The University of Michigan

Dear Colleagues:

We write to update you on a recent development concerning our Life Sciences Institute.

After long deliberation, Jack Dixon, the Institute's director, has decided to accept a position at UC-San Diego. This decision, which Jack reached with great difficulty, was informed in large measure by personal reasons. Although we are very sorry to see Jack leave, we also understand his decision and wish him well.

Jack has the Life Sciences Institute off to a tremendous start. Construction of the building is on schedule and on budget. Recruitment is in full swing, and we fully expect to open the Institute building a year from September, with a core faculty of six to ten. Fulfilling that goal will of course depend on our resolving quickly the succession of leadership in the Institute. We are both deeply engaged in this effort, assisted by Interim Provost Paul Courant. Its resolution has two parts.

First, we are appointing an advisory committee of distinguished faculty to advise on directions for and leadership of the Institute, and subsequently, to advise and assist the Institute leadership on matters of science, recruitment and strategy. The initial members of this group are listed at the end of this message; additional faculty may be named in upcoming months. We have already held preliminary discussions with these faculty, and their advice is deeply informing our current thinking and actions with respect to the Institute.

Second, within the next few weeks we will reach and announce decisions about the leadership of the Institute.

We would like to note a couple of things in this context:
·  The core mission and plan for the Institute, as they were laid down in the Institute's founding documents and further developed by Jack and his colleagues, will be sustained. The Institute will be deeply engaged with academic departments around the campus, and every faculty member appointed in the Institute will be jointly recruited with, and will hold tenure in, an academic department.
·  We have an outstanding continuing leadership team in the Institute. Alan Saltiel, who was recently appointed Associate Director of the Institute, has been very much engaged in planning and recruitment activities, and he will continue in this transition period to play these important roles. Alan, the John Jacob Abel Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences, is a cell biologist and one of the world's leading diabetes researchers. He represents the caliber of appointment that we continue to expect for the LSI. The administration of the Institute is in the very capable hands of Liz Barry, its managing director. Many of you have come to know in recent contact with Liz the great abilities that she brings to this task, and have developed appreciation for the role she will play in helping to bridge the Institute to academic units. We are fully confident that Alan and Liz will sustain the LSI and keep things on track while we resolve the question of directorship.

We want to extend our deep appreciation to Jack Dixon for his leadership in the early development of the Life Sciences Institute. We want to express the University's strong commitment to the Institute's future, and our confidence in that future and the vital role the Institute will play in strengthening the life sciences at Michigan in the years ahead. We are excited by the prospects. And, we greatly appreciate the continuing leadership that will be provided by Alan Saltiel, Liz Barry, and the distinguished advisory committee named below.

Sincerely,

LSI Advisory Committee

Huda Akil, Ph.D.
Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished University Professor of Neurosciences and Professor of Psychiatry and Co-Director, Mental Health Research Institute

Carol Fierke, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry

David Ginsburg, M.D.
Warner Lambert/Parke Davis Professor of Medicine, Professor of Internal Medicine, Professor of Human Genetics, and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

John Lowe, M.D.
Warner Lambert/Parke Davis Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pathology and Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Rowena Matthews, Ph.D.
G. Robert Greenberg Distinguished University Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry and Research Scientist, Biophysics Research Division

Matthew O'Donnell, Ph.D.
Jerry W. and Carol L. Levin Professor of Engineering, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

William Roush, Ph.D.
Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Chemistry and Chair, Department of Chemistry

Charles Yocum, Ph.D.
Alfred S. Sussman Collegiate Professor of Biology and Professor of Chemistry