Office of the President

Speeches & Reports

Message to Texas A&M Students, Faculty and Staff

October 6, 2009

Howdy from your Interim President!

• As I stated in my Academic Convocation address last week, we are in the third "leg" of our relay race toward Vision 2020. Our current focus is on the Academic Master Plan, the roadmap that will guide our progress. The big news is the allocation of $58 million over the next five years toward this effort. Most of these funds will go directly to the colleges for use in recruiting the very best faculty for our students and to conduct world-class research. Our most recent notable hire is Dr. David M. Lee, 1996 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, who will join our Department of Physics and Astronomy from Cornell University.
• Speaking of Nobel laureates, we are fortunate to have our own Dr. Dudley Herschbach as Commencement Convocation speaker on Dec. 17. He is a 1986 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry and a member of our physics faculty. More details will be forthcoming, but I can assure you that he is a dynamic speaker with a compelling message.
• The memorial service for another Nobel laureate, the great humanitarian and Texas A&M Distinguished Professor Dr. Norman Borlaug, was held today in Rudder Auditorium. I encourage you to learn more about "the man who fed the world" and the legacy he left for us to continue.
• Don’t forget Silver Taps at 10:30 tonight, near the Sul Ross statue. Please join me there in honor of the five students we have lost over the past month, while also renewing our commitment to safety. Silver Taps is one of our most moving and beautiful traditions.
• How about those Dude Perfect guys? Nearly 900,000 views on You Tube, not to mention their own site. Their basketball skills are amazing – a shot from the 3rd deck of Kyle Field! – and they are great ambassadors for Texas A&M and the Aggie value of selfless service by giving their proceeds to charity.
• Speaking of selfless service, the State Employee Charitable Campaign is off to a great start as we enter the final month—about $335,000 to date, or about 48 percent of our goal of $700,000. Let’s keep up the good work.
• Texas A&M will host our second sitting president in less than a year when President Barack Obama comes to campus Oct. 16. His visit, at the invitation of President George H.W. Bush and through the Points of Light Foundation, will focus on service, something for which Aggies are known nationwide. Given the seating capacity of Rudder Auditorium and the fact that this is a Points of Light Foundation event, tickets for the campus community will be very limited and by invitation only.

Until next week, Gig 'em Aggies! And to Jason, Nicholas, Austin, Daniel, Jessica, Pit and everyone else who has commented on my Face2Face segment on Texas A&M’s Facebook page: bowties have always been my personal trademark. As your interim president, however, I do wear more maroon bowties than I used to!

As always, you can also send your comments or questions to president@tamu.edu.

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
Interim President