Dear Friends, 

This week in my annual State of the University address, I reported on the New Era at the University of Idaho, one characterized by strength, pride and progress, along with resilient, ambitious, and aspirational. I am humbled and encouraged by the stunning work ethic and dedication to learning, living and leading that our community possesses. These qualities have made possible the recognition our University enjoys today for high-quality academics, research and creative activity; the unparalleled student life experience we offer; and our record of alumni achievement.

“Challenged” is an appropriate description for our University today, too. With change always comes challenge, and in my address I acknowledged the present challenges that our community is facing together: increased costs, new budgeting requirements, strategic planning, tough internal analysis of our graduate and research programs, and fundraising demands. Yet we are strong academically, strong financially, strong in research and strong with respect to our students. We educate, foster creativity, encourage excellence and reward service – and in the end, we create leaders for society.

Our immediate priorities continue to address people, programs and place. We continue to implement our Strategic Action Plan with an emphasis on ensuring a positive, productive culture and climate for our students and employees – one that is dynamic and vital, and that functions efficiently and effectively. We are on track to meet our six-year goal for improving employee compensation. In the next weeks, we will begin important work on our graduate education and research programs by identifying ways to foster program strengths and encourage multidisciplinary opportunities. Private support is a critical element to our future success. We will continue to build our fundraising activities to generate vital financial support for our students, faculty, programs and facilities.

A great university is a dynamic institution that embraces the push of need and the pull of opportunity. That certainly describes the University of Idaho, and need and opportunity will guide us as we address our critical priorities. We commit to engage in innovative thinking and consider unconventional actions to achieve our goals. We must continue to act on our vision and aspire to be student-centered in all we do, to be nationally competitive and to focus on the emerging needs of the next century.

A video download of the State of the University address is available at www.president.uidaho.edu/presentations.

Tim White
President

Here’s the latest news from the University of Idaho:

Approximately 118 students are eligible for graduation from the University of Idaho Coeur d’Alene on Monday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. The ceremony takes place at the Schuler Auditorium in Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. The commencement address will be given by Paul Anderson, who retired this year as Avista Utilities’ Coeur d’Alene area manager. A President's Medallion will be given to educator and health care advocate Lidwina Dirne. She led a community effort to provide health care assistance to those in need that resulted in The Lake City Health Care, which opened in 1989. The facility has been renamed the Dirne Community Health Center in her honor. Earlier this week, commencement ceremonies were held at University of Idaho Boise and University of Idaho Idaho Falls. Moscow campus and College of Law commencement is May 10. For more information, go to www.uidaho.edu/commencement .

The University of Idaho placed 46th out of more than 500 schools that competed in this year’s William Lowell Putnam Competition. The premier undergraduate mathematics competition takes three students from each competing school and pits their Putnam exam scores against one another to see which school fares the best. Idaho students in the competition were Jason Fitch, a double major in mechanical engineering and mathematics; Jonathan Gaffney, mathematics major and student body president; and Bryan Wilson, mathematics major and Goldwater scholar.

Fred Gleave, a longtime resident of Spokane, Wash., left an estate of more than $2 million for scholarships at the University of Idaho. Although Fred was unable to attend college, he was a firm believer in both the value of higher education and the University of Idaho. A native of Potlatch, he was a life-long acquaintance of Malcolm Renfrew’s, a retired emeritus faculty member and department head, and out of this friendship grew Fred’s allegiance to Idaho. Fred had a long and distinguished career as director of public relations with Washington Water Power, now Avista Corporation. In the early ‘90s, following the death of his wife, Janice, Fred created the Fred and Janice Gleave Scholarship Endowment. Fred died in June 2006, and the entire portion of his estate coming to the University of Idaho was distributed to this fund. For more information on creating an endowment, contact Ed McBride, senior director of development at (208) 885-9026 or mcbride@uidaho.edu .

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