After 11 years as president of Brown, Ruth J. Simmons will step aside at the end of June 2012. This profile outlines Simmons’s many accomplishments during her time here, including increasing the faculty by 20 percent, instituting a need-blind admissions policy, strengthening academic programs and research, and expanding Brown’s footprint into the Jewelry District. Reflecting on her tenure during a recent farewell party on the College Green, Simmons said to the Brown community, “You make it the most special of places, and for me, the experience of working with you, alongside you, for you, has been the best of my life.”

During its 244th Commencement exercises Sunday, May 27, 2012, Brown University conferred 2,444 degrees, including 1,603 bachelor’s degrees, 479 master’s degrees, 310 terminal or professional degrees, and 52 honorary master’s and doctoral degrees, including a Doctor of Humane Letters for Ruth J. Simmons, the University’s 18th president. After receiving an honorary doctorate, civil rights leader and U.S. Representative John Lewis gave some impromptu remarks: “When we see something that is not right, that is not fair or just, we have a mission, a mandate and a moral obligation to stand up, and speak up, and speak out, and find a way to get in the way.”

The Brown community celebrated the completion of the new aquatics and fitness center complex during a dedication ceremony on Friday, May 25, 2012. The ceremony included remarks by President Ruth J. Simmons, Chancellor Thomas J. Tisch, Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger, and lead architect Robert A.M. Stern. The $46-million project includes the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, the Nelson Fitness Center, the David J. Zucconi ’55 Varsity Strength and Conditioning Center, Fredric B. Garonzik ’64 Fitness Area and the Ittleson Quadrangle.

Frank Morgan, professor of mathematics at Williams College, writes about a recent visit to Brown’s Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) while on a tour of mathematics events up and down the East Coast. Article includes a video of ICERM Director Jill Pipher describing the recent “Day of Data” that plays in the institute’s lobby.

Efforts are being made to further develop the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) workforce as a way of protecting the state’s economic future. in 2010, Brown established a School of Engineering. “[That] is one way in which Brown has made a strong commitment to applied research, which we know is at the heart of many commercial technological endeavors,” says Clyde Bryant, vice president for research. Brown, RIC and the University of Rhode Island are also involved in EPSCoR, seeking federal grant funding for marine-based educational programming.

End-of-life care is often a costly endeavor that gives family members unrealistic hope of their loved ones’ chances of survival and subjects patients to unnecessary testing and treatment. Research by Joan Teno, professor of health services, policy, and practice, has found that has found that the more intensive care a patient received, the more the family felt that the patient hadn’t been well cared for.

Leigh Hochberg, associate professor of engineering, answers questions about his most recent BrainGate research in which two people with tetraplegia were able to reach for and grasp objects in three-dimensional space using robotic arms that they controlled directly with brain activity. He describes how the technology works, the most important findings as a result of this breakthrough, and the next steps in his research.

The sketches of artist and World War II veteran Ben Cohen are part of the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection at the John Hay Library. The works were recently digitized to make them accessible to all. Rather than the horrors of battle, Cohen’s sketches depict mundane images of life in wartime, which collection curator Peter Harrington says is quite common: “That all provides a fascinating window into the lives of young men and women thrown into the maelstrom of war.”

Marie Malchodi, a University library preservationist who recently discovered a rare engraving done by Paul Revere inside a donated book in the archives, talks about the find as well as some of the other treasures she’s found over the years such as rare trading cards and notes within the margins of old books. “I don’t think most people on campus have any idea of what’s there and there are some remarkable things, both print materials and objects,” Malchodi says.