Dear CMPS Alumni/ae,

As you may remember from your own commencement ceremony, your college makes a permanent commitment to you when you graduate, and asks in return that you make one to us. We promise you that every year we will get better, raise our reputation, and thereby increase the value of your degree. And we ask that in turn you stay in touch with your department and your college and, as possible, give back.

We are doing our part: with the same number of faculty as a decade ago we have more than doubled our research funding, created new courses and programs, and accomplished great things at the edge of discovery! Our spacecraft is heading to a second comet, we are building a mini-earth to study the earth's magnetic field, and we are learning when the earth acquired oxygen. Our scientists are laying the foundations to predict the disease vectors of the future, are using dynamical systems to validate weather forecasts, and are taking the first steps toward building a quantum computer. Our algorithms enable computers to identify faces, translate foreign languages and decode the genome.

Nor are we standing still: we have aggressive new ideas for our education programs, and clear directions in which to move our research to an even higher level, all of which will increase the value of your degree! Just scan through our new strategic plan for the details.

So now is your time! Check out the range of opportunities listed on this page, read the strategic plan for ideas, or contact Assistant Dean for External Relations, Ron Thomann to brainstorm. And then do your part.

Finally, please take a moment to complete the address/email form to ensure you receive our monthly e-news and our semi-annual Continuum.

With all best wishes,

Steve Halperin, Dean