As a proud alumna of Boston University, I was dismayed to read about the debate over Professor Paul Cook in The Daily Free Press (“BU prof. sparks local debate on paternal leave,” Dec. 12, p. 1). What was most disheartening was BU may voluntarily lose Dr. Cook, one of the most fantastic and inspirational instructors I had at BU.
As a former public school teacher, I can appreciate his power and warmth even more. Dr. Cook was an exceptional teacher. He brought excitement and energy to class every day, and he made Systems Physiology, which could have been exceedingly tedious, into something to look forward to. He was accessible as well, allowing students to sit with him to discuss the results of their exams while guiding them through their mistakes. I continue to appreciate Dr. Cook’s devotion to science and his desire to pass on knowledge. At many large universities, including BU, students encounter a wide range of professors – some outstanding while others leave you questioning how they achieved tenure in the first place.
It is wrong that the rubric used to judge Dr. Cook was productivity — especially in the natural sciences. As science progresses and researchers become more specialized, the law of diminishing returns applies: The rate of discovery slows as the body of knowledge increases, or at least it slows until the next breakthrough. It should be expected that progress will be sluggish sometimes. Most of the biggest breakthroughs in science have taken many years to produce. The human genome was not sequenced in a day. As a concerned alumna, I urge my alma mater to reconsider its policies and extend Dr. Cook’s time at BU. When I was a student, I used to say that within the next 10 years, BU would rival Harvard in reputation and Stanford in research.
It would be difficult to realize this if excellent members of the faculty are not evaluated fairly when applying for tenure. There is already a deficit in the number of students studying science. What message does it send when professors have to choose between what they love to do and having time to love their children? I urge BU to reconsider its policies before August 2007 when it may lose an excellent researcher and teacher.
Jesse B Rauch
CAS ’04