Distributed November 9, 2000
For Immediate Release
News Service Contact: Mark Nickel



Sheila E. Blumstein

The University is well-prepared to make this transition

Sheila E. Blumstein, the Albert D. Mead Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, was appointed interim president February 9, 2000, and will serve through June 30, 2001.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Sheila E. Blumstein, interim president of Brown University, released the following statement about the selection of Ruth J. Simmons as Brown’s 18th president:

Earlier today I had the pleasure of meeting Brown’s 18th president-elect and speaking with her about the University, its mission and its future. I believe the Corporation and the two selection committees have chosen well; our University is in good hands.

I assured President-elect Simmons that I am ready and willing to help in any way during her transition to the Brown presidency. For the remainder of my term, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the senior administration to begin an integrated planning process designed to develop a short-term and long-term strategy to fund our major university priorities. I will be working in close consultation with President-elect Simmons as we develop these strategies.

I believe the University is well-prepared to make this transition. We enjoy substantial and growing support from our greater community of alumni, alumnae and friends and are in outstanding financial shape. Our campus discussions on diversity, need-blind admission, campus life, and strategic planning have given Brown a clear sense of its mission, needs and priorities. Several important construction projects are underway which will enhance the quality of our academic programs. We know the importance of continuity and strong leadership in achieving an institution’s long-term goals. Dr. Simmons is the person who will help us achieve those goals. I look forward to her arrival.

It has been an honor for me to serve the University as interim president. I look forward to rejoining my faculty colleagues and resuming my research program. This is an extraordinarily exciting time in cognitive neuroscience, and the prospect of new research tools, including fMRI, have made me eager to resume my work full-time. I will be on sabbatical leave during the 2001-02 academic year, continuing my research at Brown, visiting with colleagues at other institutions, and completing my own transition to my first love – teaching and research.

I am deeply grateful for the trust Brown placed in me and the opportunity it gave me to serve.

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