If I had just one word to describe the Drexel that I’ve come to know over the past year and a half, that word would be this: Ambitious.
So, if nothing else, I hope this magazine over the past three issues has successfully documented this University’s amazing upward mobility, its far-reaching ambition, and its willingness to both redefine itself and the modern urban university.
From the addition of the Academy of Natural Sciences last May to the opening of the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building in September, from the unveiling of the University’s new strategic plan this past June to the groundbreaking for the stunning new LeBow College of Business building in August, the past year and a half has seen President John A. Fry pushing Drexel forward like never before. And as you’ll see in this issue of Drexel Magazine, that forward movement is showing no signs of slowing.
• In “A University on The Rise,” photographers Barry Halkin and Tommy Leonardi take us on a thrilling visual journey into the highest reaches of the two structures that are already reshaping the Drexel skyline: The new LeBow building at 31st and Market streets, and the Chestnut Square student housing and retail development a block away on Chestnut Street. The two massive buildings bookend the quad and, along with the Papadakis Building, will eventually help create an exciting, dynamic campus center—precisely the kind of place that President Fry has called for in his campus master plan.
• In our cover story, “Selling Their Future?,” we visit with Shaya Honarvar, a Drexel research associate who is doing some really heroic work on the small African island of Bioko. A turtle specialist by training, Honarvar has over the past two years expanded her Bioko work to include study of the endangered drill monkey, a species that is being driven to the brink not by ecological change, but rather by hunting pressure. Through up-close engagement with islanders and a recently completed documentary, Honarvar and her team—including two Drexel co-ops—are working to convince the hunters that the slaughter must end.
• Perhaps most notably, in “A Bold Vision,” we hear from President Fry himself. In a wide-ranging interview in early September, I asked him about his experiences so far at Drexel, his thoughts on the strategic plan that will guide Drexel going forward and, of course, his hopes and ambitions for the future. It was a pleasure to speak with President Fry, and I hope you will find the interview as interesting and enlightening as I did.
As always, we hope that you’ll enjoy this issue of Drexel Magazine, and we again welcome you to share your thoughts with us. You can send your letters and feedback to magazine@drexel.edu.
Thanks so much for reading.
Tim Hyland / Editor (June 2011 – April 2013)