A conversation with Provost-designate Zimmer

Robert J. Zimmer, vice president for research and for Argonne National Laboratory at the University of Chicago, was named the ninth provost of Brown on Feb. 4. He will take up his duties at Brown on July 15.

Until then, Zimmer spends several days each month on the Brown campus. He sat down with George Street Journal editor Tracie Sweeney recently to discuss the work that awaits him.

President Simmons noted in a press release announcing your appointment that your “interests and talents match Brown’s academic culture and aspirations.” I’m wondering how you would describe your strengths and how they will apply to Brown.

In general, the ultimate test for any academic administrator is being able to bring the values of excellence in research and education to the fore in every single decision that is made on campus. That is something I’ve always tried to do and certainly intend to keep doing.

More particularly, as an administrator at the University of Chicago, I’ve been involved in the establishment and development of ambitious multidisciplinary academic programs. The evolution of knowledge and the evolution of research – and consequently the evolution of the kinds of educational programs at all levels that we want – demand a greater attention to such work.

Brown’s culture is certainly a great advantage in being able to support this type of activity. This doesn’t mean that one wants to ignore strong disciplinary programs – quite the contrary - but finding the right balance between the strength of departments and the advantages of multidisciplinary programs is something I’ve been very involved in.

In addition, I’ve had quite a bit of experience in dealing with issues related to graduate education and to thinking about what’s necessary in terms of organization for a modern research university, two other areas I think Brown needs to think about.

What role will you play in the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment?

In a sense, the provost’s office needs to be the focal point for these initiatives.

Although we need to pay attention to various needs that have gone unmet, we also need to stimulate the imagination of the faculty to think about the kinds of distinctive programs that Brown can develop and that we need to invest in. So I view a significant part of my role as one that both stimulates and responds to the thinking of the faculty about how Brown’s academic programs should evolve, and about where we can really have an impact and make a difference.

This involves bringing more faculty into important leadership roles. I’m looking forward to appointing a new vice president for research and new dean of the Graduate School, and seeking the successor to Don Marsh [the dean of medicine and biological science who will be retiring].

While bringing all the deans together to work as a coherent team is an important role, it is essential that the provost’s office work with the rest of the faculty. And certainly as we develop these programs, significant input from students will also be valuable.

You mentioned the vacancies you will have the opportunity to fill. These people will join other key administrators who report to the provost’s office. How do you envision the way this new team will work?

The leadership in the bio-medical area, the dean of the College, the dean of the faculty, vice president for research and dean for the Graduate School all represent different components of the way that we need to advance our programs. While each of these has a particular set of responsibilities, I envision this group working very closely with me as a group so that we’re thinking about advancing our programs together rather than each one of these leaders doing things by themselves. I certainly imagine them fitting together as a coherent group with a more sharply focused mission than they might have had before.

There has been a lot change on campus, in personnel and organizationally, in a short amount of time. Do you anticipate any resistance?

Whether you change or don’t change, any act will fail to garner 100 percent support. However, my sense about the faculty, students, Corporation members and alumni that I’ve met is that there is an enormous receptivity to these changes and an enormous recognition that what President Simmons has laid out as an agenda for the next years of Brown’s history is absolutely what is required.

The Corporation has spoken clearly that it is willing to commit the resources necessary to make these things happen. The importance of that is impossible to overestimate. With leadership in place, the commitment of the Brown community as a whole, and the resources provided by the Corporation, I think that we are, in fact, actually going to accomplish much.

The Initiatives for Academic Enrichment call for adding 20 new faculty members each year for the next few years. The provost’s office will play a large part in that work. How will you approach this task?

We will look to strengthen existing departments, to strengthen existing interdisciplinary programs, and to develop new programs. Exactly which investments are made will be a process that will involve the generation of ideas from the faculty, a vetting and setting of priorities by a group of deans and faculty, and student input. The exact processes have not been worked out, but it will be my responsibility to orchestrate this process. Our decisions should reflect directions that the community as a whole sees as of significant value and as supporting initiatives that Brown should be undertaking.

What excites you most about coming to Brown?

I think intellectually we’re living in an exciting period. The scope of knowledge and the way modes of inquiry are combining to yield different kinds of understanding of social phenomena, science phenomena and humanistic phenomena are quite remarkable.

Brown has the great advantage of being an institution where porous intellectual boundaries are the norm. That is something that one cannot take for granted at other institutions. Because of this culture, Brown is in a position to develop – rather dramatically – a very different stance and a very expanded and exciting perspective.