Letter to the Community

July 24, 2000


The 1999-2000 academic year at Florida International University has been filled with historic firsts that reflect our institution's emergence as one of America's top public urban research universities.  Years from now, 2000 may well be remembered as the year that gave birth to the expression,

The most notable event - for FIU as well as the entire South Florida community - was the establishment of the FIU College of Law, which Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed into law at a ceremony at our University Park campus on June 14. We plan to welcome our first-year class in the fall of 2002.  The bill establishing the school, which was unanimously approved by the legislature, was introduced in the Senate by Mario Diaz-Balart and Betty Holzendorf and in the House by Gaston Cantens and Rudy Bradley. The college will deliver a curricular design infused with an innovative transnational approach that will be specially relevant to the South Florida legal marketplace and the recognized needs of the legal community in the 21st century. The University is moving immediately to appoint a dean, faculty, and staff and develop a curriculum in accordance with the standards of the American Bar Association.   Chesterfield Smith, founder of Holland and Knight LLP and former president of the American Bar Association and the Florida Bar Association, has agreed to chair the Community Advisory Board for the law school. 

Major steps have been taken to improve the quality of student life.  In a historic development for the University's athletic program, the Board of Regents unanimously approved the establishment of a Division I-AA football program at FIU. The team will begin intercollegiate competition in the fall of 2002.  Prior to this action, FIU was the largest public university in the country without a football team. The University will immediately move to hire a coaching staff, begin the recruiting process, and expand its stadium at University Park. 

After an extensive national search, Rick Mello was recently named the University's new director of intercollegiate athletics and campus recreation. Mello spent the last five years as director of athletics at the University of Arkansas-Little Rock (UALR).  During that time, UALR won 11 conference titles and finished as high as second for the Sun Belt Conference's Commissioner's cup.  He served three years at the University of Miami, where he was responsible for all outside revenue generation as the associate athletic director for external operations, and eight years at the University of California, Berkeley.

We also appointed Donnie Marsh as the new head coach of men's basketball.  Marsh comes to FIU from Virginia Tech, where he spent the past three seasons as the men's basketball associate head coach.  In another area of student life, construction is now underway on Greek housing at the University Park campus.   Five national Greek organizations are working with their local chapters to develop plans for fraternity houses.  The first house should open to residents next summer.  Across the street from Greek housing, construction has begun on the University Events Center that will open in 2001.

FIU had another record year attracting external research grants and contracts.   For fiscal 1999-2000 we received $58.4 million in overall contracts and grants.  This was a 31 percent increase over last year's total and the third consecutive annual increase in excess of 20 percent.  To help advance FIU's goal of attaining Carnegie Research I status - which requires $40 million in annual federally funded research - the University opened a federal relations office in Washington, D.C., a first for us.   The FIU team in the nation's capital helps FIU's research centers and professors market their expertise to federal agencies and Congress.

Our faculty continue to receive national accolades.  Campbell McGrath, professor of Creative Writing, received a prestigious $280,000 MacArthur Award, popularly known as a "genius grant."  McGrath's acclaimed collections of poetry include Spring Comes to Chicago and Road Atlas.  Juan Bueno, director of FIU's Landscape Architecture Program, was recognized as one of the 100 most distinguished graduates from Harvard's Landscape Architecture program.  William Adams, professor of Public Relations, was named one of the "10 most outstanding PR educators" in the country by PR Week magazine. Kenneth James Lipartito, professor of History, was awarded the Harold F. Williamson Prize from the Business History Conference.  The prestigious award, which is given approximately every three years, recognizes an outstanding business historian in the education field who has contributed to his or her profession.  Kenneth Lipner, professor of Economics, was named a Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellow for his leadership of the Biscayne Bay Campus Students in Free Enterprise Team.  As a fellow, he will oversee the team's creation and implementation of community outreach projects that teach free enterprise.  Provost Mark B. Rosenberg, professor of Political Science, has been named to the Council of Foreign Relations, the country's premier foreign affairs think tank.

Our students are also being recognized for their achievements. For the second consecutive year, FIU engineering students won the top award in a competition sponsored by the Florida Water Environment Association that seeks solutions to real world problems.  The team of students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, under the direction of Professor Hector R. Fuentes, developed the best design of a reclaimed water system for the Ogden Martin Facility, a refuse-to-energy process, in Lee County, Florida. They selected a state-of-the-art microfiltration pretreatment system utilizing reclaimed city of Fort Myers wastewater, with the highest payback for the county taxpayers.  The Florida International University Concert Choir, under the direction of John Augenblick of the School of Music, won first place in the Chamber Choir Category of the First International Choir Festival and Competition of Fort Lauderdale.  By winning this competition, the first such international event held in the United States, the Concert Choir qualified to participate in the 2000 Choir Olympics held in Linz, Austria this summer.

For the first time in Florida history, three female vice presidents are shaping one of its leading urban universities. Earlier this year I announced the appointment of Gwendolyn Viola Boyd, Dale Chapman Webb and Patricia Telles-Irvin as vice presidents of Administration, Advancement and Student Affairs, respectively. Dr. Boyd, an FIU alumna who earned her doctorate in adult education and human resource development and a master's in public administration, previously served as chief of police in Miramar, Florida. She is the first FIU graduate to become a member of the University's Executive Committee. Webb, a graduate of Queens College, began her tenure at FIU in 1988. She previously served as associate vice president of University Advancement and campaign director of the Campaign for FIU. She is responsible for the continued success of the $200 million Campaign for FIU. Telles-Irvin, a licensed psychologist who has overseen several departments within the university, has been the acting vice president of Student Affairs for the past year. She is responsible for 20 departments and programs directly affecting student life.  Dr. Telles-Irvin received her doctorate in psychology from Boston University.

The Campaign for FIU has reached totals in excess of $182 million, representing more than 90 percent of its $200 million goal. Among the recent gifts are commitments toward Golden Panther football that together represent $1 million in start-up support. The contributions will help make possible the expansion of University Park's existing Community Stadium as well as the construction of an athletics center. Several additional prospective donors are expected to sign on soon.

To reflect its beautiful waterside setting, the University's North Campus was renamed the Biscayne Bay Campus. The change in identity is just the start of what's in store for the campus.   Academic programs will be expanded, buildings will be renovated and new facilities are being planned. To that end, a senior administrative officer has been appointed for the campus. Raul Moncarz, professor of Finance, has been named vice provost for Academic Affairs for the campus.

As always, we appreciate your interest in our progress.

Sincerely,


Modesto A. Maidique
President