Northeastern announced two cabinet-level appointments in September. Lynn Wachtel Lyford, a former state official in Massachusetts and Maine, has been named new vice president for cooperative education. And Edward Klotzbier, AS’87, the university’s director of communications and public relations, will serve as interim vice president for student affairs.

Lyford, most recently the Boston-based global government affairs director for Electronic Data Services, says she welcomes the chance “to shape and refine . . . a gangbusters program into a true showstopper.”

Before joining Electronic Data Services, Lyford was executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Minority and Women Business Assistance, commissioner of the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, and managing director of product development at the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency.

A director of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and president of the Boston Club, an organization of executive and professional women, Lyford holds a bachelor’s in fine arts from the State University of New York–New Paltz and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Lyford succeeds Richard Porter, who stepped down after five years to rejoin the mathematics faculty.

Klotzbier, a two-year Northeastern employee, holds a law degree from New England School of Law. He was previously vice president and deputy director of the Boston corporate affairs department of Mellon Financial Corp., and before that a lawyer at the Boston firm Palmer & Dodge, managing the firm’s government relations and public affairs.

Klotzbier will continue to direct the communications office and serve as the university’s chief spokesman.

Northeastern has been searching for a student affairs vice president to replace Karen Rigg, who announced last February she would step down in August.

Northeastern jumps in U.S. News rankings

Northeastern leaped an impressive fifteen spots in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of major American universities.

The university was number 127 out of 248 universities offering doctoral degrees in the news magazine’s influential annual rankings. Last year, Northeastern was 142.

President Richard Freeland says he is “tremendously excited” by Northeastern’s progress. “It is my belief we’re well on our way toward [top-half] status.”

Harvard and Princeton tied for the top spot, followed by Yale (third) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (fourth). Other local schools that ranked within the top half—126 schools, in all—included Tufts (27), Brandeis (32), Boston College (40), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (55), Boston University (64), and the University of Massachusetts–Amherst (91).

Northeastern improved in several key ratings areas, including academic reputation, student selectivity, and class size.

Director of university planning and research Mark Putnam points out that the latest rankings use figures from fall 2002. This fall’s freshman class, he predicts, will propel Northeastern into the U.S. News top half next year. Further, he says, a five-year study of the rankings shows that “we are accelerating the rate of improvement faster than other institutions around us.”

Last year, U.S. News ranked Northeastern number one in “programs that work,” which combine academics with real-world experience. This year, the magazine stopped ranking that category, listing the top schools alphabetically instead. Northeastern remains on the list.

In other positive news, in early August Northeastern was featured on the front page of the Boston Globe’s business section in an article titled “A higher grade: Upscale turnaround puts Northeastern on students’ ‘A’ lists,” which detailed the university’s growing selectivity, increasingly national reach, beefed-up academics, new buildings, and strategic marketing campaign. “Northeastern is a hot school,” the article declared.

Freeland aiding in UMass prez search

President Freeland is aiding in the search for the next president of the University of Massachusetts system, following the resignation of former president William Bulger.

Freeland was chosen in August by board chair Grace Fey for the twenty-member search committee. The consulting firm Korn/Ferry International is aiding the committee, which includes alumni, students, trustees, and community leaders.

Freeland has a long history at the University of Massachusetts, having worked at UMass–Boston for more than twenty years in positions including dean of arts and sciences and dean of the College of Professional Studies.

Jack Wilson, a physicist and head of UMass Online, is serving as interim president of the five-campus system during the search. Unlike past interim leaders,Wilson will not be barred from consideration for the permanent job.

University adds master's to biotech initiative

Northeastern began a new master’s program in biotechnology this fall—one more advance in the university’s sprint to become a major player in the field.

The biotechnology degree joins the existing bioinformatics master’s, now two years old and nearly twenty students strong.

In addition to these programs, Northeastern plans to unveil both a combined bachelor’s/master’s and a doctoral program in biotechnology in the future. The university will also pursue partnerships with industry and expand its facilities to accommodate anticipated growth in the field.

“This is the best city in the world for biotechnology,” says arts and sciences dean James Stellar, recently named co-director of the university’s biotechnology initiative along with Bouvé dean Stephen Zoloth. “We believe as a university that we work well with industry, and we aim to capitalize on that in this incredible town.”

Both the biotechnology and bioinformatics programs have co-op components, a strong selling point. “We have a unique niche area,” says Mansoor Amiji, associate pharmaceutical sciences professor and biotechnology’s education coordinator. “Co-op is our baby.”

A key recent hire in biotechnology is William Hancock, a researcher in early cancer detection, who holds the Bradstreet chair in analytical chemistry. And in mid-October, the university was poised to name a top-flight scientist to the Behrakis chair in pharmaceutical biotechnology.

Ties with industry are also gaining strength. Biotech start-up CereMedix just spent two years leasing space at Northeastern to work on treatments for stroke and other neurological diseases. Over time, the university hopes to attract other biotech firms to campus to “incubate” and partner with campus scientists.

Says Stellar, “The whole thing adds up to a research engine, which will drive the university in terms of rankings, grants, and its relations with industry.”

NU junior doesn't have to watch The West Wing—she's living it

On September 24, the new season of the popular NBC series The West Wing began. But Northeastern junior Melissa Danforth didn’t tune in.

She was already there. And too busy, besides.

Danforth is working as an intern for Karl Rove, senior policy adviser to President George W. Bush and longtime, trusted friend to the Bush family. Rove is considered by many to be the most powerful non-elected official in the country.

What’s her boss like? “He’s an amazing person,” says Danforth, who calls the interview for her four-month stint in the West Wing the toughest she’s ever had. “He’s very charismatic, very kind, very energetic. And he’s dedicated.”

A political science and international affairs major, Danforth is working dawn till dusk to keep up with the White House’s hectic pace. “It helped that I was able to start in August,” she says, “because Karl Rove was on vacation. I could learn some of the basic things I needed to know. But when the president and the staff returned after Labor Day, the place just exploded. There are piles on my desk that I don’t know if I’m ever going to see the bottom of. There’s so much that goes on, I have to really tear myself away at the end of the day.”

Rove directs political affairs, strategic initiatives, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs for the president. As intern, Danforth handles correspondence, research, and other administrative tasks.

Even though Danforth had an impressive résumé before landing the West Wing job—she co-oped at the Massachusetts State House for Senator Richard Moore and interned with the Irish National Parliament and Project Vote Smart; she’s also won awards from the Harvard National Model United Nations and the National Model Arab League—she was still shocked when she learned she’d been chosen. “Even when I interviewed, the enormousness of the opportunity hit me,” she says. “I feel incredibly fortunate.”

Danforth’s favorite place in the White House? “The Oval Office,” she says. “Maybe it’s trite, but it’s so phenomenal.”

Take a Bow!

Former Northeastern athletics director Ian McCaw, who spent last year in the same position at the University of Massachusetts, has moved yet again—this time to the AD spot at Baylor University. McCaw goes to the Waco, Texas, school in the wake of scandal and turmoil: One Baylor basketball player allegedly shot a teammate to death, the school’s basketball coach resigned after trying to stall the investigation and violating various NCAA rules, and the former athletics director resigned amid the fallout.

Press accounts of McCaw’s appointment underscore his fitness for the new post. Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White, who worked with McCaw at both Tulane and Maine, told UPI McCaw brings “unparalled integrity.”

At UMass, McCaw led a twenty-three-sport program and oversaw a five-year strategic plan for athletics; the school captured Atlantic-10 championships in three sports. McCaw spent five years at Northeastern, where he also implemented a strategic plan. In 2001–2002, his final year, the university graduated 65 percent of its student-athletes and captured a school-record six America East conference titles, with five teams finishing among the nation’s top twenty.