UMDNJ in that realm. That is not to say that we neglected the imperative to grow. After waiting in vain for a decade for a promised on-campus teaching hospital, we developed a more than just credible comprehensive academic medical center, dramatically brought home to me dur- ing my visit in June, as one of the high- lights was a tour of the wonderfully suc- Jersey. As I toured, I got special satis- faction from recalling that our initial submission of an application for a cen- ter planning grant from the National review because it was deemed that we could not succeed as we were too close to established centers in New York and Philadelphia. Sometimes it pays to dream big, even when the dream runs contrary to established wisdom. mit that Thomas Wolfe was more right than wrong. You really cannot go home again, because time more often than Thus, "small but good" is no longer OK in academic medicine. Market forces, the Affordable Care Act, and other in- fluences have driven our enterprises toward massive consolidations. We now have to have substantial size in addi- tion to quality in order to compete and flourish. We are fortunate in that re- gard that New Jersey leaders had the foresight to merge UMDNJ into a greater Rutgers University. I believe that Rutgers now has the critical mass to develop an academically based state- comprehensive care and our goal for truly competitive programs in transla- tional and clinical research. Rutgers now also has the critical mass to develop comprehensive, mature, and integrated biotechnology/high-technology research programs. This is important not only for the standing of the university among its peers but also to attract the entrepreneurs who are much needed to revitalize the economy of the state. sonally, and it would be naive to think that it can be done without some sacri- and friends of Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, I say it is proper and important to retain your well-deserved pride in our values and in what we have interest of all to lay aside any residual differences with our sister institutions and take full advantage of the new par- can lead to great accomplishments in which we will all take even greater pride. Finally, I must admit to having a certain amount of envy of the current leadership of the health and biological science entities at Rutgers. Just as it was School in its infancy and help it mature, it must be equally exciting to be in a position to shepherd the university through this transformative time in its represent the position of the adminis- tration or governing bodies of Rutgers University. satisfying scientific career; it was here that I learned pulmonary medicine, alongside our initial fellows; and it was here that I learned to be an administrator. . . . Mostly, though, it had simply been great fun to join a new school in its infancy and play a role in its growth and development. I M S O O O F |