Message from the President

The past year has brought exciting developments for the University of Rochester, many of which are highlighted in this annual report. They benefit students, patients, and a community that reaches around the globe.

It was a year of great momentum in research. New facilities and centers for biomedical engineering and optics, cardiovascular research, influenza research, and clinical and translational sciences will drive scientific innovation and help Rochester find new ways to treat and prevent disease. In its first year, a humanities initiative has fostered faculty research and—through talks, performances, and exhibitions—made new work in the humanities more accessible to students and the community than ever before.

For the fourth year in a row, undergraduate applications to the College reached a new level. The Class of 2010 was the largest admitted in a decade, success we attribute in part to acknowledgments such as the Kaplan/Newsweek How to Get into College Guide naming Rochester as one of its 25 “New Ivies.” Appointments to endowed professorships have allowed us to recognize extraordinary faculty and will permit us to continue to recruit and retain the finest teachers and researchers.

The year also brought notable achievements in enhanced patient care. The University has redesigned the intensive care unit at Strong Memorial Hospital, installed the region’s first 3 Tesla magnetic resonance scanner, and opened the Women’s Health Pavilion for world-class specialty care.

The projects and advances described in these pages are harbingers of our future. They are a testament to Rochester’s academic strength and to the foresight and generosity of our alumni and friends.

Joel Seligman