Furman University Majors – Niche
All Majors
Discover the majors and programs offered by Furman University and the types of degrees awarded.
ArtsBusinessEducationHealth ProfessionsHumanitiesScience, Technology, and Math
Accounting
Bachelors
22 Graduates
No Online
Business
Bachelors
79 Graduates
No Online
Education
Bachelors
6 Graduates
No Online
Elementary Education
Bachelors
9 Graduates
No Online
Music Teacher Education
Bachelors
11 Graduates
No Online
Anthropology
Bachelors
9 Graduates
No Online
Art History
Bachelors
5 Graduates
No Online
Asian Studies
Bachelors
20 Graduates
No Online
Communications
Bachelors
65 Graduates
No Online
Economics
Bachelors
24 Graduates
No Online
English
Bachelors
15 Graduates
No Online
French Language and Literature
Bachelors
5 Graduates
No Online
German Language and Literature
Bachelors
5 Graduates
No Online
History
Bachelors
22 Graduates
No Online
Latin and Ancient Greek Studies
Bachelors
5 Graduates
No Online
Liberal Arts and Humanities
Bachelors
8 Graduates
No Online
Music History and Literature
Bachelors
15 Graduates
No Online
Philosophy
Bachelors
10 Graduates
No Online
Political Science and Government
Bachelors
60 Graduates
No Online
Psychology
Bachelors
40 Graduates
No Online
Religious Studies
Bachelors
25 Graduates
No Online
Sociology
Bachelors
16 Graduates
No Online
Spanish Language and Literature
Bachelors
19 Graduates
No Online
Urban Studies and Affairs
Bachelors
1 Graduate
No Online
Biology
Bachelors
37 Graduates
No Online
Chemistry
Bachelors
20 Graduates
No Online
Computational and Applied Mathematics
Bachelors
0 Graduates
No Online
Computer Science
Bachelors
15 Graduates
No Online
Engineering
Bachelors
2 Graduates
No Online
Geology and Earth Science
Bachelors
13 Graduates
No Online
Information Science
Bachelors
7 Graduates
No Online
Mathematics
Bachelors
13 Graduates
No Online
Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Bachelors
12 Graduates
No Online
Physics
Bachelors
10 Graduates
No Online
Sustainability Studies
Bachelors
12 Graduates
No Online
Furman University Rankings, Tuition, Acceptance Rate, etc.

57%
73%
2,828
10.0:1
$32,702
Average Undergraduate Students Aid
$50,844
In-State Tuition and Fees
$50,844
Out-of-State Tuition and Fees
= Average
Sector
Private not-for-profit, 4-year or above
Carnegie Classification
Baccalaureate Colleges: Arts & Sciences Focus
Religious Affiliation
Not applicable
Furman University is located in Greenville, SC at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Established in 1826 by the South Carolina Baptist Convention, the school was named for Baptist Minister Richard Furman. It is the oldest college in South Carolina. Furman left the Baptist Convention in 1992, but has kept the Judeo-Christian ethics associated with the church. Set on 750 acres, the campus is notable for its Bell Tower and the 40-acre Swan Lake. Additionally, the campus features an Asian Garden, which includes the Place of Peace, a Buddhist temple moved to the site from Japan and reconstructed and a replica of Henry David Thoreau’s cabin from On Walden Pond, located on the west side of the lake.

Student Life Over 2800 students are enrolled at Furman University; all full-time students are required to live on campus (except commuting students) for their entire time in school. The campus offers 12 dormitories in 2 locations. There are many clubs available for student involvement, ranging from various interests to club and intramural sports.


Furman University – The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews
Academics
Furman University is a school that helps its undergraduates “become the best version[s] of [themselves].” That potentially daunting task is made possible thanks to the school’s ample resources ranging from “good study abroad [options]” and “experiential learning” to the “many opportunities for research and internships.” One of Furman’s top selling points is “the strength of its pre-professional curriculum.” The university’s “pre-health and pre-law advisors are exceptional, and they greatly help students get into graduate programs, regardless of major.” Of course, prospective students should be aware that the academics here “are very difficult, particularly [the] science courses.” It’s important that you come prepared to study. Fortunately, the “overwhelming majority of professors at Furman are experts in their field and truly care about helping students succeed.
Student Body
Furman seems to attract students who “are very motivated and driven to perform well academically.” Thankfully, though most everyone has “high aspirations,” this isn’t a very competitive student body. Instead, undergrads here simply “push…each other to be the best people possible.” Students do readily admit that Furman “generally draws a Southern white demographic” with many kids hailing from “generally wealthy backgrounds.
Campus Life
If you’re lucky enough to attend Furman, you can expect to maintain a pretty busy schedule. “It is very common for everyone to be involved with many clubs and organizations. ” After all, there’s so much to discover and partake in outside of academics. To begin with, Furman undergrads are an athletic lot and you’ll often find “people play[ing] pick up games on the sports fields” or participating in intramurals and club sports. Plus, “athletic events are very accessible to students and are free.” For individuals with an altruistic bent, there are a “variety of community service opportunities.” Greek life is also fairly popular at Furman. However, students make a point of mentioning that “party culture isn’t extremely prevalent on campus, and the Greek organizations are very welcoming and open to anyone, regardless of appearances, socioeconomic class, or affinity for partying.” The university itself hosts numerous “cultural events” where undergrads “can go learn about something new or hear an engaging speaker.” And, of course, people can easily join some of the many organizations like Residential Life Council, Eco Reps, and the student run musical theatre group, Pauper Players.
Bachelor Degree in Biology – Greenville – SC – South Carolina – Furman University – I1636
With its solid curriculum and exceptional facilities, Furman’s biology department is a major contributor to the university’s strong reputation in the natural sciences.The curriculum provides an excellent overview of biology and prepares students for any biology-related career, from health fields to teaching, research and work with conservation groups or governmental agencies. Upper-level classes average about 16 students, so majors receive individual attention, and course requirements are designed to accommodate each student’s educational goals.
One of the distinctions of the Furman biology program is the opportunity to explore a topic of personal interest in depth. These projects can take the form of a directed independent study or an internship or research experience under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Students may pursue these interests through programs on campus or at leading off-campus research and professional facilities. These hands-on experiences provide students with an opportunity for direct training, work and/or research in some area of the biological sciences and prove highly beneficial when they apply for jobs or to graduate and professional schools.
Furman biology majors learn to communicate the details of their scientific interests through an oral seminar presentation, usually based on their independent study, research experience or internship. They often have the chance to present the results of their work at regional and national professional meetings as well. These kinds of experiences have helped prepare recent graduates for study toward the M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in such fields as forestry, ecology, molecular biology/genetics, wildlife biology, plant physiology, marine biology and microbiology.
The Study of Life
Furman biology students enter a variety of fields and professions after graduation. By offering both the B.A. and B.S. in biology, Furman provides flexibility for their interests and the career options that await them. Both degrees usually require 10 courses, including an independent study, internship or research experience.
Candidates for the B.S. degree usually complete the introductory biology course and courses in genetics, research and analysis, ecology, physiology, cell or molecular biology, an independent project, and three chemistry courses—principles, inorganic and organic. To fulfill the major requirement, students choose electives from such courses as developmental biology, microbiology, immunology, neurobiology, field zoology, field botany, marine biology, natural resource management, and many others. Those who study for the B.A. degree take the introductory course and eight electives and complete an independent project, research experience or internship.
Another outstanding feature of the Furman biology program is the opportunity for field study. The department offers a number of special field programs, including yearly courses focusing on ecosystems outside the Southeast. In January and February of even-numbered years, students may study ecology and biology in Costa Rica, the Galapagos Islands and the Andes of South America. Every other year, a field course in marine biology takes students to Florida and Belize. Other courses may take students to the Rocky Mountains, the desert Southwest, the Pacific Coast or eastern Canada. Many classes also feature one-day or weekend field trips to mountains or beaches. Additional outings are sponsored by Beta Chi, the student biology club.
The department has close ties to a number of large research institutions, including the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D. C.; the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory; the Medical University of South Carolina; North Carolina’s Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory; the Duke University Marine Laboratory; the Greenwood (S.C.) Genetics Center; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga.; and Greenville’s Roper Mountain Science Center. Furman is also a partner with Columbia University in Biosphere 2 near Tucson, Ariz., and sends a group of students to that facility each year to become immersed in environmental studies. Students can spend a summer, a term or a full year at any of these institutions, doing internships or research and earning credits.
Many students work with biology faculty members on research projects both in the summer and during the regular school year. The Townes Fund, donated by the family of Nobel laureate Charles H. Townes and his brother Henry, both Furman graduates, provides support for students to engage in independent research outside of regular courses and to make presentations at regional and national scientific meetings. With the help of the Townes Fund, students have studied the ecology of eagles in Alaska, the social structure and behavior of dolphins in the Bahamas, wolf ecology in Montana, and turtle tagging in Costa Rica. The Furman Advantage Program, the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities, and the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program have provided other opportunities for students to conduct in-depth research.
Students interested in forestry or environmental management may transfer to the Duke University School of the Environment at the end of their junior year at Furman and subsequently obtain a B.S. degree from Furman and a master’s from Duke.
Top-of-the-Line Facilities
Furman’s facilities for biological study and research are superior, and the department’s equipment is always available for use by undergraduates.
Students work with such advanced instruments as a high-performance liquid chromatograph, which enables small components of a complex mixture to be separated and analyzed; an ultracentrifuge, which spins materials at high speeds and can separate proteins or nucleic acids with different molecular weights; a liquid scintillation counter, which determines low levels of radioactive materials in biological samples; a fluorescence microscope to observe labeled cell components; and a thermal cycler, which synthesizes DNA molecules through the polymerase chain reaction.
Spectrophotometers, centrifuges and electrophoresis equipment are used in molecular and cellular biology projects. Oxygen electrodes and a complete infrared gas analysis system are used to quantify physiological processes such as respiration and photosynthesis. Biology students also have access to the department’s Macintosh lab, with computer-interfaced data collection systems.
In addition to eight teaching labs and 13 research labs, the department maintains an environmental sciences center with a variety of chambers for controlling light, humidity and temperature and for studying the effects of these variables on animals and plants. An animal maintenance suite houses animals used in courses and in research. Other facilities include a cell culture laboratory, a zoological collections room, herbarium and two greenhouses. For field trips or weekend research projects the department has a 15-passenger van, complete with a custom-built trailer.
Furman biology students also benefit from one other important facility. The 750-acre campus, with its fields, wooded areas and 30-acre lake, offers a wide range of habitats for study.
Looking to Your Future
The biology department’s Bachelor of Science program provides an excellent foundation for graduate school or for professional programs, including medical, dental and veterinary studies. More than half the biology majors at Furman go on to graduate school, often at prominent institutions such as Cornell, Duke, Emory, Georgia, Johns Hopkins, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, Purdue, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Furman’s senior premedical students traditionally score well on the medical college admissions test (MCAT), and the average acceptance rate of Furman students into medical schools exceeds the national average. Furman graduates have finished first in their medical school classes at Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins and the Medical University of South Carolina. Students interested in health-related fields are encouraged to arrange internships or research work with physicians, dentists or veterinarians, for which they can receive course credit.
The Furman program prepares students for work in many health-related areas, including speech and audiology, biometry, cyto-technology, dental hygiene, health education, hospital administration, medical illustration, medical records administration, medical librarianship, medical technology, nursing, occupational therapy, optometry, osteopathy, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, radiologic technology and respiratory therapy.
Furman University: Narrative Description | Encyclopedia.com
3300 Poinsett Hwy.
Greenville, SC 29613
Tel: (864)294-2000
Admissions: (864)294-2034
Fax: (864)294-3127
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.furman.edu/
Description:
Independent, comprehensive, coed. Awards bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Founded 1826. Setting: 750-acre suburban campus. Endowment: $277.2 million. Research spending 2003-04: $1.4 million. Educational spending 2003-04: $12,839 per student. Total enrollment: 3,359. Faculty: 257 (219 full-time, 38 part-time). Student-undergrad faculty ratio is 12:1. 3,849 applied, 58% were admitted. 57% from top 10% of their high school class, 84% from top quarter, 98% from top half. 20 National Merit Scholars, 32 class presidents, 47 valedictorians, 176 student government officers. Full-time: 2,698 students, 56% women, 44% men. Part-time: 109 students, 53% women, 47% men. Students come from 45 states and territories, 24 other countries, 71% from out-of-state, 0.1% Native American, 1% Hispanic, 6% black, 2% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 1% international, 0% 25 or older, 91% live on campus, 1% transferred in. Retention: 90% of full-time freshmen returned the following year. Academic areas with the most degrees conferred: social sciences and history; business/marketing; parks and recreation. Core. Calendar: 3-2-3. Services for LD students, advanced placement, accelerated degree program, self-designed majors, independent study, double major, summer session for credit, part-time degree program, adult/continuing education programs, internships, graduate courses open to undergrads.
Study abroad program. ROTC: Army.
Entrance Requirements:
Options: Peterson’s Universal Application, Common Application, electronic application, early admission, early decision, international baccalaureate accepted. Required: essay, high school transcript, SAT or ACT. Recommended: minimum 3.0 high school GPA, 2 recommendations. Required for some: SAT Subject Tests, SAT II: Writing Test. Entrance: very difficult. Application deadlines: 1/15, 11/15 for early decision. Notification: 3/15, 12/1 for early decision. Preference given to children of alumni.
Costs Per Year:
Application fee: $40. Comprehensive fee: $30,680 includes full-time tuition ($23,968), mandatory fees ($440), and college room and board ($6272). College room only: $3488. Room and board charges vary according to board plan and housing facility. Part-time tuition: $749 per credit hour. Part-time tuition varies according to course load.
Collegiate Environment:
Orientation program. Drama-theater group, choral group, marching band, student-run newspaper, radio station. Social organizations: 130 open to all; national fraternities, national sororities; 30% of eligible men and 35% of eligible women are members. Most popular organizations: Collegiate Educational Service Corps, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Baptist Student Union, Student Activities Board, Furman Singers. Major annual events: Homecoming Spirit Competition, May Day-Play Day, Beach Weekend. Student services: health clinic, personal-psychological counseling. Campus security: 24-hour emergency response devices and patrols, student patrols, late night transport-escort service, controlled dormitory access. 2,425 college housing spaces available; all were occupied in 2003-04. Freshmen guaranteed college housing. On-campus residence required through senior year. Options: coed, men-only, women-only housing available. James Buchanan Duke Library plus 2 others with 453,211 books, 811,000 microform titles, 2,052 serials, 5,644 audiovisual materials, an OPAC, and a Web page. Operations spending 2003-04: $2.
8 million. 340 computers available on campus for general student use. A campuswide network can be accessed from student residence rooms and from off campus. Staffed computer lab on campus.
Community Environment:
An industrial city, Greenville is in an important manufacturing region with very diverse industry. It is a metropolitan community that enjoys a temperate climate. Part-time employment is available. The city is served by air, rail and bus lines. Community facilities include a performing arts center, 16,000 seat arena, public library, art museum, YMCA, YWCA, 5 general and 1 children’s hospital, and over 400 churches that represent major denominations. Local recreation includes several community theatre groups, lakes and rivers for water sports, mountains for hiking and camping, and most major sports, including golf and minor league baseball and hockey teams.
Furman University Reviews | GradReports
“Furman University exceeds all expectations in terms of its faculty and their quality of teaching. They are innovators both in and outside of the classroom, motivating their students to think outside of their comfort zone and to ask the larger questions in life. Students thereby leave Furman with a greater understanding of life and their purpose within it. The faculty also make a visible effort to establish close connections and mentorships with their students; this is aided by the small class sizes, creating an intimate class environment through which students typically excel greatly. The staff work alongside the faculty to foster an environment of comfort, security, and acceptance. The facilities on campus — classrooms, technology, study spaces. libraries, gym, dining areas, etc — are up-to-date and easily accessible; essentially, students can find a place to study both privately and in groups at any time of the day or night, the most popular spots being classrooms themselves. The atmosphere of Furman is one of beauty; the lake and the surrounding nature engulfs one in a plentitude of allergies but also an appreciation for the natural beauty both of the world and of people.
Furman, being one of the most rigorous schools in the country, thereby offers many outlets through which Furman students can destress and enjoy their collegiate experience, i.e. by walking around the lake. However, the student body lacks in diversity, creating a stifling atmosphere for students who go beyond traditional conventions of belief, dress, thought, gender, etc. Thankfully, the faculty members actively try to counteract the lack of diversity by encouraging diversity of the mind and fostering a culture of openness. The living facilities are quite nice, especially in comparison to the antiquated facilities found at many universities, and they are currently being renovated. There are some departments/majors which require an excess of time (i.e. music and sciences) and may limit students opportunities to become involved in other areas of Furman’s campus. However, the plenitude of opportunities offered by both faculty and student run groups makes it nearly impossible to be uninvolved in something outside of one’s primary focus.
Sadly, there are no dining facilities (or coffee shops) which remain open through the night, but there are places near Furman, particularly in downtown Greenville which is on a brief drive away, that are open late and very accepting of students. The financial aid department is extremely helpful in working with students to receive more aid if needed, making the cost of Furman affordable for many students who otherwise would be unable to attend. In all honesty, Furman University is an excellently geographically placed school which is and should be renowned both for the intellect of its faculty and staff and also its students. It is the ideal place to grow both academically and personally and is a wonderful stepping stone to further education.”
Furman Graduate Programs | UnivStats
Graduate Programs Overview
Furman University offers 15 graduate programs

Awarded Degree Programs | Master’s (15 programs) |
---|---|
Online Graduate Programs | Not Available |
Tuition & Fees | $7,513 |
Graduate Student Enrollment | 222 graduate students |
Graduate Tuition & Fees
For the academic year 2020-2021, the average graduate program tuition & fees are $7,513 at Furman University. The 2021 graduate tuition & fees are increased by 20.69% compared to the previous year. The next table shows the graduate school tuition & fees trends over last 4 years.
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tuition & Fees | $9,576 | $9,720 | $6,225 | $7,513 |
Graduate School Student Population
At Furman University, 222 students are enrolled in graduate programs – 49 male and 173 female students. By attendance status, there are 114 full-time and 108 part-time students. The Next table summarizes the graduate student population by gender and attending status.
Total | Female | Male | |
---|---|---|---|
Total | 222 | 173 | 49 |
Full-time | 114 | 93 | 21 |
Part-time | 108 | 80 | 28 |
Enrolled Students in Online Graduate Programs
At Furman University, 18 students are enrolled in some online courses out of total of 222 students.
Graduate Students | |
---|---|
Total | 222 |
Online Exclusively | 0 |
In Some Online Classes | 18 |
Not In Online Classes | 204 |
Photo: MATHEW FURMAN for FORBES
There is a new order in the tall towers of Drew University: everyone talks about transparency and accountability. Reforms are spearheaded by hard-line President Mary Ann Banninger.
Drew University has always looked like one of the Ivy League colleges. As you drive through the gate, you enter the well-kept campus in Madison, New Jersey, you have a view of Mead Hall, an imposing 1836 neoclassical mansion with a brick façade, colonnade and green shutters.The interior decoration is also impressive: six-meter ceilings, portraits of founders and former rectors, sternly looking at you from the walls. But if, after passing the luxurious foyer, you climb the long stairs to the president’s office, the atmosphere there will be somewhat different. The 13th head of the university Mary Ann Banninger and her team are in a business-like mood.
Dressed in a trouser suit and a silk scarf, Dr. Mary Banninger fits the stern professor image, but her approach to management is far from the mossy academic tradition.The Drew University Board, which was losing resources and students, invited Banninger in order to make him profitable again. Drew is one of those non-advanced American colleges that, for several years in a row, have not been able to attract enough students and tuition fees to cover the costs. In 2015, the university, which now has 2,151 students, accepted 70% of applicants who submitted documents for the first year (for comparison: at Harvard and Stanford, the enrollment rate does not exceed five). But, even despite this, Drew can not leave the ranks of those colleges that, after the termination of the acceptance of applications on May 1, still publish on their website that “there are vacancies for applicants.”Most of the students who pass the Drew competition end up choosing other colleges. And the proportion of those receiving tuition subsidies from the university recently reached an alarming 69. Still, the number of freshmen dropped from a record 506 in 2009 to 302 in 2014. It was then that the council turned to Banninger, who at the time had successfully straightened out the financial situation of St. Benedict’s College in Minnesota.
Banninger isn’t the only one who has to deal with subsidies.According to the National Association of College and University Governors, the average student discount rate rose from 39% in 2006 to 49%. The discount epidemic is a symptom of ineffective pricing policies designed to hide the dire financial health of most educational institutions. “There are over 3,500 nonprofit colleges in the country, and most of them find it very difficult to complete a full course,” said economist Lucy Lapowski, a former college president and consultant.- We have too many schools. They are spending more and more on marketing and financial support for students. Less and less funds remain for investment in the teaching staff and directly on the educational process. A university with 1,000 students often has the same administrative structure as a college with 5,000 students. ” If there is an industry that desperately needs bold business decisions, it is college education.
Banninger is a rare example of an educator who understands this problem. In the 1990s, she taught psychology at the College of New Jersey. It was then gradually transformed from a college for future teachers into a full-fledged liberal arts university, now known as TCNJ. The university ranks first among the state universities in the northeastern United States. Banninger then became director of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. This organization is responsible for the accreditation of 526 colleges and universities. There she was involved in studying financial reporting and interviewing administrators, faculty and students from about 100 institutions, from large ones like Princeton to municipal biennials.“We carefully studied all aspects of the university, looked at finances, educational process, equipment, student self-organization and everything that was possible,” says 60-year-old Banninger. “It was as if we were being prepared to become managers.”
At the time she came to Drew, the percentage of students choosing to continue their education at this university after the first year was between 75 and 85%. At leading liberal arts colleges like Amherst and Dartmouth, the figure is at least 98%.As important as getting a diploma six years after admission, Drew was at 62%, much lower than the 95% in leading schools. “We couldn’t keep the students, not because we didn’t teach well,” explains Banninger. – It was in other aspects. The process itself was difficult to organize, there was a lot of bureaucracy everywhere, which in no way matched the image of a freedom-loving humanitarian institute caring for the interests of students. ” Banninger is referring to what the students themselves called the “Drew Effect”: the simplest tasks, such as moving to another group, getting the right paperwork, or solving a dormitory issue, were overly complicated and time-consuming due to unnecessary procedures.This disease in general is characteristic of the entire branch of higher education. But at Drew, the problem was compounded by the fact that previous generations of managers introduced more and more bureaucratic procedures designed to emphasize their status.
Banninger started by cutting back on redundant processes and replacing part of the staff. “The only way to change culture is to replace people in key positions,” she says. One of the first to join her team was Vice President of Recruiting, Robert Massa.
Among higher education experts, Massa is best known for helping to save Johns Hopkins University during a budget crisis in 1989 after too much money was spent on student subsidies. After 10 years at Hopkins, where Massa established an ironclad discipline in student selection, he helped Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, halt the plummeting enrollment. A large role in this was played by the refusal to require applicants to pass standardized tests.At the time, this was a radical innovation. During the 10 years that Massa was headed by Dickinson, the college has climbed in the rankings, and the competition has increased from 1.5 to 2.5 people per seat.
Another key member of Branninger’s team is Kira Poplowski, VP of Communications and Marketing. Poplowski began her career at Pitzer College, which was once considered the half-brother of a consortium of five prestigious colleges in Claremont, California. Over time, however, the university has lost its reputation and began to be perceived as a college, where leftist students and supporters of the legalization of marijuana prefer not to burden themselves with unnecessary knowledge.Poplowski was part of the team that helped Pitzer shed this image and become a university renowned for excellence and commitment to sustainable lifestyles. If in 2003 the percentage of enrollment in Pitzer exceeded 50, then by 2016 the competition had grown so much that only 12% of applicants were able to enter here.
Banninger also reinforced the team with people outside of the higher education system. The head of the university administration, Marty Weiner, spent seven years in management positions in the hotel business and at the same time actively participated in the work of the alumni association. “Marty has both training experience at Drew and working in a corporate environment. She does not tolerate stupid decisions, ”says Banninger, who made it a rule to temporarily appoint Weiner in their place after the release of key employees. “We are fostering a culture of accountability in an environment where people have traditionally been accustomed to not being personally responsible,” says Weiner. “It was a serious breakdown in consciousness.” To avoid being perceived as a whip-only manager, Banninger implemented a bonus system that is awarded to those who take the initiative and take responsibility outside of job descriptions.
“The second important value for us, which we strive to implement, is the quality of customer service,” says Weiner, noting that the term “client” itself is usually perceived with hostility in the university sphere. Banninger recalls an episode early in his job at the university, when a former administrator refused to meet a transgender graduate who asked for a diploma with her new name. Banninger reversed his decision.
To attract more talented students, Massa and Poplowski devised a marketing strategy with an overall “Find Yourself” concept that promotes three key advantages of the university: proximity to New York (Drew is 45 minutes by train from Penn Station), experiential learning, and a mentoring program.To help new students get to know the city, workshop facilitators should take them on a field tour of Manhattan that should be relevant to their subject.
Drew’s marketing slogan is “Find Your Yoda” – and reflects a student-to-faculty ratio that rivals the leading Ivy League colleges: 10 to 1. To get as many people as possible about the university’s qualities, Banninger received permission to borrow from a $ 214 million fund additional funds for marketing.Poplowski hired New York-based design firm Pentagram to rebrand. Drew’s new logo shows the silhouette of Manhattan inside an oak leaf. Massa has hired new admissions officers, including an education industry veteran with connections to elite private schools. Less than two years have passed since the turning point, and progress is already being made. For the first time in six years, the number of applications from applicants has grown – by 15% in 2016, and the number of freshmen increased by 20%, to 360. The number of applicants who inform in advance of their decision to study at Drew has doubled, and the number of students who are transferred has increased by 28%. from other universities.The average national test score of enrolled freshmen increased by 30 points. And the percentage of enrollment in the first year fell from 70 to 58. 88% of freshmen go to the second year. The number of recipients of subsidies decreased by 8%, and the net income per student increased by almost $ 5,000. The transition is far from over, but given the operational reboot and location, one can easily imagine Drew (ranked # 274 on the Forbes University rankings) could be one of the universities once considered a “fallback” and now renowned for high competition and excellent financial performance, such as New York University, Northeastern University, Pitzer, Tufts and the University of Southern California.
Photo: David Yellen for Forbes
Drexel University President John Frye is an academic real estate broker.
Drexel University President John Frye has just returned from a vacation in his own seaside home. He drives us on a tour of the western districts of Philadelphia, now and then drawing our attention to the various buildings that he has either restored or built over the past few decades.“This is the hotel for the University of Pennsylvania and the Penn Alexander School,” says Fry, pointing to the luxury hotel and the award-winning school. A few minutes more – and we are on John F. Kennedy Boulevard, passing a large parking lot, nondescript industrial buildings and a car service. “We bought this area in 2011 for $ 21.8 million,” says Fry, 56, with the pride you’d expect to hear from a developer rather than a university worker. But this is no coincidence: Fry is one of those presidents who does not have a Ph.D.The MBA began his careers at Peat, Marwick and Coopers & Lybrand, where he consulted universities and other non-profit institutions. In 1995, he was invited to work at the University of Pennsylvania by the newly elected President Judith Roden. He developed a strategic plan for her and was so impressed that she immediately invited him to lead all divisions not directly related to training. “From an employee of a small consulting service, which employed 25 people, I suddenly became the chief operating officer of a huge organization with a budget of $ 3 billion and a staff of 27 thousand.a person, ”recalls Fry, who was 34 at the time. Using the university’s massive resources, he struck deals with local developers and rehabilitated the university campus and surrounding areas. Once it was an area where it was scary to walk at night, but now it is one of the most popular areas of the city, with expensive restaurants and shops. “There are people who bought houses here for $ 100-200 thousand, and now they can sell them for $ 800 thousand,” says Fry. In 2002, he moved his public and private sector revitalization strategy to a new position as president of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
For this institution, Fry drew up a plan to rehabilitate the area: moving a railway line a couple of kilometers, demolishing an abandoned linoleum factory, clearing a landfill that lay between the city and the college, next to which students were often attacked. This project was supposed to double the area of the campus and open the way for residential and commercial construction. In 2010, before Fry was able to complete the project (over the years of his presidency, the percentage of enrollment in the first year dropped from 62 to 45, and now is 32), he was invited to return to Philadelphia, where Drexel University was looking for a successor to the post of the deceased beloved President Constantin Papadakis.
Fry wears the popular Lokai bracelet, which has Dead Sea mud inside a black bead. This bead symbolizes hope for all who are going through difficult times. And if we talk about attracting applicants, then things are going nowhere worse for Drexel. The university accepts 80% of those who applied, but at the same time only a paltry 8% come to the first year. This means that only one in 12 applicants chooses Drexel. Fry intends to rid the institution of its long-standing reputation as an easy-to-enroll institution with a poorly planned campus.To make a difference, he hired Randall Dycke as Senior Vice President of Student Recruitment and Support. For the previous five years, Deike has been doing this at New York University, where he played a major role in an impressive transformation into a highly ranked university with one of the highest competitions in the country. So far, Deike is changing its strategy for attracting applicants – Drexel recently closed its “express enrollment” program, for which 47 thousand applications were submitted in 2014 for admission.people who for the most part knew little about the university and were not going to study there. The emphasis will be on experiential learning, research and engineering. In parallel, Fry is implementing an ambitious plan to transform industrial zones located between the Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania campuses.
However, unlike the State University, which has a $ 10 billion fund at its disposal, Drexel only has $ 670 million, and every penny counts. So Fry teamed up with the Brandywine Realty Trust and American Campus Communities to develop the neighborhoods around the campus.The revitalization project envisages the construction of real estate worth $ 5 billion, including the “Innovation Quarter” worth $ 3.5 billion, which will house scientific laboratories and an incubator. There will also be a $ 58 million study hotel, a kindergarten, a high school and three high-rise apartment buildings with student apartments and a dining room. Fry recently got another deal: he bought out the troubled Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, an organization with 204 years of history.“She has many assets: a $ 50 million fund, 18 million properties, attractive real estate. But there was no spare cash, ”says Frye, who used a $ 1 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trust to fund the deal. Drexel is now offering students a new Department of Earth Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences, and academy researchers have started teaching, which has helped improve the ratio students and teachers.
With rare exceptions, small universities, whose campuses are located outside of large cities, in the cold northern regions, always have difficulties in attracting applicants.Therefore, when the Bennington College Board of Trustees in Vermont was looking for a president with fresh ideas, they opted for 35-year-old Mariko Silver, whose extraordinary path to the top of the academic process is fully consistent with the non-traditional education offered by this institution. When Silver called a headhunter in early 2013, she was three months pregnant and was planning a move to Hanoi to work on a joint project between the University of Arizona, USAID, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Intel to reform technical education in Vietnam.
Photo: Franco Vogt for Forbes
Bennington College President Mariko Silver is a true child prodigy. She is laying new roads in the vermont meadows of Vermont.
In the academic environment, Silver is considered a child prodigy. She was born into a Jewish-Japanese immigrant family. The father, a famous documentary filmmaker, and the mother, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, gave their daughter an excellent education. Private schools preparing students for admission to leading universities, and Yell.Silver dropped out of Oxford in favor of a Master’s in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex in England. Then I thought about going to business school. But in the summer of 2001, at a cocktail party, she accidentally caught up with Columbia University’s vice-chancellor Michael Crowe, who offered her a position as a technology policy-maker. In fact, her job was to help science labs and industries work together to bring products to market.
To date, Columbia University has received more than $ 1 billion in royalties from this project. Since September 9, 2011, the university has been selected to lead a cross-sectoral project to find solutions to prevent terrorism. Silver, already known as a gifted and result-oriented manager, worked to organize the program. And in 2002, when Crowe became president of Arizona State University, she followed him as director of strategic projects.She played a key role in transforming the university from a sports-focused party school to an efficient educational institution with research programs and a large number of new public-private partnerships in areas such as genome research. In her first six years at the University of Arizona, Silver earned her Ph.D. in economic geography from the University of California, Los Angeles. After that, in 2008, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano invited Silver to become an adviser on economic development, innovation and higher education policy.Six months later, Barack Obama appointed Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Silver moved with her to Washington as assistant secretary and strategist for international affairs. Nearly three years later, Silver returned to the University of Arizona as Special Adviser to the President and Professor in the Department of Political and World Sciences.
Now she faces a new challenge – how to return Bennington to its former glory as one of the strongest liberal arts colleges. When she came there in 2013, there were fewer and fewer applicants, and the number of first-year students dropped to 159, despite 65% of enrollment.After the first course, only 83% continued their education.
Investor’s Guide to Higher Education
In many ways, going to college is like an inertial investment. Everyone wants to go to the same schools, where it is becoming more and more difficult to get into, and therefore they are more and more expensive every year. Why not take a closer look at the rising stars among colleges who have taken the path of innovative management? The schools listed below have high enrollment rates and a good development strategy.
Bennington College: 59%
President Silver, with her enviable career, has already increased the fund and intends to increase the number of students to 1000.
Bentley University: 46%
Dynamic team led by attorney Gloria Larson focuses on business and focuses on the internship program. Local rival Babson College is already at gunpoint.
Berry College: 61%
Pioneering President and Impressive 27K Campusacres in the Appalachian mountains.
Drew University: 58%
Management and operations are completely changing. The proximity to New York is a key advantage.
Drexel University: 76%
Cooperative colleges are all the rage now, and business man Fry is looking to turn Drexel into New York University in Philadelphia.
Gaucher College: 76%
President Jose Antonio Bowen gives Gaucher a new lease of life by radically redefining the curriculum.
Long Island University: 83%
The college has a campus in hipster-adored Brooklyn and 20,000 students. The institution headed by President Kim Klein is worth keeping an eye on.
Purdue University: 59%
Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is adept at cutting costs and focusing on tech education and startups.
University of the Arts: 67%
This Philadelphia-based college has fewer freshmen every year.But new president David Yager is a business-savvy artist.
Ursine College: 83%
New President Economist Brock Bloomberg walked through the barricades at Claremont McKenna College.
Bennington has a small fund of $ 17 million at his disposal, which does not give Silver room to maneuver, especially given that it has to compete with more affluent colleges such as Bard, Sarah Lawrence and Skidmore. “Bennington is an undervalued asset,” insists Silver, who turns 38 this year.In her office in the “barn,” as the red H-shaped building in the middle of the meadow is called, avant-garde art hangs on the walls. “This college has a lot to do for the community,” says Silver, and explains that each of the 675 students is required to develop their own curriculum and conduct off-campus research, which is allocated seven weeks each year in January and February. – Unlike other schools, Bennington teaches students to think strategically. To study here, you have to develop this ability in yourself. “
One of the key new hires to Silver’s team is CFO Brian Murphy, an accountant by training who has been active in the revitalization of the Savannah College of Art and Design, now a leading arts school with 12,000 students on campuses in Atlanta. , China and France. Another VP, Hang Bui, who previously headed admissions at Colby College, completed an MBA at Carnegie Mellon University and spent nine years as an analyst and fund manager.Murphy almost immediately implemented the new reporting system and canceled the contract with KPMG, which kept the accounting for the college. “I worked at KPMG. The small school can’t afford the rates of the Big Four, says Murphy, who also fired the fund manager due to low returns. Along with Bui, who devised his own Excel formula to determine which applicants should be enrolled in their first year, Murphy tackled the biggest challenge facing college-grants that are not large: tuition subsidies, which now receive about 58% of students.“For wealthier families, financial subsidies are not that important. They can even be negative because they give the impression that the college desperately needs students, ”he said.
According to Bui, Bennington is viewed by many as a school for the wealthy. This image, funny as it may seem, goes back to references to college in 1980s sitcoms. But Bui is not ready to continue the subsidies. Instead, Bennington increased the number of his high school presentations by 33% and introduced a new “multi-application” admission process.Applicants can decide for themselves what additional documents to submit, choose any format of work – and all this instead of report cards and test results. “Bennington used to think that every school had to look for the ‘right’ single eligible student,” Bui says, referring to an elitist philosophy. – In fact, there are many people for whom such an education is suitable. For example, there is serious interest in China and abroad, where the educational system is not so flexible. ”
Bennington College has already passed the pivot point.Last fiscal year ended with an operating profit of $ 2.2 million, significantly better than the loss of $ 6.9 million a year earlier. The share of subsidies fell to 43%. The number of applicants has grown by 14% this year, and 203 students will study in the first year. For the first time in 20 years, Bennington’s enrollment rate is below 60. Approximately 13% of students are foreigners, and their share will grow. In September, Bui is organizing a presentation tour of China, which will include a symposium “The Importance of Innovation and Creativity in Higher Education.”The Beijing hotel offered the premises free of charge, and Stanford and Johns Hopkins University, two more popular colleges, agreed to participate in the event. Of course, Mariko Silver’s speech will be the main event.
Elena Borisovna Starovoitenko – National Research University Higher School of Economics
International Scientific and Practical Conference “Individuality in the Psychological Dimensions of Society and Profession”.03/26/2020 – 03/27/2020 Ukraine, Kiev. Report on the topic: “The paradox of self-identity I: individuality and dialogicity.”
4th All-Ukrainian Science Conference “Actual Problems of Psychology of Malikh Groups”, Institute of Social and Political Psychology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, May 18-19, 2017 (m. Kiev). Dopovid: “Model of non-dialogical attitude of a person to the Other”
Videoconference by Irvin Yalom “The secret of well-being and active longevity. How does death help us live?” Teleconference California – Moscow, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Event League and the HSE Master’s Program in Psychoanalysis and Business Consulting, April 14, 2016
VI All-Ukrainian Scientific Seminar “Methodological Problems and Psychology”, September 24-25, 2015 (city of Ivano-Frankivsk). Report: “Hermeneutics of personality as a method of modern personology”
V International conference “Psychology of personality”, National Research University Higher School of Economics, December 9-11, 2015. (Moscow) Head of the section “Theoretical and practical psychology of personality”.
ІІІ All-Ukrainian Psychological Congress with international participation “Osobistіst u uchasnomu svіtі”. Kiev, 22-23 October 2014
Forum of the “Ekopsycheya” community. The topic for the forum is “Processes of self-organization in psychology of education and management” Kiev, 22 leaf fall 2014 rock.
2013 I international scientific and practical Internet conference “Psychology of relations in the post-nonclassical paradigm”. Topic of the report: “Oppositions in the context of typification of personal relations”.
2012 IV All-Russian scientific conference “Psychology of individuality”. National Research University Higher School of Economics. Moscow. Chairman of the “Individuality and Culture” section. Report topic: Cultural approach in modern personology.
2010 Victor Frankl Day (in honor of the 105th birthday). Moscow State University. Moscow. Topic of the report: Viktor Frankl and modern educational programs in the field of personology.
2010 III All-Russian scientific conference “Psychology of individuality”. SU-HSE. Moscow. Chairman of the section “Psychology of personality and culture”. Topic of the report: Cultural potential of an individual attitude towards oneself.
2009All-Russian jubilee scientific conference dedicated to the 120th anniversary of the birth of S.L. Rubinstein. IP RAS. Moscow. Report topic: Refraction of S.L. Rubinstein in the personology of life.
2009 Scientific seminar dedicated to the presentation of the book “Psychology of individuality: new models and concepts” ed. E. B. Starovoitenko, V.D. Shadrikov. Institute of Social and Political Psychology AO of Ukraine. Kiev City. Topic of the report: Synthesis of the paradigms of “life” and “culture” in the psychology of individuality.
2009 Scientific seminar “The problem of the social and the individual in modern psychology.” Institute of Social and Political Psychology AO of Ukraine. Kiev City. Topic of the report: Dialogism of a person’s attitude to oneself.
Books:
Reviews:
Koltsova V.A. Review of the book by E.B. Starovoitenko Cultural psychology of personality. M .: Academ. project. 2007 // Psychological journal. 2009. T. 30. No. 3. S. 138-141.
Koltsova V.A. Psychology in the paradigm of the unity of personality, life, culture. (Review of the book by EB Starovoitenko “Cultural Psychology of Personality” and others in a single series offering a new conceptual approach to the cognition of personality) // World of Psychology. No. 2, 2009, p. 270-274.
Saiko E.V. The individuality of each in its unique implementation as a universal phenomenon of the social // World of psychology. No. 1, 2011, p. 3 – 14. (Review of the book “Psychology of Personality: New Models and Concepts”).
Faith. Ethnos. Nation. Religious component of ethnic consciousness (editor-in-chief M.P. Mchedlov). 2nd ed., Rev. and add. 2009. M .: Cultural revolution. 368 s.
Gorshkov M.K. 2011. Russian society as it is: (experience of sociological diagnostics). M .: New chronograph. 672 s.
Ionin L.G. 2012. Rise of Minorities.M .; SPb: University book. 237 s.
Kaariainen K., Furman D.E. 2007a. Religiousness in Russia at the turn of the XX – XXI centuries. – Social sciences and modernity. No. 1. P. 103-119.
Kaariainen K., Furman D.E. 2007b. Religiousness in Russia at the turn of the XX – XXI centuries. – Social sciences and modernity. No. 2. P. 78-95.
Mchedlov M.P., Filimonov E. G. 1999. Socio-political positions of believers in Russia. – Socis. Sociological research. No. 3.
Mchedlov M.P. 2000. A new type of believer on the threshold of the third millennium. – Historical Bulletin. No. 9-10. Access: http://www.verigi.ru/?book=211 (checked 10.02.2016).
M.P. Mchedlov, Yu.A. Gavrilov, A.G. Shevchenko 2002. About the social portrait of the modern believer. – Socis. Sociological research. No. 7. S. 68-77.
Mchedlov M.P. 2005. Religious Studies. Religion in the social and political life of modern Russia. M .: Scientific book. 447 s.
Russian identity in the context of transformation: the experience of sociological analysis (otp.ed. M.K. Gorshkov, N.E. Tikhonov). 2005. M .: Science. 396 s.
Sinelina Yu.Yu. 2013. On the dynamics of the religiosity of Russians and some methodological problems of its study (religious consciousness and behavior of Orthodox Christians and Muslims). – Socis. Sociological research. No. 10. S. 104-115.
Filimonov E.G. 1996. Social well-being and socio-political orientations of believers. – Browser. No. 7 (78). Access: http://www.observer.materik.ru/observer/N07_96/7_12.HTM (checked 10.02.2016).
Furman D.E. 1992. Religion and Politics in Post-Communist Russia. Round table material. – Questions of philosophy. No. 7.
Their names are in the history of science On 23 October, the JINR Laboratory of Neutron Physics celebrated the 110th anniversary of the organizer of the laboratory, its first director, Nobel Prize laureate, Academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences Ilya Mikhailovich Frank. The international seminar was organized by JINR, the Department of Physical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University and the D.V. Skobeltsyn. The seminar was opened by JINR Director V.A.Matveev and FLNP Director V.N.Shvetsov. “Today we are holding international seminar in memory of Academician I.M. Frank,” V.A.Matveev told Dubna journalists . – This is a legend of our science, an outstanding scientist of the Soviet Union.He is widely known in the world, he left a mark on the development of science. For us, he is also a person who has made a significant contribution to the development of our international Institute. He stood at the origins of the Joint Institute, he created the Laboratory of Neutron Physics at the suggestion of the first director of JINR Dmitry Ivanovich Blokhintsev. It fell to his lot to solve a very difficult, but extremely ambitious task of creating a pulsed neutron source based on the most modern, pioneering ideas that arose during the development of the Atomic Project and during the creation of the first nuclear power plant in the USSR in Obninsk.
For us today, this is a reason, tracing the life path and path in the science of Ilya Mikhailovich, to make it clear, including to young people, how advanced ideas develop and what is the most priceless: of course, this is freedom of creativity and alignment with the most advanced directions in science, the biggest challenges both in the field of fundamental research, and their refraction in the development of applied research, implementation as innovative ideas.It is pleasant to see at our seminar representatives of the Ilya Mikhailovich Frank family in several generations, many of them have become outstanding physicists. We heard the report of the son of Ilya Mikhailovich, who demonstrated the unique legacy of the works of I.M. Frank, which continues to develop and remain at the most advanced level. – Did you communicate personally with I.M. Frank? – I had the good fortune to communicate with Ilya Mikhailovich. I was deeply impressed when we discussed various problems with him many years ago in the laboratory of the atomic nucleus, first within the Lebedev Physical Institute, and then within the framework of the newly created Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, how he treated his students, tried to save them from external problems, provide an opportunity for creativity.For me, it was an example of how to treat your wards. He was also impressed by his deep inner intelligence, we know how he loved literature and nature. This is a very strong personality who remains an example for all of us. I think we should keep the memory of this unique, outstanding person. – I devoted a significant part of my report “Problems of the optics of ultracold neutrons” to the problems of the neutron microscope, – noted AI Frank . – Indeed, today very little is missing for such a device to be created. Where we all made a mistake, starting this activity in the late 1970s – that another 10-15 years will pass and the result will appear, but, apparently, 40-50 years should pass. And the question, which for the first time after a long time I decided to identify, is that although we stopped because there were no sources, 30 years have passed, and we may not be ready if the sources appear. You can do a lot on the sources that are, but for this there is, apparently, not enough enthusiasm. – How did you discuss scientific issues with your father, how did this influence your choice? – We hardly discussed it.The greatest influence on me was made not by specific conversations between father and son, but by the young physicist’s complicity in some scientific events that took place around and with the participation of Ilya Mikhailovich. I was lucky to be present at the neutron school in 1974, when very recent results on ultracold neutrons were reported; this was the leading edge of this science. The results made a strong impression on me, and I began to drift into this area. Father’s public lectures and the organization of such conferences influenced much more.And concrete conversations – they had a specific meaning, not a fundamental one – of the choice of fate, and there were very few of them.
In general, science develops in its own way and is not logical. At every moment there is no way to know what is important and what is not. And on this path, errors in public opinion inevitably arise. The memorial and historical part of the seminar was opened by the report of the former executive director of the Nobel Foundation, who participated in the award ceremony of IM Frank, Mikael Sulman (Sweden) “The system of awarding the Nobel Prizes and the Nobel Prize 1958”. A. Nobel’s enterprises operated all over the world; ruling his empire, he wrote 40 letters a day. He was a cosmopolitan, changed countries of residence, came to Sweden only once a year for his mother’s birthday. A rather radical outlook was instilled in him by his teachers in St. Petersburg: while practicing French, he translated Voltaire into Swedish and vice versa.And in later years, being one of the richest people in Europe, he said: I, a Social Democrat, adhered to pacifist ideas. Apparently, all this, as well as the influence of newspapers calling him “a millionaire on blood,” was expressed in the idea of a will, written a year before his death, in which the main fortune and interest from it, with the exception of small amounts, did not go to relatives (Alfred and did not marry, and he had no children), but for the establishment of prizes. The will caused a negative reaction in Sweden, Nobel was accused of lack of patriotism.Some of the institutions he appointed to administer the award feared these new functions. As M. Sulman explained, the board of directors, which he headed for 19 years, is responsible for financing the committees in the areas (not the Nobel Committee, as they like to say in Russia, but the committees, emphasized Mikael) and the amount of the prize. The sixth prize – in economics – was established in 1968, when the world’s oldest Swedish National Bank celebrated its 300th anniversary.He spoke about the mechanism for selecting candidates, the lists of which have remained classified for 50 years. The Soviet physicists PL Kapitsa and LD Landau were repeatedly nominated, but experts decided that “this area is developing so dynamically that it is necessary to postpone the discussion of these candidates to a later date.” They received their prizes: Landau – in 1962, Kapitsa – in 1978. Several proposals to nominate Cherenkov, Frank and Tamm for the Prize came from Swedish professors and from other countries. In 1958, the three physicists were not the only Soviet Nobel laureates. B.L. Pasternak received a prize for literature. And until the last moment it was not clear whether our laureates would go to Sweden for the ceremony. “The Swedish ambassador to the USSR, and in those years my father was his, specially asked Moscow about this. They delayed the answer. When Pasternak refused, the physicists went to the ceremony.”Answering numerous questions, the speaker said that there were not discussions, but battles on the candidacies of A. Einstein and M. Curie, and Curie received her first prize thanks to a Swedish entrepreneur, who at one time invited S.V. Kovalevskaya to teach at Stockholm University … And the Einstein Prize for the photoelectric effect, not the theory of relativity – “a blot in the history of the academy. The double talk on the history of the Frank family was given by Peter Skorer and A.G. Frank. Peter told about the family branch along the line of Semyon Ludwigovich Frank, uncle of Ilya Mikhailovich, who had left Russia.Semyon Frank studied at the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, participated in various Marxist circles, was arrested, exiled by the tsarist government, went to Germany. Returning to Russia, he worked at the universities of St. Petersburg, Saratov, headed the Department of Philosophy at Moscow University. A year later, in August 1922, he was expelled from the country on the famous “philosophical steamer”. He lived in Germany, having excellent knowledge of the German language, participated in the World Philosophical Congresses in the 1930s. The economic crisis in Germany has put a family with four children in a difficult position.Semyon Ludvigovich, instead of scientific activity, sought opportunities to support the Russian Institute in Berlin and for his family, his wife Tatyana Sergeevna learned how to make hats and bake pies for sale.
Representatives of the Frank family came to Dubna from different countries. Peter also told about the fate of their children Victor, Alexey, Natalia and Vasily.The eldest son Victor replaced in many ways his father, took care of his brothers and sister, graduated from the University of Berlin. During the war years he worked at the BBC radio. Alexei did not study well at school and, unexpectedly for everyone, got into a ballet troupe. During the war he joined the French underground, later enlisted in the US Army. He received very serious injuries and remained disabled. Natalia, Peter’s mother, helped with the housework, raised her younger brother. After graduating from school in Germany, in France she joined the student movement, was familiar with her mother Maria (poet E.Kuzmina-Karavaeva), who rescued Jews in Paris during the years of occupation. She married an Englishman and moved to London. AG Frank (General Physics Institute, RAS) called her report “Ilya Mikhailovich Frank in the bosom of his family.” Ilya Mikhailovich’s niece, she knew him well from childhood.Brothers Gleb and Ilya were very friendly, and in their youth they were inseparable. When the youngest son Ilya was born, the boys were sent to a private kindergarten, where Gleb was constantly surrounded by friends. Ilya Mikhailovich later recalled: “I experienced a feeling of loneliness since childhood.” He remembered very well his father, communication with whom was joyful and interesting. For example, Mikhail Lyudvigovich was able to explain, using a thermometer, who had not yet been able to read to a child the concepts of negative and positive numbers. Contacts with the family of Semyon Ludvigovich broke off in 1917, and only in 1957, at an exhibition in Brussels, Ilya Mikhailovich first met with his cousin Viktor. Wherever the family moved, the brothers found themselves nearby: Gleb entered the graduate school of Moscow State University – Ilya became a student of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.Gleb moves to Leningrad – Ilya starts working at the Leningrad State Optical Institute. And in the Elbrus complex scientific expeditions of 1934-1939, they study cosmic rays together. When the Physics and Mathematics Institute is transformed into FIAN, both brothers work there. SI Vavilov reoriented young people to engage in nuclear physics, which in those years was considered completely useless from a practical point of view of science. During the war, the separately evacuated family was reunited in Kazan. In 1943, academic institutions returned to Moscow, and soon the brothers became involved in the Atomic Project.Ilya Mikhailovich participated in the creation of the first Soviet uranium-graphite reactor, Gleb Mikhailovich conducted research on protection against radiation. Ilya Mikhailovich became director of FLNP JINR in 1957 and headed the laboratory until 1987, Gleb Mikhailovich headed the Institute of Biophysics of the Academy of Medical Sciences from 1948, and from 1957 to 1976 – the Institute of Biological Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. In the third part of the workshop , “free microphone”, everyone could share their memories.A.S. Girsheva, the compiler and editor of two memorial collections of I.M. Frank, who preserved the handwritten sheets of the article “Thinking about the Most Important Things”, which was included in the collections, clearly demonstrated how demanding he was of himself and the result. “We released the first collection in 1998, thanks to VL Aksenov for entrusting this work to me. It allowed me to pay my last debt to Ilya Mikhailovich.” M.V. Frontasiev. The direction originated with the support of Ilya Mikhailovich in 1963-1965, they were friends with V.M. Nazarov. “The times were difficult, equipment was rarely bought, equipment from abroad was received little, the first detectors came from Riga.” Marina Vladimirovna demonstrated the current scope of research in the sector: 18 grants from plenipotentiary representatives of the governments of the JINR member states, participation in IAEA projects, UN atlases, work automation. In 1972 I came to the laboratory as a young translator T.F. Drozdova: “I go to him for the first time, an academician, a Nobel laureate, and he gets up to meet me! We worked for 28 years, I had to translate his letters to the Nobel committee, to IUPAP. You bring the translation, he reads – yes, he gave the shade! And signs the translation. It seems that I saw him quite recently, he is always with me. “ VI Furman recalled that in Soviet times it was customary to invite famous people to various public organizations. Ilya Mikhailovich was invited to be the chairman of the Dubna society of book lovers, which distributed scarce books. “He invited me to become his deputy. He had a humor about this role and never took advantage of his official position to get a hard-to-find book!” NN Zhukova worked as a draftsman at FLNP: “On the first day of work, they showed me a room, my workplace, I did not know anyone else in the laboratory. The words of gratitude were expressed by D. Carpenter ( in the photo on the left ): “I am happy to be participating in this seminar.I talked with Ilya Mikhailovich when I first arrived in Dubna. There are amazing scientists and wonderful installations here. 15 years ago I received the IMFrank Prize, it was an honor for me. ” Participated in the seminar and E.P. Shabalin (FLNP): I am here only because John Carpenter and his wife are present here. We are old friends and colleagues in neutron sources. Of course, I met with Ilya Mikhailovich, although at work we communicated more with Fyodor Lvovich Shapiro. Ilya Mikhailovich was the scientific supervisor of the reactor, therefore he was present at certain crucial moments of its creation, he did not delve into the depths, he trusted young engineers and scientific workers.In contrast, I don’t want to say badly, from Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolyubov, who, appearing at the control panel, began to ask if we did this or that, and why exactly? Frank asked: what has been done? We will tell you. *** The memory of Ilya Mikhailovich has already been immortalized, first of all, in his scientific works, but also in a postage stamp and a commemorative coin, the Aeroflot plane, streets in Dubna and Troitsk bear his name, and next year a monument will appear in our city … The seminar turned out to be very warm and extremely interesting. And one more amazing sensation: how small this huge world of ours is, how we are all connected to each other, when accidents in the distant past lead to extraordinary coincidences in the present.
In the memorial study of I.M. Frank at FLNP, JINR. Olga TARANTINA, |
Science will cope on its own – Trinity option – Science
Grigory Yudin Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of May 11, 2017 No. 553 is revolutionary, because it finally sets in motion the reform, which began long ago on paper, but until recently was hampered by the bureaucracy. This decree significantly expands the list of organizations that will now be able to issue their own scientific degrees.If until now only St. Petersburg State University and Moscow State University had such a right, now the number of universities and institutes will increase to several dozen, and soon, as the head of the Higher Attestation Commission Vladimir Filippov says, further expansion of the list can be expected.
The general idea of the reform is to remove from the state the responsibility to control the quality of certification of scientific workers and shift it to the scientific community. This is an amazing event for Russian science and education, where in recent years absolutely all reforms have demonstrated the state’s complete distrust of people of science and endlessly increased the authority to control negligent scientists. This is not just an act of deregulation – the reform can be called reasonably anarchist: an important element of the management of scientific life from the hands of the authorities passes into the hands of the scientific community, rather than being outsourced to the market. Moreover, it is clear that this reform opens the way for the liquidation of the Higher Attestation Commission as such, so that strategically the zone of self-government of the scientific community will continue to grow.
This reform will have many consequences; with a high probability, it will completely change the entire established system of attestation of scientific personnel and make it much closer to the formats that are used in international science.First of all, the relationship between the Higher Attestation Commission, on the one hand, and universities and research institutes, on the other, will change.
Until now, the expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission actually performed the function of the last instance deciding on the qualifications of candidates for a degree. And even if the main part of the work was only formalized at the Higher Attestation Commission, this procedure itself symbolized the lack of confidence of the state, represented by the Higher Attestation Commission, in councils in universities and institutes. Thus, in fact, it was stated that the scientists in the original dissertation councils were not fully able to assess the qualifications of a dissertation candidate and needed to be checked.This gave rise to constant fear in the councils, raising their eyes to the sky and whispering about “what will they say in the Higher Attestation Commission”.
The very situation when the state considers two dozen doctors of sciences incapable of assessing the qualifications of one candidate for candidates looks ridiculous. Of course, with this level of mistrust, no one will feel responsible for their decisions. Therefore, the activities of the councils became purely ritual: the percentage of rejected dissertations is extremely small, because everyone is afraid that the refusal to award a degree is fraught with problems for the council.
Now the situation will change, and the responsibility of universities and institutes will increase dramatically. Since they now have the final decision, they have an incentive to take care of their reputation. This will also have implications for the much-discussed problem of purchased and stolen dissertations. From now on, the title “candidate of sciences” will not mean anything without adding the name of the institution where the name of the river was defended. And if this institution has managed to compromise itself by distributing candidate diplomas, then the value of such diplomas will automatically be zeroed out.
This will make their possession meaningless both for officials, politicians and businessmen who want to be known as “academicians”, and for young scientists, for whom such a diploma can significantly spoil their resume. It is logical to expect that at the first stage, the disappearance of state control will lead to an increase in the number of fake degrees; however, soon, as the value of these degrees diminishes, so will the demand for them. If Deputy X boasts the title of Doctor of Science at a university with a bad reputation, then very quickly such a degree will begin not to raise, but to lower his status, that is, to work against him.
However, much more important are the changes that become possible within the universities themselves. With the departure of the state, the need for standardization of all dissertations and the certification process disappears. It is because of this standardization that the Russian system has become a living hell for graduate students, having nothing to do with science and depriving people of any motivation for scientific research.
Now each institution can set the procedure and rules for awarding degrees.Surely many universities and institutes are quickly humanizing the process. Instead of constant advice, where there is often not a single member who understands the topic of the dissertation, special advice will be collected for each topic. Council members will read a dissertation (today in the humanities it seems almost fantastic – everyone knows that no one ever reads dissertations, even in the most respectable councils), and more than once, and the candidate will receive comments from them even during the preparation of the work . ..
There will be no need for a strange product called an abstract, which fits any scientific work into the format of technical science half a century ago, – instead of it, normal, meaningful summaries will appear. The candidates for a degree will stop begging for a stamp on the “abstract mailing list” by mail and will certainly find themselves a more meaningful and close to science occupation.
Of course, this reform also carries risks. Moreover, the collapse in the quality of dissertations does not apply to them: the reform presupposes that the Higher Attestation Commission will work for the least reliable ones for a long time to come.A much more serious risk is the usurpation of control over the system by large universities, which will continue to crowd out small ones.
Even today, the situation looks ridiculous when the European University at St. Petersburg, the strongest in the humanities in Russia, cannot enter the system being created. Large universities will have to overcome serious temptations: first, to say a firm no to officials who want to get a prestigious crust in exchange for “support”; and secondly, to avoid nepotism, when the supervisor gathers advice from their friends, and they turn a blind eye to the quality of the work of his dissertation candidate.