Mr. McPresident

In “Finding Herman B Wells,” published Feb. 19, the editorial board laid out its view that either of the presidential candidates, Michael McRobbie or Dr. Ora Pescovitz, would be a good fit for the IU presidency based on their prior achievement and involvement in IU.\nWhen the announcement came that Michael McRobbie would be IU’s 18th president, we awaited his comments on the state of the University and what course he would take as president. McRobbie listed several initiatives for which he would advocate, but throughout each ran two consistent themes: increased concentration on research and turning the University into an internationally competitive institution.\nWith the hopeful acceptance of the Life Science Initiative (the Indiana House of Representatives approved a $41 million life-sciences funding proposal Feb. 19), it comes as little surprise that McRobbie would make research a top priority. He will devote much effort to creating a balanced partnership between the IUB and IUPUI campuses. Such collaboration is required: IUPUI has developed over the past years into a main hub for research in the IU community. Concentration on research, however, raises questions about whether the education of undergraduates will suffer. However, we believe research concentration will not only boost the academic state of the University, because it will draw the best professors available, but that given the competitive nature of the current collegiate community, such a move was unavoidable. We applaud McRobbie’s hope to transform IU into one of the top research institutions in the nation.\nThe first collaborative effort between the two campuses will give birth to a second. As research improves across the University, international recognition for University achievements will grow. Gaining such a reputation will help IU improve both the quality of its staff and the amount of research grants it might receive. As IU gains the reputation of a top international institution, the value of its degrees will increase, along with the quality of international students who want to attend IU. Again, the “balanced partnership” McRobbie advocates between IUB and IUPUI (wherein the new president keeps an office) will only serve to increase the University’s capabilities in that capacity. We anticipate this two-stage collaborative effort will be successful in improving the state of the University for both students and faculty.\nWith McRobbie hoping for a smooth transition to the presidency and Adam Herbert pledging to help in whatever way possible, it appears IU is headed in a direction that will result in huge gains, both academically and monetarily. The main campuses of IU, both its flagship and newly reforged partner in Indianapolis, will work together to ensure McRobbie’s goals are achieved and his tenure is one of longevity (which he claims to be his plan) and success (which he has taken correct steps to achieve).\nWe are not so naive to believe the road ahead will be without bumps, hiccups and the occasional catastrophe. But we look forward to the adventure with a man who describes himself as a “Australian by birth, Hoosier by choice