David J. Skorton

David J. Skorton
Dr. David J. Skorton
13th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2015
Preceded by	G. Wayne Clough
President of Cornell University
In office July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2015
Preceded by	Hunter R. Rawlings III (Acting)
Succeeded by	Elizabeth Garrett
President of the University of Iowa
In office 2002–2006
Preceded by	Mary Sue Coleman
Succeeded by	Sally Mason Gary Fethke (interim)
Personal details
Born	David Jan Skorton (1949-11-22) November 22, 1949 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Robin L. Davisson
Alma mater	Northwestern University (B.A., M.D.)

David Jan Skorton (born November 22, 1949) is an American physician, academic, non-profit and university administrator. He leads the Smithsonian Institution, the national research museums of the United States, as its 13th Secretary.^[1] A cardiologist, he was president of Cornell University^[2] from 2006 to 2015.^[3] Before arriving at Cornell, he served as president of the University of Iowa, where he had been a longtime professor and then vice president. He began his a career as a professor of medicine and engineering.^[4]

Skorton has committed his time as an administrator to research integrity, fundraising, and progressive stances on issues affecting his institutions, from mental health to the Greek System. Among his accomplishments are the growth of Cornell University onto Roosevelt Island, via Cornell NYC Tech, and $4 billion in fundraising for the University.^[5]

Education

Skorton studied at the University of California, Los Angeles before transferring to Northwestern University, where he was awarded a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1970 and an M.D. in 1974. He completed his medical residency and fellowship in cardiology at UCLA, where he also served as chief medical resident.

University of Iowa

Skorton began his long career in Iowa in 1980, when he became an instructor at the University of Iowa. In 1981, he was named an assistant professor in internal medicine, and in 1982 he became an assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering.^[6] While at the University of Iowa, he also served as vice president for research and vice president for external relations.

President of University of Iowa

Skorton's time with the University culminated with the announcement that he had been selected to serve the state as the nineteenth president of the university.^[7] He was appointed by the Board of Regents on January 5, 2003. He would serve in that post until 2006. Among his goals and accomplishments were cost reducing efforts and a focus on Iowa high school graduates.

Cornell

Skorton was named as the 12th president of Cornell University on January 21, 2006 and is the second Cornell president to arrive directly from the presidency of the University of Iowa.^[8] Skorton stayed on at Iowa for the duration of the 2006 spring semester and officially assumed the Cornell presidency on July 1, 2006.^[2] His inauguration occurred on September 7, 2006. In celebration of the occasion, the Cornell Dairy unveiled a new flavor of ice cream, "Banana-Berry Skorton."^[9]

Reception

Soon after the announcement of Skorton’s appointment, Doug Mitarotonda, a student member of the university's board of trustees, called him "clearly the right person to lead Cornell."^[10] Professor Robert Frank, writing for the New York Times, noted that "leaders of his stature are in short supply...every university wants a Skorton."^[11] Skorton's popularity has been cited as one factor in increased donations to the university.^[11] During his tenure as president, Cornell's capital campaign has raised over $4 billion in six years' time, despite a global recession.^[12]

According to Cornell University, Skorton's base salary was $686,683 for 2009-2010.^[13]

Faculty positions

While president, Skorton maintained two academic appointments, as a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and as a professor in Biomedical Engineering at the College of Engineering on Cornell's Ithaca campus.

Education reform

Skorton chaired the Business-Higher Education Forum and the Task Force on Diversifying the New York State Economy through Industry-Higher Education Partnerships.^[2] He established a University Diversity Council at Cornell University in 2006 and presently serves as its co-chair.^[14] He also writes monthly guest columns for the independent student newspaper, The Cornell Daily Sun, a bi-monthly column for the Cornell Alumni Magazine, and blogs for Forbes.com and the Huffington Post.^[2] Skorton also spearheaded the Reimagining Cornell initiative.^[15] In a winter 2010 interview with Imagineer magazine, he described the program:

With input from faculty, students, staff, outside consultants, our board, and alumni; we have an effort to look at those things you are asking about: What have been recent trends? What’s the environment like? What is the budget of the university likely to look like? What can we do to be the highest quality university we can going forward, assuming that resources are not infinite, but that they are finite and a bit constrained for the foreseeable future? What we are trying to do is be in a planning mode where we talk with each other on campus and listen to those who have been here like alumni and management experts. We try to do the best job we can of conceptualizing how to do things in a better, up-to-date way.^[16]

On December 2, 2011, Skorton accompanied Billy Joel on flute, during Joel's rendition of "She's Always a Woman" at a concert at Cornell University's Bailey Hall.^[17] On September 30, 2010, at the same location, he accompanied Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.^[18]

Cornell NYC Tech

In 2011, Skorton led Cornell’s effort to build a new applied sciences campus in New York City, in response to a competition designed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to boost the city’s technology startup sector. In partnership with the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Cornell was selected as the competition’s winner on December 19, 2011.^[19] In exchange for free land and $100 million for infrastructure upgrades, Cornell promised to invest over $2 billion in the new campus, called Cornell NYC Tech, over the next three decades.^[19]

Construction of the campus is expected to begin in 2014 on the site of the Goldwater Hospital Campus on Roosevelt Island.^[20] On May 21, 2012, Skorton appeared at Google’s New York headquarters to announce that the tech company would donate up to 58,000 square feet of space to house CornellNYC Tech until the campus opens on Roosevelt Island in 2017.^[20]

Public campaigns

Beyond the duties as University President, Skorton has taken upon initiatives to affect the public good.

Immigration reform

Skorton has been a proponent of immigration reform, testifying on behalf of the Association of American Universities before the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security in support of the DREAM Act^[21] and specifically to allow more skilled immigrants to live and work in the United States.^[22]

Higher education finances

Skorton has argued that preserving college affordability must be a major priority of universities and Congress. Cornell has substantially increased need-based financial aid under his tenure to off-set tuition increases.^[23]

Greek life and hazing

Skorton has taken national public positions on fraternity hazing and suicide prevention. Skorton pledged to end hazing in the fraternity and sorority system, and wrote an op-ed on the topic in the New York Times.^[24]

Suicide prevention

In 2010, Skorton responded to three student suicides^[25] by speaking out nationally for suicide prevention, as well as authorizing the construction of barriers on the bridges over Cornell’s gorges and increasing resources for counseling on campus. Skorton has also spoken out about the continued importance of the humanities to society.^[26] The barriers were removed in favor of nets that were installed under each major bridge - a historically common place for suicides at Cornell.^[27]

Gun violence

Skorton joined eight other University presidents in signing a statement addressing gun violence in January 2013. The document called for the United States to "confront its culture of violence, particularly violence perpetrated by guns".^[28]

Honors

• Recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University (2009)
• Exemplary President in Governmental Relations Award, Association of Public and Land-grant universities
• Avraham Harman Leadership Award, American Jewish Committee (2012)
• In 2015, Skorton was awarded the Arts and Sciences Advocacy Award from the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS). CCAS bestows this award upon an individual or organization demonstrating exemplary advocacy for the arts and sciences, flowing from a deep commitment to the intrinsic worth of liberal arts education.^[29]

Major publications

• Truesdell SC, Skorton DJ, Lauer RM. Life insurance for children with cardiovascular disease. Pediatrics 1986; 77:687-91.
• Collins SM, Skorton DJ, editors. Cardiac Imaging and Image Processing. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1986.
• Thedens DR, Skorton DJ, Fleagle SR. Methods of graph searching for border detection in image sequences with applications to cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. IEEE Trans Med Imaging 1995; 14:42-55.
• Skorton DJ, editor-in-chief, Brundage BH, Schelbert HR, Wolf GL, eds., Braunwald E, consulting ed. Marcus Cardiac Imaging. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1996.
• Skorton DJ and Davisson R. No Foreign Exchange Devalues Our Universities. The Wall Street Journal: Manager's Journal, August 2, 2005, p. B2.
• Skorton DJ, chair. Task Force on Diversifying the New York State Economy through Industry-Higher Education Partnerships Final Report: Prepared for Governor David A. Paterson. December 14, 2009^[30]

Memberships

• Past chair of the Business-Higher Education Forum
• Life member of the Council on Foreign Relations
• Member of the board of directors of the Association of American Medical Colleges
• Elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
• Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Co-chair of the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council
• Charter president of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc.
• Past president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS).

References

External links

• Cornell University Press Release
• Cornell Office of the President
• Cornell Chronicle Online
• Smithsonian Press Release