Someone new in Tufts' top two

Like a freshman eager to make new friends, Provost Jamshed Bharucha extends his hand, smiles, and introduces himself to the group of students clustered around him.

It is a Wednesday morning and Bharucha has just entered the Asian Community Reception. Within seconds of his introduction to the students at the reception, Bharucha, is laughing amiably with them about the troubles of finding a quality Indian meal at Tufts.

"If I wanted a good home-cooked Indian dinner," Bharucha said, laughing, "I'd probably order out!"

Bharucha makes his way through the crowd, affably introducing himself to students and speaking with them about everything from their majors to the new block schedule and need-blind admissions.

In addition to asking students what they would most like to change about Tufts. Bharucha discussed his own agenda.

"Larry Bacow and I are both very committed [to getting need-blind admissions]," he said, "but it won't happen tomorrow."

Bharucha's genuine and considerate responses to students are reminiscent of a seasoned professor (Bharucha comes to Tufts after 19 years at Dartmouth) who values student opinion.

"It's very heartening talking to the students [at Tufts]," Bharucha said. "Even the people saying that things need to change are very positive."

Though more reserved in manner than predecessor Sol Gittleman, Bharucha gives off a similar air of accessibility.

By the end of the reception, Bharucha has arranged to meet with several other student leaders and discuss their concerns.

Bharucha's demonstrated ability to identify and create connections between may serve him well as provost_ a position he describes as the "chief academic officer; number two to the president."

When Bharucha encounters University President Larry Bacow at the Asian Community reception, the camaraderie between the two is apparent. Jokingly referring to each other as "freshman" and "sophomore," Tufts' top two administrators discussed their relationship with one another.

"We're having fun," President Bacow said. "Not a day goes by when we don't talk with one another...usually it's two or three times a day. Chemistry is important."

Bharucha agrees. "Larry is wonderful," he said.

A large element of the Provost's job involves working with and coordinating the activities of the deans and faculty of the University's eight schools.

Bharucha's ability to communicate effectively with a diverse selection of individuals is due in part to his childhood in Bombay, a city that Bharucha describes as "very multi-cultural" and "multi-ethnic." Living there exposed him to both the "real positives and real perils of [such diversity]," Bharucha said.

Bharucha said that his youth taught him valuable life lessons that he uses to this day. "I learned a lot about people from different cultures and ethnicities trying to live with one another," he said. "It's easier for people to misunderstand than to understand."

Though he says that Tufts is already an institution with "a very strong international focus and a very diverse student body and faculty," Bharucha hopes to make a Tufts education one that "provides the experience to cultivate a sense of internationalism," he said. "Internationalism will be key, frankly, to surviving as a race on this planet."

In addition to his childhood experiences, Bharucha draws on his undergraduate experience at Vassar College to shape his decisions as provost. His years as an undergraduate were "an extremely powerful, formative" influence on him.

"I very much benefited from the smallness; from the attention professors paid to undergrads," Bharucha said. "When you're anonymous, you tend not to rise as high to meet expectations as you do when there's a faculty culture of really caring about the intellectual development of the undergraduates."

A renowned scholar and researcher himself in the field of cognitive neuroscience, Bharucha hopes to promote opportunities for "active" and "inquiry-based" learning at Tufts.

On the Boston campus, Bharucha said, there are "tremendous, high-powered research facilities that can expand opportunities students have." Bharucha's emphasis on research is "driven by the belief that the most powerful part of learning is being part of the process of discovery and inquiry."

Bharucha's eyes twinkle when asked whether he sees his previous unfamiliarity with Tufts as a liability or an asset. "I do think that coming from outside enables me to ask some probing and tough questions that are always more difficult for an insider to ask," he said. "I think it's very healthy for institutions periodically to get set of new ears and eyes with the specific task of taking a fresh view of Tufts' strengths and weaknesses."

So far, Bharucha's job as provost has been "more than what [he] expected," but he has still found time to explore the numerous cultural opportunities that the surrounding area offers.

"I have been exploring Boston a lot," he said. "My wife and I have been using our Zagat's guide! We've been trying to go to a new restaurant, sometimes two, every week."

In addition to their culinary adventures, Bharucha and his wife have gone to numerous lectures and concerts.

Upon discovering that one of the students at the reception used to play the violin, excitement crept into Bharucha's normally soft voice. He eagerly identified himself as a violinist and former sitar player.

"In chamber music literature, it's a lot of fun playing Brahms," Bharucha said. "He really weaves the voices of other instruments [into the piece]; it creates a sense of collective consciousness."

Realizing the correlation between his last statement and his vision for Tufts University, Bharucha smiles. And then, he is off - more people to meet, hands to shake, and collective consciousnesses to establish.