Happy New Year to all of our students, faculty and staff. The new year provides an excellent opportunity to reflect upon Drexel’s transformation over the past decade, from a technological university to a comprehensive national university.

Drexel’s transformation began in 1995-96, when our College of Arts and Sciences started enrolling its own majors. In 1998, Drexel entered health sciences education, with the addition of the nation’s largest private medical school, the College of Nursing and Health Professions and one of only two Schools of Public Health in Pennsylvania. In 2006, we further extended our mission to encompass professional education with the opening of the Drexel University College of Law.

While we have broadened our academic reach, we have remained committed to technological excellence, our tradition of co-operative education and our urban mission. In the past 10 years, we developed a groundbreaking wireless campus. We introduced innovations in co-operative education, through the unique co-op component of the College of Law and scholarships like the Vidalakis Cretan Scholars that make international co-ops a reality for more students. We also strengthened our commitment to involvement in Greater Philadelphia with the establishment of our Center for Civic Engagement.

The University’s progress over the last 10 years gives us many reasons to be thankful. Our academic programs continually earn Drexel a place among U.S.News & World Report’s best national universities and inclusion in the top national and international rankings of publications such as Financial Times and BusinessWeek.

Our new academic initiatives have also resulted in continuous enrollment growth. Our enrollment headcount in fall 2006 of 19,845 undergraduate and graduate students was the largest in the University’s 115-year history. This number places Drexel 14th in enrollment among private universities. We pride ourselves that we now can provide our students the best a large comprehensive university has to offer with the personal touch of a small college.

In 2007 we can also look to the continued success of our sports teams and talented student athletes. Our men’s basketball team started the season with big wins over St. Joseph’s, Villanova, NCAA top 25-ranked Syracuse, Temple and George Mason. Come out to the Daskalakis Athletic Center and cheer on the men’s and women’s teams as they face tough Colonial Athletic Association opponents in the coming weeks.

Through your support Drexel will continue to be a great place to work and learn. Thank you for joining our University`s journey from good to great.

C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni Interim President