Theoretical physicist Adam Falk, the dean of Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, has been tapped as the 17th president of Williams College, the institution announced on Monday. Falk will succeed interim President Bill Wagner, who has held the position since the departure of former President Morton Schapiro. Schapiro left Williams this summer to become the head of Northwestern University. While at John Hopkins, Falk oversaw a $330-million fundraising campaign and the creation of an office for multicultural affairs, according to The Boston Globe. Falk received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina and earned his doctorate in physics from Harvard University.
Many college athletics programs are struggling with high debt loads in the wake of large construction projects, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on Monday. While some of the largest programs raised as much as $4 billion in private donations from 2003 to 2008, these donations covered only part of the construction costs, forcing colleges to take out loans, according to The Chronicle. Some of these institutions have had to put plans for expansion on hold due to their new debts, The Chronicle reported. Moody's Investors Services calculated that the median debt of the 200 public universities it rates increased by nearly 56 percent between 2004 and 2008.
Stanford University's endowment suffered a 27-percent loss for the fiscal year ending June 30, The Stanford Daily reported on Tuesday. The university's endowment now stands at $12.6 billion. Stanford's endowment, like endowments at other peer institutions, was hurt by investments in alternative, illiquid assets like real estate and private equity, according to The Stanford Daily. The university's previous most substantial loss a drop of 6.2 percent occurred in 1974.
