Message from the president

David Baltimore

A belated but hearty Happy New Year to everyone at Caltech.

As we start 2003, where are we? Although the uncertainty of an invasion of Iraq hangs over us, Caltech continues on its path of education and research. The economic picture remains gloomy but the funding of research looks relatively healthy. In spite of the economy, our $1.4 billion campaign continues to accrue gifts and pledges at a reasonable pace.

This fall brought us two new vice presidents who have taken hold very effectively. The major challenge for Gary Dicovitsky in Development and Alumni Relations is, of course, making the campaign a success. It is a daunting task to arrive at an institution just as it starts a campaign, but Gary has taken a cool, thoughtful, and systematic approach to both his self-education about Caltech and his assumption of the helm of Development. Meanwhile, Margo Marshak has come as Caltech’s first full-time and nonfaculty vice president for student affairs. She has had to learn the workings of the complex student culture that has evolved at Caltech over decades. That culture is particularly valuable because it nurtures students through the rigorous educational program set by the faculty. With her support and guidance, the educational experience at Caltech promises to become even richer. It is a testament to the greatness of this institution that it could attract two such capable people.

The capital campaign was initiated by the remarkable gift of Gordon and Betty Moore and we are beginning to see the benefits of the gift. The Moore Foundation has provided the funds for giving Caltech two critical new capabilities, magnetic resonance imaging and cryo-electron microscopy, and other major grants from the foundation are expected during the coming year. Also, as I promised earlier, the first direct gift from the Moores has been used to create an endowment fund for the enrichment of student life. We are also grateful for the generosity of the MacArthur Foundation, which, in recognition of the contributions of a Caltech senior trustee, the Honorable Shirley Hufstedler, provided the first $900,000 of our new $3 million fund for the enrichment of Caltech student life.

In this New Year, I also have been very concerned about a particular challenge for Caltech: maintaining its unique style. We continue to grow without increasing the number of faculty or undergraduates (although we had an unexpectedly large yield of students this year, which we plan to balance by future moderation of the class size). The world of science and engineering offers an increasing wealth of opportunity both in questions and in funds to study them. The government has recognized this by doubling the NIH budget to $27 billion during the past five years and beginning a similar doubling of the NSF budget this year. With all of this opportunity coupled to a faculty that hungers to grapple with challenging questions, where is the appropriate limit on the size of the institution? At this moment, we have had no collective consideration of this issue, no limits have been deliberately established, and no effective mechanisms are in place to control growth. The faculty is considering a committee to examine this crucial issue and the Board of Trustees is also concerned. The future of Caltech is at stake here.

While I think about whether we are outgrowing our culture, I am also acutely aware that science is changing its complexion. Small science—a faculty member working with a limited number of graduate students and others—has been the style of most laboratories historically and is likely to dominate science for years to come. But big science—laboratories with many tens or even hundreds of people often coupled to large machines—is playing a more important role today. Physicists and astronomers have grappled with the challenges of big science for decades, but now other fields are developing this appetite. I doubt if Caltech wants to miss the unique opportunities afforded by facilities on a larger scale. At the same time, we certainly don’t want to see them dominate the campus. Perhaps we wish to think about establishing a locale devoted to housing such enterprises. The St. Luke property offers us this opportunity.

With the economy increasingly driven by technological advance and with technology so tightly coupled to national security, Caltech is poised to play an ever more important role in the world. Our challenge is to maintain the environment that differentiates us from other research universities while not passing up the opportunity to play on a larger stage.
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