Regarding the Office of Civic Engagement

Dear Colleagues,

The University of Chicago has a vital and enduring partnership with the City of Chicago and our neighboring communities. Our institution has long been dedicated to addressing the challenges and opportunities that shape our neighboring communities, the city, and the broader region. Every part of the University participates in this work, in many different ways. Today, I write to share an update on how the future of that work will be organized. Following the departure of Vice President for Civic Engagement, Christian Mitchell, Deborah Gorman-Smith, Dean of the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, will serve as the Chief Strategist for Community Engagement and Partnerships for the University.

In both her role as dean and through her scholarship, Deb has built deep expertise advancing evidence-based practices to community and social benefit, which will serve her and the University well in this new capacity. Deb will report directly to me and will lead the development and implementation of a strategy that reflects UChicago’s enduring commitment to our neighbors and the broader city of Chicago. This fall, she will begin engaging with a wide range of stakeholders—including faculty, deans, staff, as well as our valued community partners—as she takes on this work. 

There is much for Deb to work with as we approach these vital partnerships. This is an institution where civic engagement thrives across schools, units, and divisions, in addition to the programs offered directly by OCE. From the University of Chicago Medical Center (UCMC) to our research institutes, the public-facing arts, and beyond, nearly every part of our enterprise surfaces talent, scholarly insight, and professional expertise in service of our surrounding communities. The expansive reach of these efforts, and the depth of community partnerships, have grown substantially in the last fifteen years, and our organizational structure should reflect the full range of this impact. At the same time, we need to make prudent choices about stewarding resources in efficient and effective ways. 

We will prioritize areas where the University has particular expertise and strengths. These include healthcare, education, economic development, and public safety. There are also opportunities to advance evidence-based efforts from one part of the University with community partnerships in another part of the University, and to sunset programs that have run their course. These shifts align with previously mentioned plans to streamline senior leadership roles and to ask leaders to serve in multiple ways.

We are also reorienting the University’s government affairs functions to better serve the entire enterprise. These efforts will be led by Ben Gibson, who will serve as Chief of Government Affairs in addition to his role as Vice President of Governmental Affairs for UChicago Medicine. Ben will oversee local, state, and federal government affairs across the University, leading the staff devoted to this important work and reporting to my office through Vice President and Chief of Staff Erin Lane and to Mark Anderson, Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs, Dean of the Division of the Biological Sciences, and Dean of the Pritzker School of Medicine.

Economic development remains a central opportunity for the University to strengthen partnerships with our neighbors and with the city more broadly. We have an opportunity to be even more effective in our endeavors by being better coordinated across the many parts of the institution so that we can be more successful in bringing jobs to the local area. To advance a shared strategy, we will develop a leadership group to focus on economic development, which will be chaired by Angie Marks, Associate Vice President for Commercial Real Estate Operations. The group will focus on how we can best leverage our space, purchasing power, and partnerships to advance shared priorities. Angie has been a trusted leader in many of our efforts to steward our real estate and generate economic impact in our neighborhoods. She will continue to lead Commercial Real Estate Operations and report to Enterprise Chief Financial Officer Ivan Samstein. 

The work of these leaders will build on the many established and effective efforts of the OCE team and the colleagues across campus who connect the University to our valued Chicago partners. I am grateful to them for their willingness to shape the next chapter of community engagement at UChicago. 

All the best,

Paul

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Paul Alivisatos
President