Author Description

Product Description Under the impact of information technology, American higher education institutions have experienced a tremendous turmoil at the turn of the century. Not only what and how we deliver education were seriously questioned, but also the fundamental existence of the present form of higher education institutions was challenged. This book tells a real life story how a "research-oriented" university in higher education institution was transforming itself and excelled in the midst of this turmoil. It also describes how technology impacts what faculty think, what they do, and what they value. It reflects the anxieties, the tension, the conflicts, the pressure, the excitements, and the joys that the faculty in the department had felt and gone through in this period of time. The book describes a market philosophy and a business approach that the Chairperson had taken to deal with the budget crisis and to create a new balance between undergraduate teaching and graduate research. A detailed account on how a new teaching and learning environment known as "Studio Classroom" was created and implemented. It presents a view of how a higher education institution might evolve the way we teach and do research towards the beginning of the next Century. About the Author Dr. Toh-Ming Lu, the Ray Palmer Baker Distinguished Professor of physics, was the former Chairman of the Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from 1992 to 1997. Currently he is the Co-director of the Semiconductor Research Corporation Center for Advanced Interconnect Science and Technology where 30 faculty (from 10 universities) and 50 graduate students are involved in computer chip research. During his tenure as the Physics Chair, Dr. Lu had been a major driving force for education reform in the Department. This memoir describes insights of what he saw and felt as a Department Chair during the turmoil of high