the age of 17. From there, Sergey went on to Stanford where he 
worked out of one of those garages we all hear about.
  Well, the rest is history. Sergey Brin, of course, is Google. And had 
it not been for Dr. Kirwan meeting Dr. Brin, Congress doing Jackson-
Vanik, the University of Maryland providing a home for Dr. Brin, we 
would not have Google. I think that is a fabulous story that shows what 
good immigration policy can do, and also what a gifted, talented, and 
dedicated humanitarian Dr. Kirwan is.
  Though he changed the world, what has never changed is the man 
himself. Dr. Kirwan is a man we admire, a man we respect, and a man we 
value. It is safe to say that Dr. Kirwan is a man we have such 
affection for, for his passion for education, for his deep concern and 
caring for our students. For Dr. Kirwan, it was never about building 
buildings, it was about building a future for our young people and for 
the great State of Maryland.
  Dr. Kirwan, there will never be enough ``thank yous'' in the world 
but: thank you, thank you, thank you for your determination and 
dedication to making Maryland a better place. We will all miss you 
dearly but wish you much success in your retirement.

                          ____________________