Our junior researchers are on the rise, too. In fact, five of them received Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) awards from the National Science Foundation to advance their scientific research in topics ranging from mass incarceration to the brain and lungs to robots that can reason.<\/span><\/p>\n BU is a popular destination for students around the world. We received more than 80,000 undergraduate applications for our Class of 2027. We admitted 10.85% of those applicants, and enrolled 36% of those admitted\u2014our highest yield ever.<\/p>\n We must respond to unanticipated challenges in the larger world\u2014from the rapid and increasingly sophisticated development of artificial intelligence and its role in the classroom and the lab to the disappointing US Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action. While we will adjust our admissions practices in the wake of the high court\u2019s decision, our commitment to inclusive excellence\u2014built on a diverse student body\u2014remains resolute.<\/p>\n We opened the new LGBTQIA+ Student Resource Center in fall 2023. We also hired renowned education scholar Anthony Abraham Jack<\/a> as an associate professor at our Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and faculty director of the Newbury Center for first-generation students. Jack plans to focus his research on the experiences of disadvantaged students and how their talents can be nurtured in academia.<\/p>\n We also witnessed tremendous support from our global community, closing FY2023 with $273 million in donations, a 12.3% increase over last year and a new record for BU. It is humbling\u2014and inspiring\u2014that so many people believe in the work we\u2019re doing.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the major milestones of the past year was the conclusion of the remarkable 18-year tenure of my predecessor, Boston University President Emeritus Robert A. Brown. After his final semester as president in spring 2023, the community thanked Dr. Brown for his unwavering dedication to this University and for laying the foundation upon which we continue to grow, transform, and create impact. And continuing this upward trajectory, the trustees appointed Dr. Melissa L. Gilliam\u2014a veteran administrator, educator, scholar, research scientist, and physician\u2014as BU\u2019s next president<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Making progress is never easy. It\u2019s a methodical and deliberate climb, and for every summit we reach, we know another lies beyond. As an institution and a community, we move ever forward, ever upward.<\/span><\/p>\n Sincerely,<\/span><\/p>\n Kenneth W. Freeman <\/strong> Dear Friends and Colleagues, Year after year, Boston University ascends as a major global research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12906,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bu-landing","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5\/revisions\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Kenneth](\"\/2023\/files\/2023\/11\/23-1328-FREE-094-636x424.jpg\")
![\"A](\"\/2023\/files\/2023\/10\/freeman-signature-crop.png\")
<\/p>\n
\nPresident Ad Interim, <\/strong>Boston University<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"