President James J. Duderstadt will be the inaugural speaker in a series of presentations this fall that are designed to examine ways in which the University needs to evolve to meet the changing needs of society.
“Changing in a World of Change: The University and Its Publics” is co-sponsored by the Office of the President and Senate Assembly.
Duderstadt will deliver his address on “Beyond the Leaders and the Best” at 4 p.m. today in Rackham Amphitheater as part of the Senate Assembly meeting.
The president says the series “is designed to present to the University community a variety of perspectives on some of the major changes taking place in our society and to suggest the ways in which those changes are impacting the work of the University and the definition of its mission.
“During fall term, we will have the opportunity to hear from representatives of the media, the federal government and the world of business. In addition to such distinguished speakers as Charles Gibson, Mary Good and Frank Popoff, we also will be privileged to welcome back to campus President Emeritus Harold T. Shapiro, who will no doubt offer some provocative comments about the University’s responsibility and capacity to respond to and even to direct the course of change.”
Duderstadt adds that he thinks the series “will afford all of us a chance to look at some of the challenges just ahead and find ways of defining inventive and helpful ways of responding to them. We need to be cognizant of the needs of our varied constituencies, but we need to make sure that as we address them we hold firm to our own values and purposes.”
Ejner J. Jensen, special counsel to the president, notes that “the impetus, in part, for the speakers’ series was discussions in retreats held with executive committees of the schools and colleges. But more than that, change is the order of the day in American society. These people have a view of the University and its capacities to change.”
The media is represented on the roster, Jensen says, “because the media is the conduit for a lot of the general public’s attitudes toward higher education. A lot of what the public knows about higher education comes from the media.”
Speakers for fall term are:
Good’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Research.
