1994: the year in review

There are many images and events that most likely will form our remembrance of the year 1994, from the introduction of a new president, a campus under construction, the desperate search for a missing student, to the loss of a longtime friend and leader in the passing of Board of Trustees Chair Robert Strickland. Here is a thumbnail sketch of some of the major events of 1994.

JANUARY

Woodruff Foundation gives $15 million for library construction

Emory announces a $15 million gift from the Woodruff Foundation to build an addition to the General Libraries that will architecturally link Woodruff & Candler Libraries. The gift comes on the heels of the announcement that Emory received $300,000 from the Luce Foundation to begin plans for a virtual library.

EmoryCare passes the one-year mark

EmoryCare, the University's managed care program, passesthe one-year mark with a high satisfaction rate among employees and a successful containment of expenses. More than 21,000 lives are covered through the plan.

FEBRUARY

College applications hit all-time high

Emory College receives 9,600 applicants for 1,100 spaces in the freshman class, an increase of 11.5 percent over the previous year. Early decision applicants were up 15 percent, and Emory Scholar nominees numbered more than 2,000, vying for 62 spots. The medical school reported a 20-percent increase in applications, with 7,696 applications for 110 positions. Nursing, the Graduate School, Public Health and the Business School also reported increases.

MARCH

University announces carpooling program

A newly-formed Car Pool Task Force begins work to decrease the number of single occupancy vehicles coming to campus. Incentives announced include preferred parking spaces for carpoolers.

Shannon Melendi reported missing

Shannon Melendi, a sophomore from Miami, was reported missing from her weekend job at the Softball Country Club. The DeKalb County Policy, the Emory Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have collaborated on an investigation that so far has yielded no results.

APRIL

Free speech debate on campus

The University Senate debates whether any speech should be regulated and whether so-called hate speech should be banned outright after the Student Government Association voted to recommend the repeal of the University's discriminatory harassment policy. The Senate votes not to adopt the SGA's proposed changes in the policy.

Symposium examines Emory's future

Choices and Responsibilities in a Changing University, a University-wide symposium, is held to consider Emory as it moves into the 21st century.

Business School renamed

A $10-million gift from the Woodruff Foundation and a vote from the University's Board of Trustees results in a name change for the Emory Business School to the Roberto C. Goizueta Business School of Emory University.

Fowler named to head Ethics Center

After more than a year-long search, the Center for Ethics in Public Policy and the Professions names James W. Fowler, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Theology and Human Development and director of the Center for Research in Faith and Moral Development, as director.

Black student summit

Approximately 165 students, faculty and administrators meet for a Black Student Summit as a way for the University to respond to black student concerns. Representatives are continuing to meet to resolve issues raised at the summit.

Muhammad's visit to campus canceled

After tumultuous campus discussions and threats of outside demonstrators, the administration decides not to allow Nation of Islam member Khalid Abdul Muhammad to speak on campus.

AAUP reports significant improvement in salaries

According to a report by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Emory now ranks above the 80th percentile in faculty salaries at all professorial ranks. Data included salaries for the arts and sciences, business, law, nursing, theology and public health.

MAY

Trustees name William M. Chace as 18th president

After an eight-month search, the Board of Trustees names the president of Wesleyan University as Emory's 18th president to succeed James T. Laney, who left Emory in October 1993 to become U.S. ambassador to South Korea.

Laney returns home to speak at commencement

The 1994 Commencement address is delivered by former Emory president and U.S. ambassador to South Korea James T. Laney. Laney urged graduates to redefine their understanding of self-interests in larger and more inclusive terms. Dean of the Law School Howard Hunter challenges Oxford graduates to see people as individuals rather than as members of stereotyped groups.

Emory and Columbia/HCA sign letter of intent

Emory and Columbia/HCA sign letters of intent to create two joint ventures in health care. Emory terminated negotiations in October after more than five months of formal discussion.

JUNE

Hahn Forest dedicated

Georgia-Pacific and Emory joins to dedicate the Hahn Forest, a 4.7-acre learning forest located on Houston Mill Road across from the Houston Mill House. The site was transformed by Georgia-Pacific on behalf of Marshall Hahn, an Emory trustee and former chair and chief executive officer of Georgia-Pacific.

Alumni University offers vacation alternative

More than 100 graduates and family members return to campus for the first Alumni University, which focused on the theme "Education of the Heart."

JULY

Library debuts new on-line catalog system

The library bids farewell to DOBIS and welcomed EUCLID, the Emory University Computing and Library Information Delivery System, to support the growing technological needs of the libraries.

SEPTEMBER

Carter Center merges with the University

The Carter Center formalizes an agreement with Emory and became a separately chartered, independently governed member of the University community.

University offers free MARTA cards

The University begins a pilot program of offering free MARTA cards to employees in an effort to decrease congestion in the Clifton Corridor. An express shuttle from the Kensington Station also is established.

AIDS-fighting anti-viral agent advances to clinical trials

A potential new anti-viral agent, being developed in a collaborative effort of scientists at Burroughs Wellcome Co. and Emory, moves into Phase I safety studies in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Early studies show that the agent also may be effective in treating hepatitis B.

Carlos Museum acquires Arnett Collection

The Carlos Museum acquiresthe William S. Arnett Collection of Sub-Saharan African Art, which at some 1,000 objects is one of the largest private collections of Sub-Saharan African art in the United States.

Provost publishes special report on Emory's future

Provost Billy Frye challenges the University to action in a document titled "Choices and Responsibility: Shaping Emory's Future." The report, which identified the major issues raised in last year's discussion, also includes a description of how the planning process would proceed and outcomes that could be expected.

Insel named Yerkes director

After the resignation of long-time director Fred King, Thomas R. Insel of the National Institute of Mental Health is named the new director of Yerkes Primate Research Center.

OCTOBER

Freshman class gets hands-on experience

The entire freshman class participated in the fourth annual "Hands On Atlanta Day," and spent a day participating in service projects throughout the city.

NOVEMBER

Trustee chair Robert Strickland dies

An era in Emory's history ended with the death of Robert Strickland, chair of the Board of Trustees since 1979. Strickland spearheaded last year's search process that resulted in the appointment of William Chace as Emory's 18th president. Bradley Currey Jr. is elected chair of the University's board of trustees. President and CEO of Rock-Tenn Co., Currey has been a trustee since 1980 and had chaired the University's $400-million capital campaign.

Oxford professor named one of 30 leaders of tomorrow

Kenneth Carter, assistant professor of psychology at Oxford, was named by Ebony Magazine as one of 30 Leaders of the Future.

Science students enhance elementary education

The Elementary Science Education Partnerships, in which Emory undergraduate science majors become teaching partners with public elementary school teachers, places 71 Emory students in the schools with 39 faculty members as mentors.

Senate recommends benefits for same-sex domestic partners

After vigorous debates in Employee Council and Faculty Council in response to a proposal by the President's Committee on Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Concerns, the University Senate votes to recommend in principal that Emory extend some health insurance and Courtesy Scholarship benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of all Emory employees.

DECEMBER

Prenatal care returns to campus

Pre-natal care returns to the Emory campus for the first time in 16 years through the nurse midwifery program. The Emory Clinic has begun offering preconceptional and prenatal services via a program that teams physicians with certified nurse midwives.

A wave of campus construction

The 18.5-million, 10-story Rollins School of Public Health was constructed this year and as the year ended, faculty and staff were moving into their offices from The American Cancer Society. The $5.6-million Biochemistry Connector that will connect the Rollins Center with the School of Public Health is nearing completion as well. The WMB West Wing Addition has been completed and provides more than 70,000 square feet of laboratory space for the School of Medicine. The South Clinic is still in the midst of adding two floors for laboratories as well as office and clinical space. The North Decatur Building, housing the Police Department, information technology, educational studies, the mathematics and computer science department and the Career Center, is opening this month. Peavine II Parking deck provided an additional 900 parking spaces, and construction began on Michael Street III parking deck, which will add another 800 spaces. Renovation began on the Harris Hall/Thomas-Hopkins-Smith Complex. An addition to the Law School library is due to be completed by August 1995. The Chappell Baseball Field was completed, providing Emory with an NCAA-standard baseball field with permanent seating for 200.

--Nancy M. Spitler