Dear Members of the Brown Community,

Last month, the Corporation of Brown University held its May meetings, which take place leading into Commencement and Reunion Weekend. A wide variety of topics related to academic excellence and strategic planning were discussed in committees and meetings of the whole, as well as actions taken, which are detailed below.

The Committee on Academic Affairs, for example, heard about a variety of programs and initiatives in furtherance of increasing the impact of research at Brown, including the newly developing Pandemic Center in the School of Public Health and excellent work being done in the special collections in the John Hay Library that support scholarship and teaching. Associate Provost for Enrollment & Dean of Undergraduate Admission Logan Powell made a presentation on the impacts of investments in undergraduate financial aid, and the Corporation continued discussions regarding Brown’s response to the anticipated Supreme Court decision on affirmative action in admission.

Vice President for Community Engagement Mary Jo Callan reported to the Committee on Communications, Alumni and External Affairs on progress from her first year in that new position regarding the University’s community engagement strategy and developing a road map for the year ahead and beyond. That work, along with investments noted below in higher education access programs for Providence public school students, is a critical component of the University’s commitment to our home city and state.

Budget for Fiscal Year 2024

At the May meeting, the Corporation acts on the consolidated base budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Consistent with that process, the University Resources Committee (URC) presented its recommended budget for next year to me for action at this meeting. I recommended to the Corporation, and they approved, a $1.69 billion consolidated base budget for the University for Fiscal Year 2024.

As Interim Provost Larry Larson shared so aptly in his cover letter to the URC’s report, the budget reflects first and foremost a commitment to Brown’s mission and its people. The FY24 budget advances our focus on investing in the faculty, staff and students who are at the foundation of all that we do every day. As we confront a challenging economic environment, the budget reflects special attention to the impact of inflation on faculty, staff, and students and their families. Salaries, wages and benefits comprise the largest share (44%) of the approved budget’s expenses, and student financial aid and support comprises the second-largest share (27%).

In the coming year, Brown will continue its long-term expansion in financial aid. The $452.3 million budgeted for student financial aid and support ($202.6 million of which supports undergraduate students) represents an 8.3% increase over last year’s budget, which is driven in large part by enhanced support measures such as increased scholarships for moderate-income undergraduates and reduced summer earnings expectations for high-need students. The budget also reflects significant enhancements in financial support for graduate students. Brown will provide $230.6 million in student aid and support for graduate students, an increase of $18 million, or 8.6%, compared with the FY23 base budget. This continues to position Brown on the leading edge in terms of financial support for graduate students nationwide.

The approved budget also includes $277.8 million (a 22% increase) in endowment spending to support students and advance research, teaching and campus life initiatives. This includes $25 million in foundational investments to support our research growth goals across all disciplines as part of the implementation of the University’s Operational Plan for Investing in Research. Examples of investments in research support include increased funding for library collections to ensure access to cutting-edge scholarship and digital resources; renovations for research spaces across campus; hiring additional research staff; and new information technology and data infrastructure systems.

In addition to broad-based investments that benefit the majority of the University community, the budget also outlines important targeted investments in faculty, research and academic support; health and wellness investments for the undergraduate body; and investments in the University’s physical infrastructure, including the opening this fall of The Lindemann Performing Arts Center and the two new residence halls along Brook Street, the Chen Family Hall and William and Ami Danoff Hall. The budget also includes resources for significant investments in BIRCH (Brown Innovation and Research Collaborative for Health), a unified approach to conducting health and medical research that will streamline operations and strategically align research priorities across Brown and our affiliated health care partners Lifespan and Care New England, as well as funding for investments in new programs to increase access to higher education for Providence public school students.

It's worth noting that the budget process, as always, demonstrates the benefits of shared governance at Brown. I commend the URC for its open and transparent model for considering  budgetary information on all aspects of University operations, and its thoughtful deliberations that delivered this year’s budget recommendations. They worked hard to balance supporting our community with the need to produce a fiscally responsible budget.

As we look forward to next fiscal year and beyond, it is important to bear in mind that, like many institutions, Brown may face significant financial headwinds, including capital market uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and competition in higher education labor markets. We will continue to balance investments in compensation and benefits for faculty and staff, facilities across campus, and financial aid and support for our students with a base of revenue that is growing more slowly than in recent years.

Being collectively informed about University resources and priorities is critically important, and I strongly encourage all members of the community to read the full URC report, which is available on the committee’s website.

The Committee on Budget and Finance also approved design and pre-construction on a project to relocate the Haffenreffer Research Collection from its current location in Bristol, Rhode Island, to a new home in Providence’s Jewelry District. News and action taken on other capital projects will be distributed to the community later this week.

Election of Trustees and Other Actions

The Corporation elected the following individuals to the Board of Trustees:

Eldridge H. Gilbert III ’05, Christine A. Leahy ’86, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess ’00 and Gladys Xiques ’94. Shanelle Chambers Haile PhD’23 will serve a two-year term as a New Alumni Trustee, following an election process in which current students and recent alumni participate directly.

Brief biographical notes on the new trustees and fellows is available on the University’s news website: https://www.brown.edu/news/2023-05-31/corporation

The Corporation approved the appointment of the following faculty to named chairs:

Senior Chairs:

• Timothy Bewes, Owen F. Walker Professor of Humanities;
• John Diamond, Ford Foundation Professor of Sociology and Education Policy;
• Lina Fruzzetti, Paul R. Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science;
• Brendan Hassett, Jonathan Nelson University Professor of Mathematics;
• Meredith Hastings, George Ide Chace Professor of Physical Sciences;
• David Lindstrom, Paul R. Dupee, Jr. University Professor of Social Science;
• Steven Lubar, George L. Littlefield Professor of American History;
• François Luks, J. Murray Beardsley Professor of Surgery;
• Anna Lysyanskaya, James A. and Julie N. Brown Professor of Computer Science;
• Ethan Pollock, Abbott Gleason University Professor of History;
• Stephen Porder, Acacia Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology and Environment and Society;
• Wendy Schiller, Alison S. Ressler Professor of Political Science;
• Thomas Serre, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Science;
• John Steele, Charles Edwin Wilbour Professor of Egyptology and Assyriology;
• Suzanne Stewart-Steinberg, John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European Studies;
• Kimani Toussaint, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor of Science;
• Patricia Ybarra, W. Duncan MacMillan Family Professor of the Humanities;
• Margaret Graves, Adrienne Minassian Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture;
• Anita Shukla, Elaine I. Savage Associate Professor of Engineering; and
• Banu Özkazanç-Pan, Barrett Hazeltine Associate Professor of the Practice of Engineering.

Royce Family Professors of Teaching Excellence:

• Onésimo Almeida, Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies;
• Kevin Quashie, Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in English; and
• Roberto Zenit, Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence in Engineering.

Junior Chairs:

• Rachel Baker, John and Elizabeth Irving Family Assistant Professor of Climate Health;
• Roberta De Vito, Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Biostatistics and Data Science;
• Alexander Evans, Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences;
• Roman Feiman, Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences;
• Jia (Leo) Li, Richard and Edna Salomon Assistant Professor of Physics;
• George Lisi, Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry;
• Monica Martinez Wilhelmus, Thomas J. and Alice M. Tisch Assistant Professor of Engineering;
• Jonathan Roth, Groos Family Assistant Professor of Economics; and
• Holly Shaffer, Robert Gale Noyes Assistant Professor of Humanities.

The Committee on Campus Life convened discussions with Warren Alpert Medical School students over breakfast Thursday morning. The Board of Fellows approved the candidates for 2,828 degrees to be awarded at Commencement on Sunday, May 28, and met with the officers of the Faculty Executive Committee.

Acceptance of Gifts

The Corporation formally accepted individual gifts and pledges made since February in the amount of $1 million or more. Totaling more than $120 million, these generous commitments provide critical support to a wide range of Brown’s academic priorities. The success of the BrownTogether campaign to date and in the future builds from gifts of many dollar amounts, and all are essential to our success and deeply appreciated.

The Corporation approved the establishment of a number of endowed positions in recognition of generous gifts having been received, and also established several endowed positions from the increased market value of previously established professorships. The latter is an example of ongoing efforts to deploy endowed resources in an effective manner, in support of University priorities. When there are circumstances in which an endowed fund grows to the point that it can support an additional faculty position at the same level as a newly created endowed professorship, and when the donors agree, a new professorship will be established.

Professorships established at this meeting include the following:

• The George H. Billings ’72 LHD ’21 Professorship with the generous support of the late George H. Billings ‘72 LHD’21 hon.;
• The Abbott Gleason University Professorship with the generous support of the late Ruth Helman ’73;
• The June and Howard Zimmerman Professorship of Brain Science with the generous support of an anonymous donor;
• The Howard E. Zimmerman Professorship of Brain Science with the generous support of an anonymous donor;
• The James A. & Julie N. Brown Professorship of Computer Science II through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of Julie N. Brown;
• The James A. & Julie N. Brown Professorship of Computer Science III through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of Julie N. Brown;
• The W. Duncan MacMillan II Professorship of Classics II through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of W. Duncan MacMillan II;
• The Vernon K. Krieble Professorship of Chemistry II through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of Gladys Krieble Delmas;
• The Vernon K. Krieble Professorship of Chemistry III through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of Gladys Krieble Delmas;
• The Pablo J. Salame ’88 Goldman Sachs Professorship in Computational Computer Science II through the increased market value of the original endowment and with the previous generous support of Pablo J. Salame ’88, P’21;
• The Nazareth-Ferguson Family University Professorship in Public Health with the generous support of Annette L. Nazareth ’78, P’13 and Roger W. Ferguson, Jr. P’13.

The Fellows and Trustees of the Corporation expressed gratitude and appreciation for the hard work of students, faculty and staff to make all that Brown does possible.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President