The President's Fund for Excellence
Dear UNH Alum,
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire. Just a few months ago, I arrived in Durham as the 19th president of this exceptional institution. I am honored to lead this university at such an exciting time in our history. I am inspired by the leadership, creativity, and commitment that have made UNH the university it is today. And I am energized by the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.
American higher education is at a crossroads. The model of the large public university that evolved in the post-World War II period—vast in scale, with highly siloed disciplines, research enterprises largely divorced from undergraduate education, and limited community engagement—is ill-adapted to the needs of this new century. There are a few places now that get it right, though, and the University of New Hampshire is prominent among them. Indeed, it was my conviction that UNH is poised to play a key role in fashioning a new American university that really attracted me here.
This university is just the right size—large enough to be diverse and exciting, small enough to be personal. We prize interdisciplinary work with our faculty and students across colleges, schools, and institutes, and make a point of integrating undergraduates into our cutting-edge research programs. UNH also has a strong sense of mission to serve the people of New Hampshire, the region, and the world—a commitment that can be seen in everything from the Carsey Institute’s work with rural populations to the University’s urban presence in Manchester, and many points in between.
Thanks to the generosity of friends like you, we have been able to commit significant portions of the President’s Fund to scholarships, to the support of outstanding faculty, and to academic programs of distinction. Last year, these gifts also made it possible to purchase a database for doctoral students in English and related fields. These students are now able to use online library resources to perform the kind of archival research that will make their dissertations fully competitive with students at the finest universities in the nation. In addition, the fund was used to recognize five distinguished faculty members with Presidential Awards of Excellence.
Your commitment to UNH inspires and guides us. Your support not only assures the continuation of a long and rich tradition of research, scholarship, and outreach: it positions us to redefine higher education in the twenty-first century.
I feel immensely privileged to have been chosen to lead this great institution, and I invite you to be part of our future. Please join me this year in strengthening our place among the top research universities in the country by making a contribution to the President’s Fund for Excellence. I look forward to getting to know you and to working with you to create an exciting and secure future for the University of New Hampshire.
With best wishes,
Mark W. Huddleston
President
