President's Announcement: Dianne Rekow Named New Provost; Erich Kunhardt to resume full-time research and faculty role and serve as i²e advisor to the President and Provost
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| Dr. Elizabeth Dianne Rekow, Senior Vice-Provost of Engineering and Technology for New York University, will assume responsibilities as Provost for NYU-Poly. |
Dear NYU-Poly Faculty, Trustees, and Staff:
I write to share with you the news that after nearly three years of leadership as Provost of the Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Dr. Erich Kunhardt has decided to return to his passion for being a practicing academic. Erich has helped all of us bring Polytechnic to a new level of excellence and opportunity and for this, the Board of Trustees and I are especially grateful.
Since Erich joined NYU-Poly as Provost in October 2006, he has worked with all of us to not only return Polytechnic to its place as a world-class engineering and technology research and educational institution, but to transform technology education and research to meet the challenges of the 21st century. During Erichís tenure, we have seen our academic performance change course as undergraduate SAT scores and retention improved, graduate studies gained standing, and our commitment to academic excellence was reaffirmed. Moreover, with his leadership we have successfully navigated the university into its new relationship with NYU. At the core of all of these gains, is the distinctive environment that Erich has encouraged us to embrace, that is our approach to education and research with i2e: invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship. With Erichís insights and leadership, Polytechnic has moved forward in just a few years in ways that would take many institutions a decade or more of effort.
I hope you will join me in thanking Erich for his service as Provost and welcome him to his new role as a full-time member of the faculty and advisor to me and the new Provost on i2e.
At this time, I am also pleased to announce that Dr. Elizabeth Dianne Rekow has accepted our offer to serve as the new Provost of the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Many of you already know and have worked with Dianne in her role as Senior Vice-Provost of Engineering and Technology for New York University and, before that, as NYU's representative and principal liaison in the affiliation and merger discussions between Polytechnic and NYU. In the past two years, Dianne has worked closely with many of Polytechnicís faculty and staff and, in the course of these interactions she has become a strong advocate of our approach to technology and engineering education. Dianne is committed to recruiting exceptional new faculty to our ranks, to continuing the transformation of our curriculum to meet the demands of the 21st century, to enhancing research and expanding research funding, to increasing technology commercialization, and to our commitment to i2e.
In my discussions with our department heads and faculty leaders, I am pleased, but not surprised, to learn of the depth of support for Dianne taking on this new assignment as Provost for NYU-Poly. I know that Dianne takes on this new role with the strong endorsement and support of NYU's Provost David McLaughlin and President John Sexton. In order to assist NYU in its commitment to integrating technology and research across the whole university, Dianne will continue to serve as Senior Vice- Provost of Engineering and Technology for NYU.
Dr. Rekow brings impressive qualifications to her work as Provost of NYU-Poly and Senior-Vice Provost of NYU. She has a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, a D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery), a Masterís in Mechanical Engineering, a Bachelorís in Mechanical Engineering, and a Bachelorís in Physics and Math all from the University of Minnesota, and an M.B.A from the College of St. Thomas. In addition to significant publications and research awards, Dianne also holds six patents and serves on numerous international and professional associations.
I ask you to please join me in welcoming Dianne as Provost of NYU-Poly effective today. Please give Dianne your full support as we take the next important step in our pursuit of excellence.
In the next weeks, we will honor Erich Kunhardt for his service as Provost and welcome Dianne Rekow in her new role as Provost. We will inform you of the details of these events soon and I look forward to joining you then.
Warm regards,
Jerry M. Hultin
