More on controversy about budget cuts at the University of Chicago...

...at IHE.  There are a number of dubious claims in the article.  None of what is happening is a conspiracy by the Board of Trustees; the leadership comes from President Robert Zimmer, a mathematician, who has a definite vision, and who has been, by all accounts I've heard, the real decision-maker who enjoys strong support from the Board.  It is reasonable, in retrospect, to wonder whether all the building was a good investment, though I think it probably was.  More controversial, and debatable, was the decision to make a massive investment during the past five years in an Institute for Molecular Engineering, a field where the University of Chicago had no investment previously.  The cost of a couple of dozen faculty, many senior, and their labs must have been tens of millions of dollars.  The IHE article also misstates the budget:  the budget of the university (including the medical school but excluding the hospital) is about $2.6 billion.  (The hospital actually makes a profit.)