Lawrence S. Bacow

As President of Tufts University since September 2001, Lawrence S. Bacow has advanced its role as a leader in teaching, research, and public service. Within the university, he champions academic excellence and places a premium on open communication and close engagement with students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Nationally, he is well known as an advocate of broader access to higher education and the importance of need-based financial aid. Internationally, he plays an important role in efforts to strengthen universities' commitment to civic engagement. President Bacow and his wife, community planning and development consultant Adele Fleet Bacow, live on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus and participate actively in a wide range of community activities.

Under President Bacow's leadership, Tufts has built on its historic strengths to enhance the undergraduate experience, deepen graduate and professional education and research in critical fields, broaden international engagement, and foster active citizenship among members of the university community. President Bacow has emphasized increased collaboration among Tufts' eight schools and generated creativity and enthusiasm for interdisciplinary study. To support the student experience, foster an outstanding faculty, and build and enhance the physical infrastructure for education and research, in November 2006 the university launched the most ambitious advancement effort in its history–Beyond Boundaries: The Campaign for Tufts.

Initiatives in undergraduate education and student life during President Bacow's tenure have built on the recommendations of a comprehensive review completed in 2003. Over the last 8 years, the average combined SAT scores of entering undergraduates have risen by 85 points, while innovations in the admissions process have helped Tufts identify students whose personal strengths complement academic excellence in important ways. President Bacow has long advocated for broadening access to higher education and the importance of need-based financial aid. Under his leadership, increased resources for financial aid have made it possible for Tufts to recruit increasingly diverse classes, and in the fall of 2007 the university announced the broadest program in American higher education to reduce the debt burden of graduates pursuing careers in public service and the not-for-profit sector.

Support for faculty excellence has been a critical priority for President Bacow. He reorganized administration in the Schools of Arts & Sciences and Engineering to increase resources for faculty and appointed a Council on Graduate Education to strengthen graduate programs university-wide. New initiatives in the life sciences have included an expansion of the basic sciences at the School of Medicine and the establishment of the New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Over the last 8 years, Tufts' sponsored research volume has grown by 54%.

Under President Bacow's leadership, existing facilities have been renovated, and new ones constructed, on all three of Tufts' Massachusetts campuses. Major completed projects include Sophia Gordon Hall and the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center in Medford/Somerville; the vertical expansion of the School of Dental Medicine and the renovation of the Sackler Center for the School of Medicine, in Boston; and the Agnes Varis Campus Center and the regional biosafety laboratory in Grafton. Further projects are underway or in planning for the sciences and engineering as well as athletics in Medford/Somerville.

President Bacow is also committed to strengthening Tufts through effective outreach to alumni, parents, and friends, and prudent management of the university's resources. He has been a compelling voice for Beyond Boundaries, speaking to alumni, parents, and friends with welcome candor about pressing priorities ranging from financial aid to interdisciplinary research. During his tenure, the university has benefited from unprecedented donor generosity. At the close of Fiscal Year 2009, Tufts had raised more than $1 billion toward the $1.2-billion goal of the Beyond Boundaries campaign, and set a new record in annual giving. From the beginning of Fiscal Year 2002 to the end of Fiscal Year 2009, the university's endowment grew by 71%, to $1.16 billion.

President Bacow has strengthened relations between Tufts and its host communities, initiating activities such as Community Day on the Medford/Somerville campus and an annual symposium on active citizenship and community partnerships. The annual President's Marathon Challenge he established in 2003 brings members of the Tufts community together to run and volunteer at the Boston Marathon. The Challenge has raised more than $11.5 million in support of nutrition, medical, and fitness research and education. The 2010 Boston Marathon will be the sixth marathon President Bacow has run.

A lawyer and economist whose research focuses on environmental policy, President Bacow is an internationally recognized expert on non-adjudicatory approaches to the resolution of environmental disputes. He holds faculty appointments in five departments at Tufts: Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning and Economics in the School of Arts and Sciences; Civil and Environmental Engineering in the School of Engineering; Public Health and Family Medicine in the School of Medicine; and in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

President Bacow is a director of Tufts Medical Center, the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund, the Cummings Foundation, and Campus Compact. He also chairs the Executive Committee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts and the Steering Committee of the Talloires Network, an international association of institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social responsibilities of higher education. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Boston Properties, Inc.

A native of Michigan, President Bacow received his S.B. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his M.P.P. and Ph.D. from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Prior to coming to Tufts, he was the Chancellor and Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies at MIT; he has also held visiting professorships and research appointments at five universities abroad. The Bacows have two married sons, both of whom live in New York City. President Bacow is not only a runner but also an avid sailor.

November 2009