January 14, 2000
Colloquium Topic: The Quantum Physics Model of the University in the New Millennium
In the past, we thought of universities along the model of the classical physics idea of the atom - a sphere with sharply demarcated boundaries. Faculty were tightly bound to the core of the university like electrons around the nucleus. The university was bounded by geography as well, with well-defined campus boundaries, faculty who were solely full-time, and fierce competition with other universities. The University of the 21st Century will look more like the quantum physics model of the atom - a cloud with fuzzy borders and electrons that may be shared between nuclei. Expertise will be king, so to produce world class research you need a collection of world class experts - often located at different institutions across the globe. How will this new model of the university change higher education? In what ways will the research enterprise be affected? And finally, as one of the premiere research universities in America, how is Johns Hopkins adapting to this new, and profoundly different model?
Colloquium Speaker: William R. Brody
Dr. William R. Brody became the 13th President of The Johns Hopkins University on September 1, 1996. Prior to that, he was Provost of the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota and from 1987 to 1994, Director of the Department of Radiology at Johns Hopkins and Radiologist-in-Chief of The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Brody has previously served on the faculty at Stanford University, where he earned his M.D., and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. He holds undergraduate and master's degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a co-founder of three medical device companies, and has made contributions in medical acoustics, computed tomography, digital radiography and magnetic resonance imaging. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the American College of Cardiology and the American Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Brody was born January 4, 1944 in Stockton, CA. He and his wife, Wendy, have two children and reside at Nichols House on the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus.