它是一个函数 education that even in the wake of an extraordinary success like the Boldly Forward Capital Campaign—a triumph overwhelmingly due to our generous donors—we must continue to keep our eyes forward, on both immediate and future priorities.

The priorities of the past decade—primarily infrastructure—provided the focus for the Boldly Forward Campaign. The 学习共享 is both the culmination and the symbol of our success in bringing the campus into the next era. The attendant additions in laboratories and classrooms and upgrading basic physical needs, while not carrying as high a profile as the 学习共享, 同样的批判. 多亏了这一切, our students and the students of tomorrow have the facilities they need to maintain pace with the future.

With the campaign closed and the infrastructure complete, it is now those very students who demand our attention. If we are to make it possible for them to take advantage of the university we have built together, then we must make it affordable for the best and the brightest to attend. 他们中的许多人需要奖学金, so scholarships will constitute our highest priority from this point on. 同时, we need to continue to support facilities and programs, 当然, 我们优秀的师资队伍, 所以这些, 太, 未来的优先事项是什么. But it is a future we must commit ourselves to create or the recent successes will be for naught. 

As the new vice president for advancement, this is my task—one I am deeply excited about. It was my role as chief advancement officer at the National Academy of Engineering in Washington, D.C., that demonstrated to me how critical engineering and STEM are to shaping our world, 我们的生计, 以及我们的生活质量. This experience set me on a course to apply my 25 years of advancement experience to STEM education—ideally in Michigan, where my husband and I have summered for years and have long desired to live.

考虑到这些个人目标, it is a dream for me to arrive at Kettering, which has not only a strong foundation—again courtesy of the Boldly Forward Campaign—and a rapidly developing culture of giving but also a bright and well-defined future. 

Kettering students have unexpectedly added to my excitement with their quality and enthusiasm. I knew they were bright and hardworking, but I quickly learned they are also informed, 订婚了, and passionate far beyond my expectations. 举个例子, I attend speakers’ series as often as possible, and I have been delighted by the preparation and quality of questions students bring to these extracurricular learning opportunities. They study ahead of time, they listen, they take notes, they inquire, and they challenge. 因此, 我向他们学习, following up avenues of inquiry they have introduced and pursuing reading materials they have referenced. 

I am incredibly humbled to have the opportunity to support these students and the students who will follow. It is these students who demand our attention. 未来正在迅速到来, and it is my privilege to work alongside all of you to create that future by ensuring, 在筹款活动中, that these exceptional students of today and tomorrow will continue to have the opportunity to study at Kettering.

詹妮弗·帕特森

Vice President of University Advancement and External Relations