Since stepping into his new role at Tufts on Aug. 1, University President Anthony Monaco has made an active effort to engage with his new community by meeting with students and faculty across the campuses, attending events and making frequent use of social media.
He has jumped into life at Tufts, both figuratively and literally. Last Monday evening he jumped into the Hamilton Pool to practice with the Tufts club water polo team and, according to the team kept up with the students as they tread water for 15 straight minutes.
All these efforts are indicative of Monaco's unpretentious, hands−on approach to leadership on the Hill as well as his ambitions for his tenure at the university.
Monaco inherits the institution both grateful for the work of his predecessors — University President Emeritus Lawrence Bacow and former Provost and Senior Vice President JamshedBharucha — and confident in his ability to shape the future of Tufts.
"I've really enjoyed getting to see the strong foundations that Larry and Jamshed left the institution and where I can then take it," Monaco said in an interview with the Daily. "Overall, I'm just very, very happy to be here and I'm enjoying myself."
Listening, Learning and Planning
Since assuming his new role at Tufts, Monaco has been soliciting the opinions of students, faculty, staff and alumni in what he has dubbed his "listening tour."
"What I've found is that it's a very warm community that cares pretty deeply about each other and the world in which they live," he said.
While Monaco will continue his listening tour in the weeks and months ahead, he is already planning the next steps for the university. "As well as listening, I'm also trying to do planning simultaneously. One idea is that we would like to work on a university-wide strategic plan over…an 18-month period," Monaco said.
Back and forth across the Pond
A scientist by training, Monaco, 51, is renowned in the field of neuroscience. His research has lead to a number of landmark discoveries including the first gene specifically involved in human speech and language and the gene linked with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies, disorders responsible for weakening the skeletal and heart muscles.
Born in Wilmington, Del., Monaco is the son of a plumber and is a first-generation college graduate. He attended Princeton University and graduated in 1981 with a self-created major in neuroscience. He then earned a Ph.D. and M.D. from Harvard University and eventually went on to pursue research in the United Kingdom.
During his tenure at Oxford, Monaco served as professor of human genetics, director of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics and head of the university's Neurogenetics Group. From 2007 forward, he was pro-vice-chancellor for planning and resources at the Oxford, a position that charged him with strategic planning, capital planning and student enrollment.
He is joined in Boston by his wife Zoia, a distinguished researcher in the field of cell biology, and their three sons. The Monacos, however, are not new to Boston.
"Zoia and I both developed our early research careers here in the Boston area," Monaco told the Tufts community at in his first public appearance at Tufts in November 2010, "so it's something of a homecoming for us."
Research, Sustainability and Collaboration
At Oxford, Monaco's administrative work stretched across numerous disciplines and colleges. Here, he plans to continue to promote the same sense of collaboration, particularly in the fields of research and sustainability.
"I would like to interact with the deans so that we can try to knit together some of the research collaborations and activities across the schools and to try to address some of the world's great challenges of the moment," Monaco said, citing the environment, sustainability and global health issues as examples.
Sustainability is of particular interest to Monaco. Building on the university's work at the Office of Sustainability, as well as his previous experiences at Oxford, he has outlined plans to take a direct role in the future of the green movement at Tufts.
This will include the creation of a sustainability council with university-wide representation, Monaco said.
"We could come up with a carbon management strategy, a built environment philosophy, waste strategy, water strategy and really work hard to think about innovative and new ways to reduce our carbon footprint," he said. "That to me is a priority and that should take presidential leadership."
"When I was Pro-Vice Chancellor, I was put in a position where I was trying to match the academic objectives of diverse subject[s] and disciplines — in the humanities, social sciences, hard sciences and medical sciences — to the budget allocation," Monaco said. "That taught me a lot about how to get consensus building, how to be transparent."
"I hope I bring that kind of transparency and consensus building to this job as President," he said.
"Hurrah for the dear old Brown and Blue"
Among the many things Monaco anticipated in his new role at Tufts was the opportunity to interact with the undergraduate community. His outreach efforts began months before he moved into Gifford House when he met with students last year at all Tufts campuses and at events in United Kingdom.
Monaco has also made frequent use of social media, most notably Twitter and Facebook. "I started doing this mostly as a way to break into the Tufts community and to try and connect with people before I got here…it was really a fantastic way to learn about the institution when you are across the Atlantic Ocean," he said.
He has continued to use these media since his arrival and frequently tweets about his attendance at student events.
"More recently, Facebook has kind of exploded. I have a lot of friends now...and that's fun as well," Monaco said. "I am here to support the undergraduates not only in their educational experience but also in their extracurricular activities and I am really looking forward to that."
As a sports enthusiast — he played water polo at Princeton and coached his children's soccer teams in the UK — Monaco is especially excited to attend Tufts athletic events.
"I rarely went to sports events at Oxford. They don't have as many matches. They play Cambridge and that's about it. And many times, those events are far away … so I'm really looking forward to going to see the Jumbos compete," he said.
Monaco's enthusiasm for the university also extends to its arts community. According to his Twitter account (@MonacoAnthony) he has already visited the new show at the Tufts University Art Gallery, "Richard Bell: Uz Vs. Them," and plans to continue doing so in the future.
Past Precedent, New Traditions
While policies regarding student life on the undergraduate campus are not necessarily a university president's primary focus, Monaco stands at the head of an undergraduate community still feeling the sting of the cancelation of the Nighttime Quad Reception and a series of changes to the university's alcohol policy.
Citing health and safety concerns, Monaco plans to uphold President Bacow's decision to cancel the typically alcohol-fueled event.
"I certainly concur with Larry that this is not something I can support, to see my undergraduate students ending up the local emergency room needing emergency care," he said. "The event is causing that kind of unsafe practice, [and] I would certainly not support it."
Though Monaco said there will be repercussions for students who choose to participate in the event despite its cancellation, the Committee on Student Life will be responsible for determining the consequences and he will not be involved in their deliberation.
The Tufts Community Union Senate and Programming Board are co-sponsoring a winter festival in place of the run, the specific plans for which will arrive in the coming months.
Monaco supports the creation of the new tradition and is eager to see how it evolves. "I think that is a great way of having a new tradition, that maybe will be not alcohol fueled, that we can all engage in," he said.
Monaco will also continue Bacow's policy of meeting with students who are hospitalized due to overconsumption of alcohol.
"Whether I do it individually or in small groups, I haven't yet decided, but it is something that I would like to continue," he said. "I think it is important to meet with students who have had that experience, to make sure that they're getting the right counseling, or the right view about their way forward."
A Global Impact
As president, Monaco has embraced the university's culture of active citizenship, giving his own definition of the oft-repeated term.
"To me, active citizenship is a way of taking your objectives in teaching and research and showing how you can impact society in a positive way," Monaco said. "That to me is one of the draws I certainly saw when I wanted to come here, and also that global perspective."
Monaco has a vision for the future of the university, and is eager to see it realized.
"I would love to see that after five years of being here…we can see through the strategic plan, [and] another fundraising campaign… with the emphasis on the end product of active citizenship and impact on society, that we will have Tufts at a better, more competitive place worldwide, not just nationally," he said.
Monaco has a vision for the University and is eager to see it realized.
"It's already got a reputation internationally…and I'd like to push that envelope further," he said. "I want to make a bigger impact on society about what we do in the future."
