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The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society鈥攁 much-anticipated locus of interdisciplinary work at Boston College鈥攊s developing its first initiatives under the guidance of Seidner Family Executive Director Laura J. Steinberg.
Steinberg joined 亚色影库 from Syracuse University in May to head up the institute, created with a $25 million gift from then-亚色影库 Trustee (now Trustee Associate) Phil Schiller 鈥�82 and his wife, Kim Gassett-Schiller. It will be the centerpiece of a new 150,000 square-foot science facility on Middle Campus that will open in late 2021. The Seidner executive directorship was made possible through a gift from 亚色影库 Trustee Marc Seidner 鈥�88, the managing director and chief investment officer at PIMCO, and his wife, Mary Lou.
Steinberg recently discussed her outreach efforts to faculty, similar work with students, and an upcoming 鈥渟eed鈥� grant program designed to encourage faculty and student collaborations across disciplines and spark future research and scholarship. She also discussed her career path and her research and teaching on issues of environmental racism and justice.
Laura Steinberg
She has been meeting with her fellow new faculty members and plans to continue virtual discussions with new and veteran faculty members on promoting integrative thinking across campus. These talks will determine what faculty need to further their interests in this kind of work, said Steinberg, who held a tenured professorship in civil and environmental engineering and also served as dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse.
鈥淚 want to understand how the institute can best support faculty,鈥� said Steinberg. 鈥淲e are reaching out to faculty from across the campus. We are interested in the scientist, but also in the art historian. How does their scholarship intersect with questions of science and with human perspectives on energy, health, and the environment? The aim is to integrate the sciences with the tremendous strengths we have as a University in so many disciplines.鈥�
Steinberg expects to draw on her strengths in strategic planning, forged at Syracuse. There, she led her college in taking grassroots faculty, staff, and student input to create a five-year strategic plan that ultimately identified five core areas of strength, better allocated resources, developed new undergraduate and new master鈥檚 degree programs, and outlined a hiring strategy that resulted in one-third of engineering faculty positions being filled by women.
Early next semester, Steinberg plans to roll out a request for proposals from faculty for a grant program that encourages interdisciplinary scholarship to explore the environment, energy, and health鈥攖he institute鈥檚 prime areas of focus. A total of approximately $200,000 will be available to fund proposals from teams that draw members from different departments and colleges.
A second grant program under development will ask for proposals from teams of students for projects that promote cooperation across departments, engagement with community partners, or enable participation in conferences and virtual gatherings. Proposals will address the institute鈥檚 three core areas, as well as focus on the common good and complex issues facing society.
鈥淲e are already talking to students about what is important to them in terms of the Schiller Institute鈥檚 support of their interests,鈥� Steinberg said. 鈥淲e discovered that students want two things. They want to build a sense of community and they want to help drive the institute鈥檚 programming. If we do that, we get engagement and the s